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| 1952 Chevy |
David and I spent the first two weeks of January, 2019 touring Cuba with Discover Corps. We definitely made it before McDonald's! Cuba is a land of beauty and contradictions! One of our guides told us that Cuba is the "country of the only ones!" There is only one freeway, only one brand of water (it claims to be the best in Cuba!), only one political party (it also claims to be the best in Cuba!)...etc.
FIRST THE LOGISTICS
We signed up for two back-to-back tours through Discover Corps: A Celebration of Arts and Culture followed by Preserving Nature's Wonders.
HOUSING AND GETTING AROUND... While we saw plenty of old cars in Cuba, we only toured in the '52 Chevy for an hour. Discover Corps used a Mercedes 12 passenger SUV.
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Our van outside our Casa in Trinidad
(note the tortuous cobblestones!) |
We stayed in 5 different Casa Particulares which are Cuban Air B&B's. They varied from a high rise condo to a cinder-block house in the country surrounded by chickens! (At 5 pm. it was like the dinner bell rang and the dogs started playfully chasing the chickens. They didn't seem to want to catch them, just play. I was ready to catch the rooster about 5 am and wring his neck!!) They were all clean and comfortable and we had en-suite baths each night. All of the casas seemed to be newly renovated and Dave was impressed with the tile workmanship in the baths. We learned that the government freed up money for credit to renovate houses a few years ago expecting increased tourism with Obama's re-opening of US-Cuba relations. The government in general collects $40/per room/per month. Casas charge about $35 per person/per night.
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This Casa in Vinales also had a restaurant.
It was perhaps the most commercial one we stayed in. |
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This was our most rural casa.
It had beautiful gardens and many chickens!! |
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Victor, the grandpa of the Casa
always gave us a salute! |
FOOD... We laughed and said that at some meals we had beans and rice, and at others we had rice and beans! While the food was plentiful and tasty, it did not have a lot of variety. Breakfast was usually fruit, sandwich meat, toast, sometimes cheese, and eggs. At one casa we were served crepes with a guava butter or jam. Cuban coffee was very strong and I quickly learned to ask for leche (milk). Milk is expensive and hard to obtain, so I was usually served reconstituted warm powdered milk in a thermos or teapot. (I texted Emily a few days before we arrived home and asked her to put some half & half in our refrigerator!) Our other meals were often in private restaurants (paladars) arranged by Discover Corps and we were served family style with beans and rice, boiled potatoes, and either sliced pork, shredded beef, chicken or fish (usually red snapper).
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| Paladar in the Vinales Valley |
A few times we had lamb, shrimp or lobster. Sliced tomatoes and cucumbers with shredded lettuce and cabbage, and banana, sweet potato or taro chips were usually the appetizer. Dave "suffered through" a vegetarian meal at the biosphere. When asked how he liked it, he said, "The presentation was beautiful." We ate in nice restaurants in Havana where we ordered more of the above off the menu! On both tours we ate at the original "Sloppy Joe's" (Cuba's answer to the Hard Rock Cafe). At lunch and supper we were offered one or two cocktails, wine or beer. We quickly learned to say "mojito". Rum based drinks were plentiful, cheap ($1-$5 often the same as a bottle of water) and good. They had 2 kinds of beer, light and slightly darker - Cristal, and Buckaneer. Wine was usually one choice of red or white and was usually from Chile or Argentina. This totally frustrated one of our fellow travelers from Seattle!! We quickly realized that instead of "Washington slept here" (as in New England), most of Cuba's claim to fame was "Hemingway drank here"!
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A statue of Hemingway sitting at the Floridaita Bar
It is where the daquari was invented. |
MONEY...
The Cuban CUC is roughly equivalent to an American dollar (minus the conversion fee). It is used for all transactions involving foreigners and many Cuban transactions. However, Cubans are paid locally in pesos which are 1/24 of a CUC. Often you would see something for sale with both currencies listed. We literally became the bankers for our 2nd group of travelers for a few of them weren't able to convert their money at the airport and we converted more than we needed. Our tour provided all meals and tips to our Casas and local restaurants so we only spent money on art, the classic car tour, a night at the Buena Vista Social Club, and a few incidentals. Oh yes and David bought cigars and rum. We laughed and said his cigar/rum budget matched my art budget! We only had to tip our maids, drivers and the local guides.
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| The Buena Vista Social Club |
THE NECESSARY TRIPS...
Bathrooms were interesting. Usually they had an attendant who expected a tip of a quarter or more and dispensed the toilet paper which one was expected to deposit not in the toilet, but in a trash can beside it. (This was customary in the houses too - the trash can, not the attendant!!). The toilet had a seat about 1/2 the time. Monetzuma found Deb twice, but our "walking pharmacy" that we brought got it quickly under control. David is still having trouble shaking the cold he caught.
WHERE WE WENT AND HOW...
Both trips began and ended in Havana. The first week we spent two nights in Trinidad, a historical town with French influence and the worst cobblestones I've ever encountered! Along the way we stopped at the Bay of Pigs. We also went to Cienfuegos, a more industrialized and prosperous town.
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| THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!! |
The second week we were in the countryside visiting a national park/biosphere called Las Terrazas (the terraces), the Vinales Valley between a mountain range of limetone hills and cliffs where we explored caves and a tobacco plantation, and Cayo Levisa a resort island with sugary sand beaches. Cubans are not allowed there for it was a popular launching spot for boats trying to sail to Florida. There we encountered both days of the Cuban winter: windy and 60 degrees versus the 80+ degrees we had the rest of the time. We had hoped to snorkel there, but the boats were not going out to the reef in the cold and "rough" seas.
To get to these places we traveled on Cuba's only freeway. We often shared the 6 lane road with oxen, and horse and buggies. Often we would see horses, pigs or cows staked out to graze by the side of the road and one time we had to stop for a "herd" (at least 6!) of cattle freely grazing and meandering across the freeway. Most Cubans do not have cars and there was never much traffic, even in Havana. Pot holes were plentiful and our guide told us we were getting a "Russian massage."
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| Cows on the freeway |
OUR GROUPS...
Elvis is alive and well and was our guide the first week!! He is a professor of constitutional law at a university in Trinidad and also works as a lawyer and tour guide! Our group of 10 consisted of two women from Seattle (Shirley and Maxine), a couple from Wisconsin (Gretchen and Gary), another from LA (Francesca and Daniel), and a wonderfully quirky Brit married to a "good ole boy" from Alabama (Penny and George)!
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| Elvis showing us taro root in a market |
Tury was our guide for the second week. Educated as a software engineer, he is a full time guide working for several different guide companies. Our group of 8 that week consisted of two women from the Boston area (Roz and Joan), a couple from Chicago (Ed and Elaine: this was their 3rd trip to Cuba and they had specifically requested Tury), and Bill and Carol, a couple from Colorado by way of Georgia and Alabama. Everyone was "our" age, retired, or retiring.
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Tury our guide for the second week
This flower is used to make Chanel #5 |
We had the same car and drivers for both groups. Roberto, Sr. and Roberto Jr. Unfortunately Senior got sick the second week and Daniel, Junior's cousin, was sent to help drive - and keep an eye on Junior!! We figured this taxi, leased from the government, probably supported a large extended family with our tips.
WHAT WE SAW: ACTIVITIES AND ENCOUNTERS
HAVANA
Revolutionary Square... Every tour of Cuba begins here. Our cabbie from the airport, made a point of driving us by it on the first night and both guides started the Havana tour here. A large paved square flanked by government buildings and a "revolutionary" tower museum celebrates the Cuban revolution with a large sitting sculpture of Jose Marti. On the surrounding government buildings are lighted steel likenesses of Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos.
Remarkably there are no likenesses of Fidel Castro or his brother. He requested none, however he does shine down on you on billboards with political sayings throughout the countryside. (There are no commercial billboards in the country!) The huge square is where he would give his lengthy speeches and Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass there.
The American and Russian Embassies... We would pass these two landmarks on many drives between our Casa and Old Havana. The Russian Embassy looks like a toy transformer and we were told the top held electronics to monitor American cell phones.
Supposedly we would run a message sign in the windows of the the American Embassy similar to signs on Times Square with news and derogatory challenges to Castro. The Cubans "planted" a sea of flag poles in front of the embassy to keep the Cubans from being able to read the signs as they drove by. The building is largely empty since Trump slowed the Obama initiatives and the source of the sound pollution is still being debated.
The Fine Arts Museum... Our guide at the museum of Cuban art kept apologizing for the "poor illumination." Power outages are not rare, we were informed. David was struck by the different building codes (or lack thereof!). For instance unmarked steps without any handrails were randomly encountered where renovations didn't quite "meet" the existing structure. Artistically, the art was rather depressing and sad with very dark content. I was impressed by how the artists would dramatically change their style after visiting Europe and encountering Cubism or Expressionism.
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| Our fine arts guide beside a "real" coffee house |
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After being exposed to Andy Warhol
I bought the poster... do you see Bogart and Ringo? |
Castro's Boat... Just across from the art museum was a military museum. We did not go there, but outside was the boat Castro used to begin his revolution. It was also a common theme in murals and billboards we would see almost everywhere.
Squares, Museums, and Re-purposed Buildings... Old Havana has 4 major squares and several boulevards designed on the Parisian model with linear parks in the middle. We encountered some interesting art in the squares and artists lined the Prado (boulevard) much like on the Left Bank in Paris.
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| Children take an art class on the Prado |
When companies were nationalized during the Revolution, many left. The Bacardi building is now a ministry of international business and the Johnson and Johnson building is a pharmacy museum.
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| The Johnson and Johnson's pharmacy museum |
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| The Bacardi building in the background |
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| This fresco had amazing detail and depicts artists and authors from the turn of the century. It is on a blank wall across from the building it represents, the cultural ministry (see below) |
Old Cars from the 50's... They are everywhere! Most are "restored" and used for taxis or you can pay 1 CUC ($1) to have your picture made in one. Out in the country we saw many still being used as personal transportation. They weren't nearly as pristine! Sharing the roads with the old American cars are imports from China, Russia, and Europe used primarily as taxis and government vehicles. Cubans can not purchase new cars of any kind!
Jazz Clubs - One Jazz Club was included in our tour. Both Jazz clubs had great Motown warm up acts. At the first club we saw a student group from Canada. The professionals started about 11 pm and were excellent. We added the Buena Vista Social Club one night and got 3 drinks and a great jazz show for just $30 each!
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| Buena Vista Social Club Legends Singer |
Architecture - In a city getting ready to celebrate its 500th Anniversary in November, we encountered many types of architecture from the old forts to art deco and Russian "gulags". Their restoration efforts are very random. In Old Havana there is an effort to restore many of the colonial buildings but many of them are literally falling down and beyond help, though people are still living in them. Out in the countryside we saw cinder-block "shot gun" houses built slab on grade with either pitched tile or flat cement roofs. Their hurricane strategy is to "go strong" with cement and let the water flow through rather than elevating the houses on stilts. We always felt safe, even in crowds of people. However we were somewhat nervous in the Jazz Clubs and a few restaurants where only one exit was obvious and it involved narrow or "shakey" stairs. We requested that the stairway be unlocked in our highrise casa and Discovery Corps was responsive to our request. David just knows too much about safety codes!
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| Restoration beside devastation |
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| Typical homes in a small town |
AND IN THE SUBURBS...
Fusterlandia ... I had circled this in my guide book and was thrilled when Elvis announced it was to be on our suburban tour! My guide book said it was "beyond description as an art encounter to JUST GO"! 20 years ago Jose Fuster began decorating his home in tile mosaics. Influenced by Gaudi, Picasso and Gaugin he literally covered his house in mosaics and created numerous sculptures and murals. His art spilled into the adjacent neighborhood including the stop signs, street signs, bus stops and neighboring houses and murals. It reminded me a little of Pearl Fryar's topiaries in SC except in mosaics and much larger and more commercialized . He has had a similar effect on the neighborhood (the neighbors have set up gift shops in their driveways!). I bought tiles and a concept drawing there.
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| From the top of Fuster's house |
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| Castro's boat mural and a "taxi" in Fusterlandia |
Muraleando... Another feast of art and color, this cultural center includes not only great murals and sculptures from found objects but includes a venue for visual and performing artists and after school classes for students including those with special needs. Created out of a defunct water tower, it was one man's vision to "make a difference" in the community. After hauling off 36 truckloads of garbage, he and a skeleton crew began the on-going rehab project. Victor, a Russian language professor, gave us a tour and was a rousing cheerleader for the project.
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| Sculptures made from a '52 Buick at Muraleando |
Hemingway's House...Visiting Hemingway's house is a must for most Americans. It was built on a high hill overlooking Havana and was one of his wife's efforts to get him away (unsuccessfully) from the bar scene in the city. His infamous boat is there and a Picasso plate of a Bull. You could only look in the windows, but a guide would take your camera for $2 and take pictures for you!!
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| Hemingway's boat from the Spanish American War |
OTHER CITIES
The Bay of Pigs...On the way to Trinidad and Cienfuegos we stopped at the Bay of Pigs. It really made you think about whose propaganda do you adopt! The news-real type introductory film was obvious propaganda, but it is hard to dismiss the forces of war and deaths the Cuban people experienced in the bombing of Havana and other cities. Castro supposedly rallied the people with the cry, "If they come, they will stay!" And after experiencing the American Mafia in the 40's and 50's the Cubans wanted no such thing again. Even in America, we see this as Kennedy's big mistake, especially his not supporting the Cuban mercenaries he employed, equipped and trained for the "invasion".
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A memorial to the Cuban War Dead outside of
the Bay of Pigs Museum |
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| Elvis translates some of the exhibit posters to us |
Trinidad... Elvis was excited to show us his hometown (and spend the night with his wife - we kidded him mercilessly about that!). An historic French town, he described it sort of like we do Charlotte - the "great republic of Trinidad" for it is envied outside of Havana and has its own distinct culture.
Stores explained... As we walked the wicked cobblestones,
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Ration book
Every Cuban
has one! |
Elvis gave us a lesson in Cuban stores. First we went into a ration store. Each year the Cubans get a ration book which entitles them to a basic subsistence diet. For instance each person in the family qualifies for 5 pounds of rice per month, etc. Elvis said this actually only lasts most families about 9 days each month. The other "catch" is the rations are not always available at the ration store. When we were there, the shelves were practically bare. Then there is the government sanctioned grocery store. This had
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| Ration Store |
a little more and the prices were cheap (4 cents for a large can of tomatoes), but again the shelves were thin and the selection was limited. Along with the food were a few hard goods such as a fan for $40 (a month's wage!!). We also saw an appliance store with a washer and dryer for $300 each. No Cuban could ever afford such a luxury on government wages so most Cubans have a 2nd source of income "off the economy." Elvis laughed and said
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| Government Store |
a friend of his was raising a pig and named it "Washing Machine." Then there are the newly sanctioned private markets and stores usually like pop up tent fairs or on the porches and living rooms of houses. The government takes a healthy tax on what is "reported" (40-60%) and you got the distinct impression that much isn't reported, especially in a cash economy. Most of the goods in these stores are either fresh produce from gardens and farms, handicrafts, and goods hand - imported on trips to nearby Central and South American countries as well as the U.S. by those lucky enough
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| Import Store |
to obtain a visa.
Speakers' Corners...On one of the squares we encountered about a dozen men arguing and speaking loudly. Elvis explained that most towns have a "speakers' corner" where mostly men gather and argue about sports, mainly baseball. He explained that these men could probably quote statistics on both American and Cuban baseball and football (meaning soccer). We just wanted to know who won the Clemson - Alabama game!! (David did find out when he checked email one night.) Elvis and Roberto Jr. had an ongoing "argument" until Elvis' team got eliminated in the playoffs.
Religion... In Trinidad we went into a Santeria Temple. It is a form of Catholicism mixed with Nigerian mysticism. They stressed that is does not use voodoo as in other Caribbean islands. They consistently have a black Maria (Mary) and a white Jesus. Supposedly about 70% of Cubans use some form of Catholicism mixed with Santeria in their faith. Elvis several times pointed to folks dressed in all white and said they were in their year of Santeria training to move from one level to the next and must wear all white for a year.
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| Mother Mary with a cigar!! |
The Search for Tapas...We were on our own for supper in Trinidad. We ventured out with Gary and Gretchen to find a tapas restaurant Elvis had suggested. As we went up this one street, several of the restaurants had "hawkers" out with their menus. We asked about the tapas restaurant and they gave us directions around the block, "But we can do tapas, its just not on the menu!" said the cute hawker with a top-knot man-bun! The tapas restaurant had a line over an hour long so we walked all the way around the block and came back to Mr. Man-bun. We got drinks (another round of mojitos, please!) and waited and waited. They were obviously in the back with an English-Spanish dictionary trying to figure out tapas!! They finally came out with an assortment of sandwiches - pork, chicken, and cheese all with a pickle! It was not at all what we expected, but gave us a story to tell!!
CIENFUEGOS
The most modern town outside of Havana that we encountered, we were mainly glad to ditch Trinidad's awful cobblestones! Cienfuegos seemed to be Cuba's industrial Chicago or Pittsburgh, with an oil refinery and sugar refineries and a port. We could see the dome of an abandoned nuclear power plant on the horizon. Supposedly the Russians started it, but abandoned the construction when they abruptly pulled out in the late 80's. This caused a severe Depression from which Cuba is still recovering. They call it the Special Period.
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| Boats with the Nuclear Dome on the horizon |
However, our focus in our short time in Cienfuegos was two amazing art galleries, one large with one artist using multiple media, and the other very tiny but named The Art of the Resistance. At the Vladimir Art Gallery we were enthralled with Vladimir's passion for his art. He realized that the risks he takes with his art are a "privilege" and said, "I can live on through my ideas". He was in the middle of creating 4 large "canvas" works on old Esso and Texaco porcelain signs. They were amazing! But he also worked with glass molds creating amazing sculptures. We would have been interested in examples of either or both of these works but there is absolutely no shipping between our two countries. He also does all of his own prints and lithographs and Deb had to settle for a print of her favorite glass sculpture on linen.
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He knew about American Pickers!
Wouldn't they have a hey day in Cuba!! |
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| I had to settle for a drawing of this on linen |
In the tiny Art d'Resistance we were told that this tiny (maybe 10' x 10') gallery would not have been possible two years ago and would have been completely "underground." I bought two small canvases there one with a Russian Bear and the other a ration book with a McDonald's symbol!
We ate lunch at the Marina, a fancy government restaurant (with a mediocre buffet). The government owns all the boats in Cuba since the Mariel Boatlift. A few foreign boats were also docked there.
OUT IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
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Eddie squeezing
sugar cane |
Eddie's Farm...Our first stop on the "Preserving Nature's Wonders" tour was a 1 hectare (2.47 acres) organic farm on the outskirts of Havana. Eddie had been minister in the agriculture ministry and decided to quit the bureaucracy and start his own small farm. The government still owns the land, but he owns his house and barns. He plows with oxen and claims that this is better for the soil: he doesn't disturb the land as deeply as a tractor would and the oxen provide their own fertilizer!! He shares the oxen with a small cooperative of neighbors. Everything is composted and there is very little waste (we found this true just about everywhere). What is not composted is recycled and reused. While he seemed very efficient on a very small scale, we wondered if a larger "economy of scale" would be more lucrative. Eddie must sell
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| Farm Equipment |
40% of his produce to the government. 60% is sold at a produce stand on which pays another tax of 40% on the sales that are "reported." Health care, housing, and education of which the Cubans are very proud, are not really "free"!!
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A teak tree brought
from Thailand |
LasTerrazas (The Terraces)... Our visit to Las Terrazas included the infamous vegetarian meal, birdwatching, and lessons in agriculture and forest management. Las Terrazas is a National Park and Biosphere recognized by UNESCO. It began as a reforestation project on a defunct coffee plantation where the surrounding hills and mountains had been stripped and the soil depleted. They began by terracing the land to hold the earth and water. In planting trees they used the majestic Royal Palm, Cuba's national tree, but also trees from around the world including teak and mahogany. We also saw a mango grove and hibiscus trees that are revered for their wood to make baseball bats. We also saw red birch trees used to make pencils, turpentine, and coffins (mice do not like the wood!). They don't seem to be at all concerned about invasive species.
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| Dave with one of the remaining coffee plants |
This is true of their cattle and dairy farms too. We visited a defunct dairy farm. We were told that the grasses would not support the dairy cows so now they are experimenting with cows from India, Germany, and Canada. It looked odd to see a Brahman bull grazing with a Guernsey cow. They are also experimenting with cross-breeding.
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OK... this pic is from
the internet...
but we did see one! |
Las Terrazas is also a social experiment. They gathered about 1000 of the poor farmers, workers from the coffee plantation, and charcoal producers from the region and built a small town for them. The town provides housing, education, and medical, social and nutrition services. The result is the life expectancy has gone from 42 to 78 in less than 50 years.
Otis, our guide for the park also took us on a bird watching hike as he pointed out the trees. We were only semi-successful in seeing many of the birds he heard or called. Americans are just too impatient and noisy!! See the red, white and blue bird above. It is the Cuban national bird.
As we were touring the small town, we went to the art gallery of Lester Campa. His work is beautiful and often involves double ententes. We bought a lithograph of a landscape that is also a guitar, honoring Cuba's lush landscapes and music.
We also ate at the Buenavista Cafe which gave a breathtaking view of the mountains.
THE VINALES VALLEY
Nestled between large limestone mountains, the Vinales Valley provided many interesting natural and man-made sights. It is also one of the most visited (read tourist dominated) areas of Cuba outside of Havana.
El Jardin Botanico de las Hermanas Caridad y Carmen Miranda.... This small orchid and botanical garden is unique for its rich micro climate that provides 70-80% constant humidity. Though it was basically this family's backyard, it was fairly impressive, though not the pristine "botanical garden" Americans are used to. Staghorn ferns grow everywhere in Cuba and are often cultivated on to coconuts that can then be drilled into trees or other containers. The philodendron was massive. The family had imported plants from around the world. We also visited an orchid farm in Las Terrazas.
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| Stag horn fern |
Cueva del Indio... The limestone mountains are riddled with caves. We toured the Indian Cave which has an underground river running through it. About half way through the walk in the cave, we were transferred to a boat. The stalagmites are beautiful and the guide pointed out figures in them. This was the only reference made to indigenous people during our trip. When asked about them, they were summarily dismissed as "all dying off" or "they were eradicated by Cortez." For a people who seem to have figured out race relations among the Spanish, black slave decedents, and mulattoes, this seemed a curiosity to me.
Mural de la Prehistoria...Taking 18 people 4 years to complete, the mural of dinosaurs and pre-historic people is both simplistic and impressive. My guidebook said it was either "impressively psychedelic or monumentally horrific depending on your point of view". I agree on both counts. At first it looks like a massive rape of the mountain, but when you get closer and see the massive size and detail, it sort of grows on you.
The Tobacco Farm...The tobacco farm tour was a step back in time, and a lesson in cigars. Using oxen and very little mechanical equipment, tobacco is grown and harvested all year round in Cuba. They do have a crop rotation program to keep from wearing out the deeply iron-rich red soil. We observed both a staggered collection of leaves and a farmer experimenting with harvesting the entire plant at once and sorting the leaves in the tobacco barn. It was explained that most of the nicotine is in the large center vein of the leaf and that it is discarded making the cigars "safer". (That is their story and they stuck to it!!). We watched a farmer roll cigars and explain the center filler, binder, and wrapper parts of the cigars. The tobacco is fermented during the drying process with honey, lemon, cinnamon and rum. During our first week in Cienfuego, Elvis had tried to take us to a tobacco rolling factory, and though the government official sold him tickets around the corner, the factory was "closed" (many women "rollers" were coming and going). David bought a box of Cohiba-like cigars on the farm and plans to compare them to the Cohiba certified ones he bought in Havana.
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| One more pic of Casto's boat at the tobacco farm |
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| Leaves, picked and ready for the barn |
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Dave, Mojito in hand outside the tobacco barn
They treated us right!!! |
Cayo Levisa...This was to be our day at the beach. Unfortunately it coincided with the one day of Cuba's "winter" and my bout with Montezuma! The "cold" (60-65 degrees with a strong sea breeze) made sitting on the pristine sugary sand beach only mildly enjoyable, and the boats were not going out to the reef for snorkeling, which was a disappointment for many of us. Cubans are not allowed on the island and we had to show our passports to obtain a boat ticket. This felt truly strange to be among all tourists (French, Canadian, English and a few Scandinavian), and to leave Tury and Roberto behind. "Discovered" by Hemingway in the 40's as an excellent fishing location, it became a popular jumping off point for Cubans trying to navigate the 90 miles to America, thus the restrictions on their own citizens. With the excursion boats not running, we were sort of "stuck in Paradise" without much to do. Mojitos and an impromptu bridge game helped to pass the time.
OBSERVATIONS
AND MISCELLANY!
The sights were great, but the best part of the trip was the political, economic, and miscellaneous discussions we had with our guides and fellow travelers en route to the sights. We were pleased and amazed at how freely our guides expressed their personal opinions. They were both proud and critical of their culture and government. Here are some random things we learned and/or discussed.
- Our first taxi driver on the way in from the airport responded to my question about hurricanes this summer with "only Hurricane Trump." The Cuban people LOVE Obama and hate Trump. They were very excited when Obama re-opened the American Embassy and it looked like the embargo might end. They began fixing up casas and planning for American investment. Then Trump shut the door and the flood of tourists from America became a trickle. This was expressed vividly in the art I bought at the Eye of the Cyclone gallery. The artist x'd out 2014!!
- American companies weren't the only ones to leave during the nationalization of the Revolution. Cuba used to have a large Chinese population and one of the largest Chinatowns outside of China. Now all of the Chinese restaurants sell beans and rice. However we saw signs of Chinese aid and re-investment several places.
- After the Revolution, "neighborhood watch" meant your neighbors were probably reporting your movements and conversations to the government. They no longer believe this is true and speak freely. When asked if they feared a return to the old days, they skirted my question.
- A new constitution has been written removing many of the Soviet influences. It will be voted up or down next year. One controversial part provides for gay marriage. We saw one very small (8"x11") sign at a Catholic church which said "Keep the traditional family".
- We had a lot of fun with Penny, our ageless British hippy. She and Dave sparred daily over the pronunciation of words. Does acorn rhyme with corn or turn? And her explanations of British terms like rubbers (erasers) and "blow me" (just mild frustration) had us "rolling in the aisles"!!
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| Penny and George in Muraleando |
- Government shops are not popular. Folks who work in them get paid whether they sell you something or not, so they appear to be just marking time and provide little customer service. The only time we saw very many people in a shop was the day before Epiphany a toy store had a line out the door. Three Kings Day is the day children get gifts.
- Before 1990 Cubans could not go into hotels except as workers.
- We saw many abandoned buildings: the stadiums used for the Pan Am games, schools, factories, etc. The economy cannot maintain them and so they deteriorate. Elvis was particularly saddened by the bulldozing of sugar refineries when the price of sugar tanked. Now there is no money to rebuild them or modernize old ones.
- Cubans have no interaction with the Americans at Guantanamo. They would like for it to go away. There is speculation that Obama had hoped that Cuba would call an end to its lease when relationships were "normalized" but that hasn't happened.
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| David beside a Sabre Tree |
- Cuba did have its own refugees. They accepted Black Panthers in the 60's and Basques from Spain.
- Maps are very important here. There is no GPS. Tury can't wait for Uber to arrive!
- I asked Elvis about large 5-6 story buildings in the middle of farm fields. These are abandoned "farm schools." He went to one. High schoolers were sent there to work on the farms while going to high school. He said the conditions were terrible: 20 children per shower. The children lived in dorms for 11 days at a time and then were bused home for 4 days and back again for a year.
- All Cubans must serve in the military after high school. Girls one year and boys 2 years unless they are going to study for advanced degrees, then they serve just one year.
- The day before our visit to the rum museum, a rich Chinese businessman bought their last 3 bottles of 100 year old rum for $1700 each.
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| Empty case for 100 yr old Rum |
- After Hurricane Ike, the banks freed up money for renovating houses. This was the first credit since the Revolution.
- Elvis spoke freely about the pros and cons of socialism but acknowledged there was a line he could not cross in discussing these in his classes. Castro seems to be universally loved, but they recognize that many of his economic decisions were "mistakes."
- Cuba "fought" on both sides in WWII. They both sold diesel to the Nazis and sank Uboats.
- There was about a mile of freeway with no median strip so that it could be used as a jet runway during emergencies.
- Right now neighborhood councils have 50% representatives voted by the people and 50% appointed by the party. The new constitution would have the people vote on everyone. Raul spearheaded the new constitution and then left office, though he still controls the party.
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Billboard with Fidel, Raul,
and the new President Miguel Diaz-Canel |
- While the internet is "unmonitored" they cannot buy anything on it and Amazon is blocked.
- Many of their electrical poles were made out of concrete to make them hurricane "proof".
- We asked Tury the difference between Socialism and Communism: He said, Communism is more closed and dictatorial. One has no private property. Socialism works for the people and there is little income inequality (except you've never seen a poor government leader). Socialism allows for private property and the "human right" to college, medicine and housing.
- We saw at least 2 bridges to nowhere. When building the interstate they would build the bridges and hope for a road.
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Our group waits while Roberto and Daniel
change a tire from a blowout on the freeway |
- They are following the disruptions in Venezuela closely as they are a major trading partner, especially oil.
- Discover Corps suggested we give our Casa hosts small gifts. You would have thought the AA batteries and thumb drives were gold. Our guides loved the Charlotte magazines I brought.
- The large Christ figure above Havana was commissioned by Batista's wife just before the Revolution. She had her lover used as a model for Christ.
- When given the option, one of our guides said he would prefer his tip in American money as he was saving it to hopefully invest when our countries relationships strengthen. There are virtually no investment opportunities in Cuba. Dave had to explain the stock market to him. THAT was an interesting discussion!
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| Fruit seller outside our Casa one morning |
Cuba is truly a land of beauty, interesting educated people and major contradictions!!
