Habana - Cuba

 

I just finished a week in Cuba.   People say they love Cuba or they hate it.  Everyone has a different experience depending on how they travel and what they like and expect.  I was hosted by a family in Habana, or more exactly in Guanabacoa.  It is about a 30-minute drive from Habana Vieja which is the old town and the part most tourists think as “Cuba”.  My experience was way different than most tourist.  I don’t think I saw another foreigner in Guanabacoa in 7 days.  And that’s fine with me.  In this neighborhood, blacks and whites live together as harmoniously as you can live when you don’t own much. 

Maria and Tomas, the couple I stayed with, took very good care of me.  They took time off to be with me, planned my visit and showed me around.  Niurka, Maria’s sister, joined us for a few days to help entertain the tourist in town.  They pulled out all the stops.  They made sure I was well fed, didn’t do a thing,  had a bed and a hot shower, crossed the street safely and learnt some Spanish.  They showered me with gifts and love and took care of me as if I were part of the family.  They showed me the real Cuba.

These are some of the things I’ve seen or experienced in Cuba with them (In no particular order): 

• Habana Vieja, Centro Habana and New Habana.  Havana Vieja is my favorite.  It has some beautiful old architecture.  Unfortunately a lot of it is falling apart and is not being restored to its original glory.  Still it is gorgeous and the city is vibrant with colors, music and old American cars.  I loved the contrast of the old stone buildings and chrome-clad automobiles
• There are a lot of trash everywhere.  Especially in Chinatown.  This is not Orange County anymore...
• A man carrying a rooster.  Another one carrying a pigeon.  A goat leg partially wrapped in paper laying on a street corner (part of a religious ritual)
• The beach in Havana Este is beautiful.  The water from the Atlantic is warm and clean.  The sun is hot.  I took a nap under a large umbrella, wore sunblock and got sunburned anyway
• I danced salsa in the rain outside a restaurant to the music of a 5-piece band
• Big white bougainvilleas 
• I picked mangoes when they fell off the tree and enjoyed one, or a homemade nectar from them, everyday
• I rode a Coco, took the mantecilla (ferry) across the water, walked the malecon in the rain and saw a canon being fired at Morro-Cabana
• I visited the Capitol.  A perfect replica of the one in DC with exquisite art on its 3 front doors and the 3rd largest indoor statue in the world
• I roamed the Bella Artes Museum and looked at some amazing Cuban art
• I got whistled out several times because they thought I was beautiful
• Never once someone tried to grab me in the bus even though it was very crowded
• I ate some amazing delicious home cooked meals made with love by Maria and Tomas and enjoyed ropa Vieja, a grand slam (layers of meat and cheese), scrumptious shrimp, whole grilled fish, artisanale chocolates out in restaurants
• I drank many mojitos to wash it all down

These are pieces of what I learned from my time in this country:

• The middle-class adult earns as much in a month as a kid earns in an hour working at In N’ Out yet if they invite you in their home, they give you every bit of everything they have
• They have two different moneys.  One for the tourist (CUC) and one for the Cubanos (CUP)
• Everything month, Cubanos are allowed a certain amount of basic foods by the government. Above that, it gets expensive for them 
• I used a bucket of water to flush the toilet. Paper goes in the trash, just like in Mexico
• Hot water in the shower happens when you turn on a switch and don’t put your fingers too close to the electric shower head or you will feel the current
• The cars you see in the streets are mainly taxis.  Most people here don’t have a car or a motorbike.  Gas is expensive therefore they are no traffic jams
• Cubanos get around with buses.  There are plenty of them.  They call them “wawa”.  I called them the Fiesta Wawa cause sometimes the music is good and you can swing around like a monkey while people come in and out of the crowded wawa
• Going out to dinner for Cubanos is a luxury.  It only happens for birthdays, special celebrations or when frenchie takes you out
• Healthcare is free.  Hospital are crowded but everyone is respectful of who came first.  Some special services you have to pay but overall, if you’re sick, they take care of you.  I had an ear infection, I took a bus to the hospital and waited just under an hour to be seen without an appointment (which is less time than most scheduled doctors’ visits I had in the states).  My meds, thanks to Tomas and his national money, were about $1.50
• University is free but then you have to work for really cheap for a couple of years
• Cars and buses will not stop for pedestrians.  They honk or yell at you. Just move over, run or wait
• There are different religions and beliefs, especially in Guanabacoa and its important African heritage.  Sometimes someone will wear all white for a year, from head to toe, because it is part of their practice.  At the end, it is a huge party 
• To get on the internet, you go buy a card with a code that you can then use in a park where there is wifi.  Soon there will be wifi in homes but of course, it will be expensive.  In the meantime, you sit outside if you want public wifi.  At least in Guanabacoa
• There are just a few channels on tv but no commercials during movie
• They drink coffee in glasses and just a bit of it. They love fruit juice with dinner
• You can find wine made in Cuba.  Stick with the ron (rum)
• It rains a lot here and when it does things get flooded or just crumble.  The temperature drops a bit which is really nice

Habana is all I saw and a bit of the beach.  There is more to Cuba than this but this was really good.  It’s a big city and there was a lot to see and a deep culture to capture.  I was sad at times to see the conditions these people live in and the condition of the buildings, the roads, the cars,...  My trip to Cuba was humbling.  I feel very blessed and grateful for all the things I’ve had in my life and the clean and pretty places I’ve been lucky enough to live in.  Thank you to Maria, Tomas and Niurka for a very special visit.  And thank you to Angela and her father Felix for hooking me up with their family in Cuba.  They love and appreciate their uncle Felix in California so much for all he does for them...

So if you can, go to Cuba.  It is a place to visit.  Stay for a while and enjoy the Cubano flavors.  I sure did.