Cuba - What a Trip!

Cuba - What a Trip March 17, 2017

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”  St. Augustine

Our time in Havana, Cuba, was fascinating - the pastel buildings, the classic American cars, the turbulent history,  the current political situation, the music, the people.  Our Spanish language skills got a real work-out!  We learned a lot about the culture, the society, and the city in general.  It’s a Latin and Caribbean culture inside of a Communist system.  The only other Communist nation that we’ve visited is Laos, five years ago.  Thanks to the openness of the Cuban people, we were able to learn a lot more about life there than we did about Laotian life.  

Our first three days were spent at an Airbnb in Vedado, an area of once-lovely homes in Havana, now in a severely declined state. Traces of the original art deco design or the colonial grandeur can be seen, and some homes are in good condition.  However, most are in need of paint and repair, having become dingy, often with a boarded up window, laundry handing on the front porch or across a window, dirt yards.  The sidewalks, while wider than those in Guatemala, are broken and pose all sorts of hazards to the unobservant wanderer.  

In some ways, that’s the superficial stuff, though it says a lot about conditions there.  The people are another story.   We were warmly received by the Airbnb hosts in both places where we stayed - and by many other people!

Elisa, our first host, was a woman in her thirties, tall and dark and intelligent and what I would think of as an elegant Spanish lady with bangles and a certain pizzaz in her dress.  She was friendly and open. In addition to husband Pablo, she had a friendly, efficient housekeeper who came each morning to fix us breakfast and to clean, after she got her own children off to school.  Although Elisa’s Airbnb site lists her partner as her sister Anita, it turns out that Anita is in Spain, studying to be a doctor!  

Our first host, Elisa, and her housekeeper, Valerie.

Our first Airbnb. That piazza is where we had our yummy breakfasts.

Elisa’s pretty home was situated on the second floor of an early 20th century building, on a busy city street.  Since our room was in the front, we were often awakened by loud engine noises - big busses, trucks carrying cement pieces, cars in need of mufflers, etc., most belching clouds of engine smoke. But the inside space at Elisa's home was lovely, with tall ceilings and artsy, antique decor.  I had a wonderful place to write, on a glass table facing tall French doors that opened onto a piazza furnished with comfortable wicker furniture.  

               I loved the glass table in front of the tall French doors. 

Nearby was a large, aqua-colored primary and middle school.  We could watch the children arrive in the morning, accompanied by their parents. They wore uniforms that looked to me like quintessential Communist outfits - red shorts or skirt, white shirt, and a red bandana around the neck.  

                 This public school serves primary up through middle school students.

                             School children out for a field trip in Old Havana. 

Because Elisa could accommodate us for only 3 nights, we had made arrangements to stay in a different area of town for the rest of our time in Cuba.  We moved to Miramar, a neigbhorhood a bit farther away from “Old Havana” and more upscale.  This area is said to be the most elegant - and it certainly was lovely.  The main avenue (5th Avenue) is a broad boulevard with a narrow park down the middle.  It is lined with gorgeous old mansions - probably owned originally by those who fled to Miami after the revolution - that are now used mostly as foreign embassies or offices.  Our abode, on a side street was, oddly enough, much more modest than our space at Elisa’s.  

In our second Airbnb, our room was upstairs in the front corner. We ate breakfast in the tiny outside space where the shade is partially down.

The traffic noises were replaced by barking dogs and crowing roosters (we were in the Caribbean, after all).  But all of that was made up for by the nicest, most helpful hosts that one could ask for, Pedro and Stefany, who also outdid themselves with creative, beautifully presented breakfasts! They are a young couple with two little children.  He speaks good English and made himself available to our every need :), including escorting us to a wonderful nearby resto, showing us the ropes in taking taxis, finding internet access, and getting money changed.  She is a wonderful mother, a university grad on a year’s maternity leave, subsidized - to a small extent - by the Cuban government.  

We were close to the beach in Miramar and made the short walk to the shore each evening to watch the sun set, one of our sweetest delights. 

I had expected the weather to be very hot and humid in Cuba.  It was actually a bit cooler and drier than I had expected, probably in the low 80’s, though we heard that summer weather is much steamier! Mid-day walking in March got pretty warm but evening was like a lovely July evening in Maine. Speaking of Maine, one day we were walking along a street, past a well-kept building with a gate and a guard.  We began chatting with the guard, an 80 (!) year old fellow.  When he learned that we were from Maine, he brightened up and emerged from his guard box to tell us about having spent a summer of his youth with his family on Cobbosseecontee Lake (where I spent many summers of my childhood!).  We missed much of his free-flowing Spanish tale but were able to immediately understand his motion of paddling a canoe!

Ernest Hemingway famously lived in Cuba for many years.  His haunts are all great draws for tourists.  At the Hotel Ambos Mundos (Both Worlds) in Old Havana, where Ernesto spent a lot of time in the 1930’s, we spent an hour or so relaxing, sipping limonadas, listening to live music, and reveling in the old world feel of high ceilings, dark wood-framed windows, and tall French doors open to the outside. The lobby bustled with tour groups, many taking an antique, iron elevator up to Hemingway’s 5th floor room, left as it had been when he stayed there.  

Hotel Ambos Mundos was a delightful spot to sip a limonada and watch the people.  

We had some wonderful, open conversations with various residents about the state of affairs here in Cuba.  There is great pride in three pillars of the system:  the education system (free at all levels from pre-school to PhD), the excellent free medical care for everyone, and the general level of public safety since no one is allowed to own a gun. Wow - what's not to like? Given the high percentage of black citizens in Cuba, I wondered about racism.  A white fellow proudly volunteered that racism does not exist in Cuba.  A black fellow says that there is “soft” racism.  In any case, it seems that much of the population has some black heritage and the racial divide is much more muted.  

Difficulties in Cuba seem to center on economic issues and include the lack of goods, the poor quality and high prices of those goods, along with very low salaries.  We have heard that it is hard for people to buy a car or a home. It’s not unusual for people to have two jobs to make ends meet, including doctors who may drive taxis on the side.  This hardship is often attributed to the American embargo.  In fact, we passed a large poster downtown, showing a picture of a big noose strangling Cuba, with the word “Bloqueo” (Embargo).  As one might expect in a Communist nation, there is a lot of propaganda written on marqees and spray painted on walls and neatly printed on sides of buildings, telling how much Fidel Castro and Che Guevara are appreciated and instilling communal values.  

     Unofficial wall murals.  There still seems to be a lot of passion about the revolution.  

There is also general frustration at the lack of information about the outside world - but that is changing, “thanks to Obama and Google”, in the words of one person.  Access to the internet is limited to wireless hot spots, businesses, hotels and Internet cafes.  Few people have Internet at home.

           These folks gathered spontaneously one evening in a hot spot for internet.  

We, ourselves, would appreciate access to the internet without having to go to a central location, pay a fee, and wait for a turn.  It is possible to buy a card that’s good for an hour of use - outdoors in a park, where there apparently is wifi (we don’t know how this works!).  We have seen clusters of folks with their laptops or phones, sitting where there must be a “hot spot” for wifi,  on a curb or outside a hotel.  

More to our liking was the internet space in a modern business center where we sat in a large, air-con room with about 30 other folks, renting a desk computer for an hour.  It reminded us of our internet cafe days in France 10 years ago.  We restricted ourselves to one visit, mid-way through our 10 day visit. While we did not miss the daily barrage of disturbing US political news that we listen to at home, we certainly felt cut off from personal news while we were in Cuba.  We crossed our fingers that all would be well at home, while we were out of contact.  But, as Tom Friedman notes in his book, Thank You for Being Late, the genie is out of the box.  Now that the underdeveloped world has access to the internet, even limited access, they know what they are missing, in terms of freedom and basic goods, not to mention luxury items and connection to the rest of the world.  Pressure will be put to bear on leaders to improve life everywhere.  

We are Cuba.

We are aware of the fact that the American embargo is seen as standing in the way of a better life for Cuban citizens. They very much value the social gains that they have achieved.  Most are uneasy about possible changes in the future, despite wanting higher incomes and an easier life.  When asked what he would hope for in a relationship between the USA and Cuba, one thoughtful person responded, “Respect and lifting of the embargo”.  There is a lot about this society to respect:  they have thrown off the yoke of a colonial power, overthrown a dictator, resisted the invasion of their powerful neighbor, the US - all in their attempt to improve the lives of the common person.  We heard little to nothing about a heavy-handed, repressive government, which surely does exist in Cuba. However, respect by our country for their admirable achievements and lifting of the embargo seem like reasonable and achievable goals.