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Published: September 3rd 2006
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2 weeks in Cuba is definitely not enough to understand this country.. Spent most of the time in Habana, and visited Viñales region (West Cuba). Didn´t head East due to an approaching hurricane, lack of $ and lack of time!
First impressions of Habana is of a beautiful old city (if very crumbling.. apparently about 300 buildings a year just fall down, which I can believe.. The old colonial buildings in Habana Vieja are in such disrepair that some are held up with scaffolding, and there are many gaps where entire buildings are missing! The streets are noisy and buzzing with life as people hang out on pavements and in doorways, and of course.. MUSIC.. blaring from every street from dawn to well past dusk! .. such a great atmosphere.. and so much energy
The night life in Habana is fantastic.. all revolving around live music (salsa, son etc) and dancing of course.. After making friends with the band in Lluvia do Oro (a great little bar in Habana Vieja) we spent most nights there.. with with Carlitos, Paul, Rene etc.. and Alfredo (Mexican), Satu and Villina (Finnish), Victoria and Marie Terese (Argentinian), Bryan (Australian)..., and then
on to the Malecon (sea front) later on where everyone hangs out and plays music. Such a great atmosphere in the city at night.. and even learnt a few Salsa steps.. though am definitely not talented!
Most of the accomodation in Cuba is in Casas Particulares, where locals rent a room in their house.. This is strictly licenced by the government (as is everything) and the owners have to pay a monthly fee for this licence. I stayed at Electra and David´s.. a sweet, friendly couple who really looked after us.. and were even up waiting for me one night when I got in late to make sure I was safe (well, 1am.. so could have been worse! .. I did feel bad but at least I´d bought them a present that day! 😊 There were always lots of people in their tiny house.. and didn´t quite manage to work out who was who, or where everyone lived!
It´s not immediately obvious how to find things in Habana (water, cheap food etc etc).. we did find a few communist style shops, with sparse shelves behind counters, where you have to ask the assistant for what you
want and they often don´t have it. But after making friends with some locals I found out where to go, and how to change my pesos convertables into pesos cubanos (there are 2 currencies.. one for locals and one for tourists.. very confusing! .. and you have to know where you can use the local money.. difficult with a white face) .. and I´m ashamed to say but we did take some pot noodles to cuba as had been warned about the food prices and scarcity! .. hmm we needn´t have worried, you could buy ice-cream and slices of pizza on every street corner!
Apart from the obvious lack of money and low wages (i.e. a maths teacher earns about $25 a month), there are so may restrictions to life in Cuba, that it is difficult to know what the rules are. (restricted information i.e. internet use, mobile phone ownership and travel for locals.. and I´m sure many other rules).. but everyone gets free education, healthcare and housing, so I guess no-one has to be on the streets.. though some of the houses I went in to with Carlitos who took me to visit his family and friends,
were very poor, small and basic. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming with houses full of people coming and going.. and of course music
Museo de la Revolution in Habana gives an interesting (v. biased) account of Cuba´s struggle against ¨oppresors¨(The Spanish and then the Americans) the ¨tyrant¨(Batista) and what its´heroes (Che and Castro) have accomplished.. This country has definitely had a tough time, and while there are many restrictions on life here. The people I spoke to seemed to hope that Castro lives for a while longer, due to uncertainty about what would happen after.
Visited Viñales reagion.. Beautiful valleys and limestone hills, tobacco farms and factories (again, all government controlled, so the farmers have to produce so many kg of tobacco a year in return for the land, seeds and not much $).. Met Bryan, who is also travelling to Ecuador next week, so we´ll hopefully meet up there for a while before I head to my school to start teaching...
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tobias
non-member comment
Thank you
I have read this entry and found it insightful and very interesting. I hope to be in Cuba around November time and will use this information. I hope in two weeks to hire a car and go down the east coast. May not happen, lack of Spanish and where to go etc but still, I think it is an ace place that will lose this when the brothers die.