Post-Cuba Reflections: Appreciation and Balance

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Post-Cuba Reflections: Appreciation and Balance

As I sit here in the morning, listening to the rhythmic salsa of Manolito Simonet y Su Trabuco, I am reflecting back on my 16 days in Cuba and all that I have experienced and learned.

My time in Cuba has been the single most interesting and amazing travel experience in my life so far - bar none. I have never jumped head first into a vastly different culture like this before, and it has, without exaggeration, been a head-twisting experience.

No doubt I fell in love with the city of Havana, I find it an amazing, beautiful and multi-faceted place. No doubt I had a really special experience with the people, and I made new friendships, with local Cubans as well as with a small crowd of international people who shared this language-learning experience with me at the University of Havana.

There is also no doubt that going to a totalitarian Communist country shifts your mindset just a little. Starting with the shortages (of food, of writing paper, toilet paper and toilet seats, gasoline, public transportation, consumer goods etc. etc.), to the constant presence of the police, to the palpable sense of guardedness, in some cases even paranoia, among the population. The watchful eyes of the authorities are everywhere and you have to be very careful about how you act and what you say.

You start to realize you have entered a totally different world. I was really careful not to try to reveal the sources of my information because I honestly did not want to jeopardize my friends and acquaintances in Cuba who were willing to share their candid opinions.

You have also entered a country where private property and private business are all but forbidden, but strangely enough, everybody has turned into an entrepreneur. Cuba is truly a country with a myriad of ironies and contradictions.

On the other hand, you see a people who are hospitable and very friendly once they know you (and once you get beyond the constant hustling directed at the tourists). Although you constantly hear about the daily struggle ("Hay que luchar"), you see a people that know how to celebrate and enjoy life in all forms. Cuba's sensual music is just one way of expressing that joy of life.

But beyond my Cuban impressions I have learned a few more personal things. First and foremost, I have learned to enjoy what I have at home, right here in Toronto. (Believe me, I have never enjoyed the luxury of a toilet seat so much.....)

No doubt in my mind, through a fluke of immigrant fate , I have chosen one of the best countries in the world to live in: a safe country, a prosperous country, a free country with a good balance between individual freedoms and collective well-being, a pluralistic and tolerant country, free from repression, surveillance and dogma.

Last but not least, I have also learned to appreciate my own life situation more: my comfortable life in Toronto, my freedom to be an entrepreneur, my freedoms as a woman. And most significantly, I have come to appreciate my personal relationships, my friendships and my marriage and even my physical health, which, in my anxious quest to build two businesses at the same time and to get this website up and running as quickly as possible, had been suffering for a while.

As a result of all these experiences, I have decided to slow things down a bit and to achieve more balance by dedicating more time to my husband and our home life, our friends, our sports activities and, in line with Cuban philosophy, to just enjoy and appreciate life a little more.

After all, as I saw in Cuba, life is not all about business, work and making money...

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Coming Up: My Friend Carol - Expert on Istanbul

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Coming Up: My Friend Carol - Expert on Istanbul

One of the things I like to do on my website is shine the spotlight on regular people like you and me who have chosen to do something a little unusual with their time and who have managed to live a unique cross-cultural experience.

So one of these special people is my friend Carol, a multi-talented highschool teacher, who, as I recently found out, is also an accomplished painter and pianist.

During the mid-nineties Carol decided to take a few years off and she went off to Turkey to teach English and Mathematics in a school in Istanbul. After all was said and done, Carol had lived for 7 years in Istanbul, thoroughly gotten to know Turkish culture and created a network of international and local friends that she still stays in touch with today. Turkey continues to be one of her favourite destinations and Carol tries to reconnect with her favourite country as often as she can.

In addition to that, Carol also has a special connection to a little town in Greece by the name of Parga and there is an interesting story behind this. We'll soon hear about Carol's international connections and her experiences and insights about Turkey and Greece.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com

Coming Up: An Interview with Gail Morse from Big Apple Greeters - New York City's Greeter Organization

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Coming Up: An Interview with Gail Morse from Big Apple Greeters - New York City's Greeter Organization

Big Apple Greeters is an organization of local New York City volunteers that give their personal time to out-of-town visitors and show them around local neighbourhoods and sites. I have just had a chance to connect with Gail Morse, the organization's Director of Marketing and Public Relations and Marketing, who will be able to answer some of my questions about the Greeter program in the next few weeks.

The information on the Big Apple Greeter website states that "Big Apple Greeter's mission is to enhance New York City's worldwide image and enrich the New York Experience by connecting Visitors with knowledgeable and enthusiastic Volunteers. The mission was created to accomplish the following goals:

- promote a friendly, inviting, manageable image of New York City - bolster tourism and to foster economic development - create opportunities for New Yorkers to show pride in their city and give back to their city through volunteering"

Incidentally the Big Apple Greeter program has been so popular that it has spawned off greeter organizations in other cities around the world, including Chicago, San Antonio/Texas, Sydney and - soon to come - Toronto.

As I will be heading off to New York City next week, I have arranged for a local Big Apple Greeter to meet my husband and me next Friday and I am really looking forward to meeting a local who can take us around and give us her personal insights about living in New York City.

So stay tuned for my upcoming live travel reports from New York City and the interview with the Big Apple Greeters!

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com

Hello from Cuba (16) - The Final Day

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Hello from Cuba (16) - The Final Day

My god, how time flies.... I have now been back from Cuba for close to 10 days, and my reentry into the business world has been the usual: tons of projects to catch up on, accounting stuff to be taken care off, marketing strategies to be worked out, etc. etc. As a result I didn't have time yet to tell you about my final day in Cuba and my reflections and insights after my return.

On Friday afternoon I checked out the Plaza de la Revolucion, which is the seat of the Fidel Castro's government and the seat of the "Comite Central" of his communist party. It is a large square that is usually used for political rallies and speeches and the two most distinguishing features are a huge image of Che Guevara on a building on the west side of the square, as well as the memorial to Jose Marti which is composed of an obelisk-like tower and a huge statue of the national hero. The Plaza de la Revolucion definitely has a very monumental feel to it and I would have like to be there and experience the atmosphere during a rallye or speech.

Well, Saturday, April 16 was my last full day in Cuba. The day started out rainy and grey but the weather managed to clear up nicely, so much so that I forgot to put on sunscreen and I got myself burned on my arms pretty badly. I now officially have a tanline half way down my upper arm since I was wearing a t-shirt with sleeves - not a pretty sight....

My trusted friend and tour guide Pedro came to meet me early for our last excursion around Havana. As we had done earlier in the week, we walked towards downtown and there were a few things that I had not seen yet. We walked all the way to the Capitolio and caught a public bus across the bay to get to the famous statue "Cristo de la Habana", a 17m high statue dating to the late 1920s, that looks at downtown Havana and the harbour entrance from a ridge on the other side of the water.

The view from up there was fabulous. We saw the entire skyline of Havana (obviously pretty devoid of skyscrapers), had a view of the entire Bay of Havana and saw a huge cruise ship anchored at the Terminal Sierra Maestra. (Incidentally, due to the embargo, any cruise ship docking in Cuba is not allowed to dock in the US for 6 months..).

After successfully catching a sunburn we caught another bus back into town and sat around in a tourist cafe along the waterfront. A group of performance artists on stilts, the so-called "Teatro de la Calle" (Street Theatre) came by and perched high up on their stilts, they danced to the ubiquitous rhythms of Salsa.

Later that afternoon we caught the local ferry to the other side of Havana Bay, to a residential neighbourhood called "La Regla". This is definitely not a tourist area, so we just hopped off, walked around for a half hour and returned to the ferry dock. Our effort was rewarded with a view of one of the most beautiful sunsets across Havana Bay before we returned to the downtown area to head into the Barrio Chino for a final tasty, yet affordable meal.

I headed back to the hotel fairly early since I still had to pack my suitcase. Sunday morning I took a little walk through the neighbourhood, taking a few final snapshots of the area, including the Habana Libre hotel and the famous Coppelia icecream park. Pedro had dropped by and we said our goodbyes in front of my hotel.

My friend Pedro had been my tourguide, my local expert and my bodyguard against the constant onslaught of male attention for close to 2 weeks and we had developed a great friendship. We dropped by at his sister-in-laws who works in the neighbourhood and another round of goodbyes was exchanged.

In the airport shuttle I connected with another young woman from Vancouver who had also attended a 2-week course at the University of Havana and we exchanged stories and experiences on our way, in Spanish, of course.

I think what made this trip so unique and special was the fact that I had the opportunity to connect with locals and to be immersed and receive a personal introduction to the Cuban lifestyle. I had made a real effort to seek out contacts with locals, in restaurants, in the bank, at the bus station, at the university, really whereever I could.

My experience in Cuba was made most special by the people that I met. I really have to thank Pedro, his family, my friend Sandra in Vinales and all the other local Cubans who showed me great hospitality and who taught me so much about this strange and unique country.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

Hello from Cuba (15) - Goodbye, Havana.....

Hotel Habana Libre, Saturday, April 16, 2005, 9:51 am

So my stay in the Cuban capital is rapidly coming to a close. Even the good weather seems to have taken leave. This morning it clouded over, followed by an intense downpour and now the sky is grey and the wind is blowing strongly. Unless the weather improves, I think it´s going to be a day for a museum or a movie and for letting this Cuban adventure come to a slow and gentle close.


Walking along the famous Malecon.

These last 2 or so weeks have truly been a defining experience. I have never before travelled to a developing country, and I have never travelled by myself in this way. Moreover, I have never consciously immersed myself in a foreign culture as I have here. I spent more than two weeks studying at a local university and spending time and interacting with Cuban people as much as possible. I have been reading Cuban books, listening to Cuban music, watching a little bit of Cuban TV (also an interesting experience) and immersed myself in Cuban life as much as I could.


The Neptune Statue with the Christo de La Habana in the background.

I think in the 2 weeks that I´ve been here I´ve learned a tremendous amount about this strange and beautiful country. I have been exposed to its politics, its history, its architecture, landscape and music, its street life and its people. I have made a concerted effort to open myself up and pursue my curiosity and ask questions wherever possible. It´s been intense, to say the least, and it feels like I am going to need 2 or 3 solids days to reacclimatize myself when I get back to Toronto. The environment is so different from what I am used to that it has really rattled my brain.

New friendships have been formed, with professors from the university and with some of my language study colleagues from around the world. Last, but definitely not least, I have to thank my local friend Pedro for spending a lot of time with me, showing me the local sights, explaining the local culture to me (and also for protecting me from the continuous onslaught of male attention that female travellers are constantly exposed to). More appreciation goes out to Pedro´s family who have received me in their home like a long-lost friend or distant cousin.

Most importantly, I have gained an appreciation of the things that define Cuba (especially the Cuban enjoyment of life, their close family relationships and their ability to make do and be happy with very little), and at the same time I have gained a new appreciation of what I have at home.


SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

Hello from Cuba (14) - Field Trips and Interviews

Hotel Habana Libre, Thursday, April 14, 2005, 3:38 pm

During the past close to 2 weeks, I have really been trying to understand Cuba, its politics, its economy, its people, its mentality. I have been talking to as many locals as I could, and every night before I go to bed, I have been reading books about Cuba in addition to having purchased some local Cuban books which are going to give me more insight about this unique, contradictory place.


Cuban flag, Plaza de la Revolucion

Yesterday I had a chance to talk to a TV journalist, who is a specialist in economics and he explained a few things to me. I only have a passing degree of familiarity with Communism, mostly from my time back home in Austria, when the Soviet Block still existed. It's so hard for me to believe that virtually all business activity here is state-owned and state-run. The journalist explained to me that there are 140 occupations (e.g. private small restaurants / "Paladares", private bed and breakfasts or "Casas Particulares", taxi drivers, carpenters, plumbers, artisans and other tradespeople, that are allowed to practice private enterprise while all the stores, service providers and industry are nationalized.

Not surprisingly, the quality of service is very low and people steal incredible amounts of goods and merchandise from the State to resell them privately on the street. I asked the journalist what he thinks the percentage of theft is in comparison to the total gross national product, but he played pretty dumb and said he couldn't give me an answer to that question. Apparently the huge amount of theft and resulting private enterprise is not officially discussed in Cuban political circles.


Che immortalized on the Plaza de la Revolucion

At noon today I went for a walk with a local Cuban woman from the university and we tried to grab a simple lunch. We tried 4 restaurants, all of them were closed (some apparently due to a shortage of water) and the ones that were open, only had a couple of the items that were listed on the menu. We finally ended up eating a pizza at one of the big hotels. Long lineups and shortages are a theme that repeats itself daily several times.

Earlier today my language class (the professor and 4 students) went on a field trip to the "Center Felix Varela", a non-governmental organization, funded by Swiss, Belgian and Canadian contributors, that concerns itself with 4 main topics: sustainable development, conditions for peace, local community development and environmental education. From what I understand, they provide workshops, seminars and conference for academics and political decision makers in these 4 categories of topics and they have more than 100 volunteers who go out into society to apply some of these principles.

Again, this is one of the idiosynracies of Cuba: it's a third world country with major economic problems, often lacking the basic necessities. But on the other hand, there are organizations that concern themselves with advanced societal issues such as sustainable development, the environment, etc.


Plaza de la Revolucion

Admittedly Cuba is not doing very well yet in these regards. Environmental conscience is in its infancy, recycling doesn't exist and people freely toss garbage into the street or the ocean. Sewage treatment does not exist either and Havana's waste water is apparently discharged without treatment into Havana Bay. On the other hand, there are organizations that want to promote the use of alternative energy in Cuba, particularly of solar energy.

Agriculture in itself is for the most part "organic" since Cuba doesn't have the money for agricultural machinery, fertilizers or other chemicals. In many cases fields are still cultivated with oxens and ploughed manually, which obviously affects efficiency, but on the other hand provides a healthy natural crop. Again, one of the many idiosyncracies of this fascinating country.

I can't help but be mesmerized by this country, which on one hand is so strangely advanced (in terms of medicine, literacy, infant mortality, life expectancy, education, etc.), but on the other it is so immensely backward. Sometimes it is truly hard to process all the various impressions that at first glance don't make sense, but after a while you start to realize that life in Cuba has its own very very strange and unique characteristics.

SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

Hello from Cuba (13) - Exploring Downtown Havana

Hotel Habana Libre, Thursday, April 14, 2005, 3:02 pm

The last few days I have spent quite a bit of time walking around downtown Havana - or Habana Vieja, as they say around here. It is an extremely fascinating place and one of the most architecturally consistent colonial city centres in the world.


Plaza de Armas 

A few days ago, my local friend Pedro and I went to explore the Capitolio, which is a beautiful building, ironically very reminiscent of the Capitol in Washington. Built between 1926 and 1929 as the former seat of the Cuban government, its neoclassical exterior is complemented by an absolutely astounding Roman interior with all sorts of meetings rooms, a library, a souvenir shop and an Internet cafe. In the front entrance hall there is a huge statue that greets you upon entering, truly an astounding building.

The park outside the Capitolio is one of my favourite places, despite the missing seats and backrests of the benches. Yesterday I also had a chance to visit the Partagas Tobacco Company, a cigar factory in existence since 1845. I took the $10 tour and we saw the tobacco rolling school where students learn cigar production for 90 days. Later we moved upstairs to the area where the real cigars are made. Workers have quotas of between 80 and 200 cigars a day (some of which miraculously find their way into the black market...) and the workers sit at old wooden work stations and manually roll the tobacco, while at other work stations the exterior leaf and later the label and the boxes are added. I really wanted to see a tobacco factory since tobacco still remains a key industry in Cuba to this day.


Capitolio Nacional. 

Due to its architectural beauty, and not surprisingly, Havana has been declared a Human Heritage Site by the UNESCO and it is definitely one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited, despite the physical decay that is visible in so many parts of the city.

Along these lines, I had a chance to see residential areas in Habana Vieja, where people live in extremely cramped conditions in crumbling houses, with the occasional house that has already collapsed in between others. Everybody's life unfolds in the street, you see children, couples, old people, dogs and cats at all hours of the day, people generally just sit around and chat, and the children play street versions of "la pelota", which is baseball, the national sport. This street life is something truly different from a nordic city like Toronto where there are only a few areas where there is significant pedestrian traffic. And people generally don't sit around in front of their houses or apartments to chat in the m iddle of the night.


Cupola of the Capitolio Nacional. 

I also had a chance to see Havana's train station, of course absolutely packed with people, the port area and some rather derelict industrial areas with crumbling buildings. The lack of money is apparent everywhere.

On the other hand I have also had a chance to sample some of the beauty that this city has to offer. I have travelled a fair bit, particularly to historic southern places in Europe such as Paris, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, etc. But in my opinion Havana is in a category by itself. The colonial architecture downtown is so consistent, with almost no new buildings interrupting the visual impression.

Beside the Capitolio is the Teatro Nacional, which is just next to the famous Hotel Inglaterra and in front is the Parque Central, where men of all ages get together to discuss news related to their national sport. 2 days ago was the final of the playoffs between Havana Campo (if I am correct) and Santiago de Cuba, the second most important city in the country. Obviously a huge deal in this country, and Havana ended up losing 2 to 1, but despite the loss a great opportunity for the locals to party.


Vintage cars in Havana. 

Walking down the famous pedestrian street Calle Obispo, which has numerous expensive stores for tourists, you approach the really old historic part of Habana Vieja, places such as the Plaza de la Catedral (where there was a mass for Pope John Paul II about a week ago), Plaza Vieja and, my favourite place: Plaza de Armas. This square dates back to the early 1500s, and houses the centuries old former city administration office as well as several other Spanish colonial buildings that surround a beautiful park with a statue of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, the founder of the Cuban homeland.

Yesterday I also had a chance to explore a market that is put up every Wednesday to Saturday just off the Malecon, near the Plaza de Armas, where they sell all sorts of trinkets and merchandise for tourists. I had a chance to pick up a few little souvenirs for my husband and my colleagues and then sat down at a little outdoor cafe where there was a young Cuban band playing traditional old-fashioned Cuban music. The really interesting thing was an organ that they were playing that must date back to the 1920s, accompanied by all sorts of Cuban percussion. I really love Cuban music, but I haven't yet had a chance to listen to it a lot. My friend and I wanted to go and visit the "Casa de la Musica" yesterday where they play live music at a reasonable price, but for some reason it was closed, something not unusual around here.

I also had a chance to walk down to "Prado", a long avenue with a pedestrian walkway with trees on both sides, and two lines of traffic on both sides of the pedestrian area, somewhat reminiscent of the Ramblas in Barcelona. Very close to the Prado is the Museo de la Revolucion which used to be the palace of the last Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista, prior to the Revolution. Fidel Castro's yacht, the "Granma"which he used to cross over from Mexico with his rebellious companions, is displayed in a glass-encased building just behind the palace-like Museo de la Revolucion, and surrounded by various tanks and military vehicles dating back to revolutionary combat. The Revolution is definitely present whereever you go.

I think I have seen most of the important sights of the city, excluding the Plaza de la Revolucion, which houses the Comite Central and the political apparatus of the Cuban government. I still have to make a little excursion to that area and also take a photo or two of the memorial of Che Guevara, who still appears to be a very revered individual around here, often admittedly more so than Fidel Castro.

2 weeks is a pretty long time to spend in a city and due to the fact that I have completely immersed myself in the culture, I think I have a pretty good feel for La Habana and I am slowly but surely mentally getting ready to go home. It's been great, but I am also happy to get back home to see my husband, my friends, to have my normal life back. There are only 2 and a half days left now for my Cuban experiment and there are a few more places to see, but I am also looking forward to coming back home to Toronto.

SQ.

www.travelandtransitions.com
www.textronics.com

Hello from Cuba (12) - Contrasts and Contradictions

Etecsa Telecommunications Building, Downtown Havana, Thursday, April 13, 2005, 3:32 pm

I really gotta hurry, I only have about 28 minutes left on my Internet card so I am going to try to be brief here.

The last few days have been extremely interesting. I am not a political expert, but in a city like Havana you can´t help but be confronted with politics. Everywhere you see billboards with political slogans, monuments of heroes that were significant in Cuba´s history, pictures of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, and the Cuban Revolution as well as the present economic circumstances are omnipresent topics of conversation.


Political slogans.

I have read a lot about Cuba and tried to talk to as many people as possible and there are a few things that have crystallized in my mind as general impressions of Cuba. Once again, these are my personal impressions and they are definitely not based on scientific fact, but nevertheless I will share them with you.

Cubans are a fiercely proud and independent people and more than anything they insist on preserving their national independence and sovereignty. At various times throughout history Cuba was dominated by the Spanish, the English or the Americans and since the Cuban Revolution in 1959 Cubans have had self-determination for the first time in history. Obviously, Cubans avowed political enemy is the US goverment, but I have heard numerous people say that they have nothing against the American people, their issues are with the US government, and in particular the embargo and the travel restrictions for Cubans living in the US. Apparently, relatives of Cuban families are now only allowed to travel to Cuba once every 3 years, so the policites were tightened significantly by the US government in recent times.

The results of the embargo and the economic shortages are visible everywhere, buildings are crumbling, there is not enough construction material, hospitals are lacking in equipment, and personal income is extremely low (eg. between $ 8 and $20 a month...). As a result, everybody is forced to open a little side business. During the last few days I have heard that it is extremely common in Cuba to steal resources from the State since all economic activity including retail is nationalized.

People steal cosmetics, hygience products, cement, wood, computers, cigars, everything that is not absolutely nailed down. Then they sell the products privately under the table. It is strangely ironic that in a Communist country, everybody has turned into an entrepreneur... The phrase that I have heard is ¨hay que inventar¨, you have to invent things - be creative in order to survive.

This mentality manifests itself in some very obvious ways: yesterday Pedro and I tried to get into the Partagas Tobacco Factory since I wanted to go on a tour. The security guard told us that an employee had died and that therefore the factory was closed. Then, under his breath, he asked us if we wanted to buy a box of cigars. How amazing: the security guard protecting the tobacco factory is selling (stolen) cigars on the black market.


Partagas Tobacco Factory.

Also, just outside the Capitol building, Havana´s most astounding and most well-known architectural jewel, there is a beautiful park with tropical flowers, shadowy trees and benches. And almost all the benches are missing their wooden slats, on the seat, the backrest or both. And these benches are located right outside Cuba´s most famous building! Today I received the explanation that quality wood is extremely difficult to get and that people simply help themselves.....

The number and types of private entrepreneurial schemes is too large to mention. Only a few are legal, for example the paladares (private restaurants in private homes), the casas particulares (bed and breakfasts) as well as various types of private taxis. But apart from this small number of officially permitted private enterprises, virtually everybody in this country has turned into an entrepreneur. Any person that owns a car, and car ownership is extremely restricted here, uses it to give a lift to people, picks up passengers at a street corner and drops them off 20 minutes later in return for 10 Pesos, all money made under the table.


Old vintage cars are everywhere.

All these things are strangely ironic to me, since Cuba officially is a Communist country, where private property and private enterprise is all but forbidden, but in order to survive the entire population has turned into an army of entrepreneurs.

On the other hand, Cuba has achieved tremendous accomplishments, for a small, third-world Carribean country. Close to 100% of Cuba´s population is literate, public education is available to everybody. Black people and women in particular have benefited from the effects of the revoluation. The health care and education system are among the most developed systems in the 3rd world, and Cuba´s life expectancy and infant mortality rates are among the best of the world. In addition, post-revolutionary Cuba has also dedicated itself to promoting sport and athelticism and today Cuba excels in many different sports (track and field, baseball, basketball, volleyball, fencing and others) on an international level.


Other alternative transport systems in Havana.

So all in all, the Cuban Revolution has had some astoundingly positive effects on the country, despite all the hardships that people still experience. However, it seems that there is a little bit of optimism in the air, since Cuba signed trade agreements with Venezuela, various other Latin American countries and China. And of course great hope is placed in Cuba´s tourism industry.

However, on the other hand, you have to keep in mind that Cuba is still a dictatorship, a totalitarian regime and human rights and personal freedoms are restricted here. There is a palpable paranoia here among people in that they are afraid of publicly criticizing the regime. And organizations like the CDR, the Comite de la Defensa de la Revolution, often act as watchdogs and informers on the people. Travel is extremely restricted, or impossible, and there are no official methods of criticizing the government.

This short little bit of time has been great in giving me an insight into Cuban culture, politics and economics, and my classes at the university are great since my colleagues also add to a very interesting discussion. We discuss and compare the Scandinavian, Cuban and Canadian health systems, political systems, mass media and economic policies and all this has truly been an eye-opening experience.

SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

Hello from Cuba (11) - Inside A Cuban Home

Etecsa Telecommunications Building, Downtown Havana, Wednesday, April 13, 2005, 3:06 pm

So I am sitting here in a new place and I gotta hurry since I bought a $6 CUC Internet access card and I only have 53 minutes left.

At any rate, the dinner at Pedro´s family on Sunday was amazing. We took the GuaGua (Public Transit System) and after about 1 hour we arrived in the area of Marinao. From there we had to walk another 30 minutes or so to get to his house.


Lush tropical vegetation.

There I was received by an entire Cuban family, Pedro´s wife and daughter, his sister in law and their two female cousins who had come in from out of town. It was amazing being in a Cuban home, after having spent a whole week in an impersonal hotel. It was immediately obvious that the Cuban concept of family is very different from what I have experienced in Austria or Canada. Family members live in very tight living quarters since housing is scarce in Havana and often 2 or 3 generations live under one roof.

My friend told me that in his father´s house 3 of his brothers live in one bedroom (and they sometimes receive visits from their girlfriends who end up sleeping in the same room), his sister and mother sleep in one room (as his mother is divorced), and the father and another sibling sleep in another room. It´s very difficult to imagine this type of crammed living environment, there is definitely not much privacy....


Laundry day in Havana.

By Canadian standards, the home is very basic, located in a complex with about 6 apartments, this apartment contains 2 bedrooms which are shared by my friend, his wife and daughter (who together have one bedroom), his wife´s sister (who has the other bedroom) and the father of the 2 ladies sleeps in the living room.

Furniture and decor are very basic and instead of upholstered sofas the furniture consists of traditional wooden chairs that have a colonial appearance. One of the cousins who was in from out of town got married last year to a friend of mine in Toronto, so she came to Havana to go to the Canadian Consulate to get her visa to finally go to Canada. Getting to go to Canada is not an easy thing at all for Cubans, since it is very difficult to obtain a Cuban passport.

We talked a lot about Canada and about the fact that life is very different, the climate, the environment, the concept of family. This discussion was particularly relevant since Pedro´s wife´s female cousin is hoping to come to Canada in the next 6 weeks as she is currently pregnant.

At any rate, the hospitality was great. I was received like a long-lost friend and the ladies had really taken great care to prepare an outstanding dinner. The table was full of dishes: fried chicken, white rice with bean sauce, fried sweet plaintains (one of my favourite foods) and a tasty bean salad. We had flan for dessert and it was one of the best meals I have had in Cuba so far.


View at the Puente de Bacunayagua

I had brought a little souvenir for the family: 2 sets of coloured pens for the little girl which she absolutely loved and some beautiful flowers for the ladies of the house. The atmosphere was a little shy at first, but after a while we started chatting, asking each other questions about our respective lives in these 2 very different countries. All the while I was there I felt very special and I felt truly honoured to have had an opportunity to be introduced to a Cuban family and to experience Cuban hospitality first hand.


SQ.

www.travelandtransitions.com
www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
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Hello from Cuba (10) - A Country Excursion

Hotel Havana Libre, Sunday, April 10, 2005, 12:45 pm

After my walk through the Vedado neighbourhood, my friend Pedro came to pick me up since I had suggested a little excursion with a rental car to get to know the countryside. His wife and sister-in-law unfortunately coulnd't make it since their cousin was coming to town. La Habana can feel a little claustrophobic since the transportation options are limited and even a basic taxi ride to the Eastern Beaches (Playas del Este) is quite costly.


Havana province coastline.


And it's also nice to get away from the city, which can get rather congested and contaminated with car exhaust fumes from all the old vehicles. I can't imagine what the air must be like here in the summer when it is 35, 40 degrees Celsius with 80, 90 percent humidity. All the locals talk about the extreme heat in the summer and it's better to visit outside of the months of June to September, even October.

In addition, August and September are very prone to hurricanes which are an additional complication, that's why many buildings have crosses of thick adhesive tape attached to the glass. The tape prevents the glass from shattering when the hurricanes hit town.

Renting a car is always an interesting experience. I rented a small skoda at the Hotel Havana Libre for about $46CUC for 24 hours. If there were no damages and the gas tank was full upon return, there would be an additional $30CUC for the insurance and an additional driver. Being in the rental car felt strangly liberating because all of a sudden it was possible to overcome all the limitations of Havana's public transport and you could go where you wanted.

My friend Pedro is an experienced driver and loves driving, so he drove and off we went eastwards along the coast. We passed by Cojimar, Playas de Este, Playa Guanabo and stopped at the Puente Bacunayagua bridge which forms the border between the provinces of La Habana and Matanzas. The bridge is more than 100 m high and the view extends through forests to the ocean in the north and inland there is a valley with lush vegetation (Valle de Yumuri) with a chain of medium-size mountains in the background. At the bridge there is a little basic restaurant and a shop for tourists and we stopped for an hour or so. We also saw a really oversized iguana, apparently it was the offspring of the mother iguana which apparently is twice the size. The animal must have been almost 10, 15 inches long, including tail.

We then proceeded eastwards, past Santa Cruz del Mar, where there is a big rum factory, to Matanzas, the capital of the province of the same name. We just took a little drive around town and didn't stop, but the town has a couple of nice squares with monuments and statues. The architecture is definitely much less stunning than in La Habana. After Matanzas we drove inland to a small mountaineous area called "Escaleras de Jaruco", from where we had a beautiful view inland and towards the sea.


Driving along the north coast of Havana province.

On the way back we briefly stopped at Playas del Este to capture the sunset and then we headed off towards Cojimar, a town famous for its connection to Ernest Hemingway. The town apparently still houses a very old man who was the inspiration for the novel "The Old Man and the Sea". Apparently the old man is still alive, probably around 100 years old or so and he used to receive visitors (for a small fee), but his health has deteriorated over the last few years and he no longer receives visitors. We wanted to have a nice dinner in a Paladar in Cojimar, but one was completely full, and the other one so expensive that we decided to continue on.

After our arrival back in La Havana we decided to go to a pizzeria near the Parque Central since I had a real craving for pasta. The food here can get a bit monotonous and I love Italian food, so we headed into a freezing, over-air-conditioned pizza parlour, where they had just run out of spagetthi. We tried another upscale Italian restaurant on the other side of the square, but it had prices that were higher than in some of Toronto's fine restaurants and we decided to head back to the Barrio Chino since they also serve pasta.

There we tried to park the rental car, but in doing so, we had a little encounter with the local traffic police. They alleged that my friend was not wearing his seatbelt (although he was) and they ended up giving him a fine of 10 local pesos (about 40 Cents or so). Apparently it can happen very easily that a local Cuban gets stopped and the police impose a fine and there are not too many things you can do.

After a very filling pasta dinner (for less than $7 for 2 people) we headed back to the hotel which is very close to the University. There was a big concert on in front of the university's steps and there were thousands and thousands of young people singing and chanting to the sound of a pretty famous Cuban pop group ("Moneda Dura") which plays very popular music for young people with sociocritical undertones. The atmosphere among the people, singing and dancing in the street, was amazing. I ended up heading to bed at about 12 or so and the music from the concert stopped at about 12:20 am and the huge crowd dispersed.

Early this morning I awoke to the smell of exhaust fumes from some of the buses and old cars passing through. Since I had to take the rental car back at 11 am today, my friend came to the hotel early and we decided to visit the area of Miramar, also called "Playas" on the western side of Havana, past the Rio Almendares. Miramar is a very upscale area with many foreign embassies, upscale hotels and congress centres. "Marina Hemingway", a nautical centre with canals, boats slips for yachts and private residences, is also located in Miramar.

It is so strange, but Miramar actually reminded me a bit of Fort Lauderdale. In general, Miramar, due to its more modern architecture, some of which is in very good condition, reminded me quite a bit of Florida. We visited a public sandy beach in Miramar which is surrounded by a range of public recreational buildings, most of which have been abandoned and are in dire condition due to the lack of public funds for upkeep. It is a real shame to see so much of the beautiful architecture around here collapsing and my professor said that in the future it may be cheaper to tear down a lot of the old architecture and rebuild from scratch than to try to preserve the old architecture, particularly in Habana Vieja.


Marina Hemingway.

As I had to return the rental car at 11 am today, we filled up the tank and although we had only gone about 250 km, the cost of the gasoline was $36 CUC (which is equivalent to about Can$45 or so), which was quite a bit more than I had expected. We took a brief tour through Nuevo Vedado, then past the Centro de Deporte Nacional, past the Comite Central (the Cuban government) and punctually returned the car at 11 am without any problems.

This afternoon I have been invited by my friend to come and meet his family at a private dinner. I am really looking forward to the experience of spending time with a Cuban family and from what I have experienced so far, Cuban hospitality is truly amazing. I'll try to pick up a few flowers from the market and bring along some of the Canadian souvenirs that I brought from Toronto to reciprocate the favour. It'll be interesting to see Cuban life from inside a Cuban home....

SQ.

http://www.textronics.com

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visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

Hello from Cuba (9) - Havana Neighbourhoods

Hotel Havana Libre, Sunday, April 10, 2005, 12:30 pm

Yesterday morning I had arranged to meet one of the women from the from the university, a very nice lady in her late 50s, who agreed to show me around the Vedado area and take me through some local markets.


Beautiful Vedado.

Vedado is a beautiful residential neighbourhood with many mansions and villas dating back maybe 80 to 100 years or so. Before the revolution it was the neighbourhood where all the doctors, lawyers and business people lived, most of whom emigrated around the time of the Revolution. (Business people and professionals were expropriated as part of the Communist reorganization after the Revolution, as a result hundreds of thousands emigrated to the US, where there are substantial counter-revolutionary and Anti-Castro sentiments. The emigration of thousands of professionals in the early 60s apparently caused a real braindrain in the country).

We walked through the neighbourhood and visited local markets where they sell fruits, vegetables and meat. We saw local vegetables like yucca, malanga, boniato as well as fruits such as frutabomba (papaya), pineapple, mamey, mangos and others. Most of the meat that they sell in the markets is pork, and there is no refrigeration at all in the markets, although the meat is inspected by the government. It is forbidden to sell beef because beef officially is only to be used for milk production. Equally forbidden in local markets is seafood like lobsters since it is destined for big hotels and exports only, but we were approached by a couple of people who were selling both lobster and beef "debajo de la mesa" - under the table. This is one of the things in Cuba, many things are forbidden, but there is usually a way of working around it.


Market life in Vedado.

I was also taken to a special market hall where locals buy food at certain allocated times on their ration card. Food is still scarce in Cuba and every person receives a "libreta"which allocates a certain quota of basic foods such as butter, eggs, cooking oil, flower etc at very low prices. I was told that the monthly ration is 8 eggs per person and that if you want an extra carton of 30 eggs, they cost about $2 (CUC) (about Can$2.50), which is equivalent to about 1/10 of a person's monthly salary. No wonder everybody tries to set up a little side business to obtain extra money, since survival in itself takes a lot of energy.


Meat, without refrigeration.

We also saw a local neighbourhood repair place, where they repair shoes with sowing machines that look like they are 100 years old. This is definitely a society where things are reused, mended, fixed and recycled time and time again, and it's actually very refreshing to see a different way of living that contrasts so strongly with our modern way of living where we buy stuff we don't need, just to throw it out later. Of course, the recycling here is due to necessity, but it does feel like there is a great appreciation for life here, not just consumer goods, despite all the difficulties.

This 2-hour walk was a great way of getting to know a little bit about the authentic Cuban lifestyle and some of the practical ways that Cubans try to make do in their daily lives.

SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.