Día Tres - Our last day in Havana

This first picture is actually from Tuesday night, before dinner we saw this motorcycle with the side cart and it is very similar to a vehicle used in a movie we show our students, Viva Cuba. Jean took a quick picture of me with it! 

We woke up for our 2nd full day in Havana. After breakfast, we spoke to a Social Psychologist from the University of Havana.  She shared with us a point of view that included details of the Cuban special period in the 1990's, films that share details of this history, how the leadership has changed and what new economic, social and political reforms have been occurring since 2008, the use of the two currencies in Cuba and the inequalities that come with it. 

As tourists we use the CUC, a Cuban convertible currency that is equal to the USD but there is a 13% tax on the transaction. So although the CUC and the USD are equal when we exchange money, we are only receiving $87 CUCs to every $100 USD we exchange. Then there is the Cuban peso, 25 Cuban pesos convert to 1 CUC and the Cuban people need both. Businesses pay the government the salaries of state employees in CUCs but the government pays the employees the same numerical figure but in pesos. They end up only receiving 25% of money entitled to them. For some things like housing (they have to pay money to move from one area to another) and electricity, they have to use the peso but for other things like milk, food, soap & shampoo they need to use CUCs. Some things like rice and eggs are rationed. Per month each Cuban is rationed to: 5 eggs, 1 piece of chicken, no meat or fish (all slaughtered cattle is controlled by the state), milk is only for children ages 0-7 and the elderly 60+, 1 lb each of beans, rice and pasta and the use of jam is only for children limited to 12 cans/mo. In actuality this amount of food a Cuban can make last for 10-12 days, the rest you must purchase on your own. In actuality cigars here are cheaper than beef. She also went into the details of state owned and private business and how that affects Cuban salaries. Private businesses are newer in Cuba. Cubans have also been permitted more travel that had been mostly forbidden in the past. It is allowing younger generations to travel and bring back goods to sell in Cuba. It makes you think, how are Cuban people able to survive? And as our presenter told us, they ask themselves the same question. Although not defined, there are inequalities with the color of their skin, gender and age in Cuba. She encouraged us to look at the people in power positions and especially their weight. Food is the main difference between people that have money and people that do not. 

Yesterday, we saw an interesting transaction of a woman purchasing bread from a third story window. She sent down a bag with money and the vendor took the money and put in bread and it was sent back up. 

Another important point to make is that individuals that make lower salaries in the private market still make more than state employees. Our presenter, a professor at the unviversity makes substantially less than a private taxi cab driver, who may not even own his car. Socialism seeks positive outcomes of equality, but we're seeing that it is not quite attaining the equality that it is aiming for. 

After our discussion we headed to a local bodega. It is called the boutique bodega because it is generally for individuals with more money and tourists. Our Cuban guide purchased some things here, but he haggled them down first. There are other bodegas, or outdoor food markets for more medium and lower income individuals, and there are noticeable differences. We were given 20 Cuban pesos which is less than $1 USD or CUC and instructed to buy our food for the week. Jean and I ended up with 2 plantains, 1 large avocado and 3 mangoes. We were trying to purchase eggs instead of the mangoes for some protein, but those are rationed and we did not have Cuban ration cards. Needless to say, we did not win the challenge. All the food we purchased as the group is being donated to local Havana residents. Our tour guide has been handing off bags at our various stops. Makes us really appreciate our choice of using Insight Cuba as our tour company. 

 

^ Gentleman noting purchases in the ration book. 

Above and below you can see a man set up to repair items or fill them with fluids/gas. Including lighters or air conditioners. 

It really makes you appreciate the meals we have been eating here in Cuba and reflect all that we have at our fingertips. 

After lunch we headed to a community art project called, Todas las Manos (All of the Hands) in an area of Havana called Las Timbas.  It is a community driven art project established in 1991 where students of all ages (280+ students) can learn various skills in the areas of music, chorus, guitar, visual arts, dance, theater, computer science and some other manual artistic skills. The teachers are provided by the city's culture office. Each Cuban municipality has a culture office that focuses on the development on various areas of Cuban culture. The program we visited is influenced and celebrates work by Nicolás Guillen. 

At the project we were able to view a band called La Otra Mitad (The Other Half). They established themselves 4 years ago and have been with the project for the last 3. They sing many of Guillen's songs to share his work with the younger generation. They were great! I bought a CD from them.

This evening we spoke with some young Cubans near our hotel pool. This meeting was set up by Insight Cuba to facilitate discussion about life in Cuba with some young professionals. Three individuals came to speak with us. The gentleman we spoke with was José Carlos. He is studying foreign language, English and German at the University of Havana. His English was better than mine. He is originally from a more eastern province but came to Havana with his mother for better opportunities. He just finished his dissertation. He compared the show true bloods and its use of hidden messages of discrimination to race inequality in the U.S.  I think I may start watching this show after hearing some of his points. We ado discussed the use of the Internet on Cuban and American cultures. They are quite different. We also learned in a little more detail the requirement of military involvement of young men in Cuba. If they have not declared a major in college they must serve 2 years, if they have, 1 year. He also shared the ways that many Cubans watch movies or TV series. There will be an individual that does have high speed internet. Maybe 1-2 in each providence. They download and upload these files to a flash drive and share with friends. It was great speaking with him! Here is our first use of our Fund for Teachers fellow sign with José Carlos. 

Jean and I were on our own for dinner Wednesday night. We went to a local paladar called El Cocinero. We were intending on taking a shared taxi over to the paladar but we didn't find any on the way so we walked the 30 minutes. But passed a small park and carnicería (meat shop) on the way.  

It was absolutely delicious! We met up with some of our tourmates on the rooftop terrace after dinner. A couple is here for their second time with Insight Cuba because they enjoyed it so much. The tour isn't even a third done and we're very happy we chose them for this experience. I know that the people to people requirement of our visa is truly letting us enjoy Cuban culture. 

We're off to Santa Clara early Thursday!! And I really don't know if I'll be able to connect to wifi but I'll try my best to post!

¡Hasta pronto!