A tale of Cuba

So as we watched the outline of American soil slowly turn into a uniform line on the horizon as we finally started our long voyage south to the Yucatan and South America, (only two months later than we planned) we had countless hours of sailing time to fill with our new friends Lars and Inger. In that time they told us a fantastic tale of a trip to Cuba. Their words were so descriptive and they told it with such emotion, we felt like we were there ourselves. We promised we would tell their story to the world on our blog, and so here it is, in their words:

“Cuba has a look and feel different from most places. First, it is best to go without any preconceived notions, but a strong grasp of the history of the country and fluency in Spanish are great for figuring everything out; sadly we didn’t have either of these two things down very well, so we’ll have to be going back someday. But here are some thoughts on what we did see and get to experience.
“Havana is a beautiful city with a vibrant culture. The cars rumbling past make you feel as if you’re in a constant antique car show, but they are what they use every day. The old façade of the buildings may have been crumbling slightly, but it gives a feel of a city with such a rich history that it is much preferred to having a cookie-cutter set of buildings looking pristine. Havana is somewhat like being in a time warp of going back to the 50’s yet knowing everything else that has been happening in the future. Posters rejoicing at the 50th anniversary of the revolution are everywhere; for the most part people seem happy with the system.

“One thing we found refreshing was the mosaic look of Cubans. There are all types of people, short, tall; skinny, fat; white, brown, black; the rich and the poor; punks, preps, nerds and the cool people. This made it much easier to blend in (as the cool people of course) than in almost any other country we’ve been to, as white skin can make you stand out like a sort thumb as a tourist/foreigner in many developing countries.

“Arts are thriving as you can see by the paintings and sculptures for sale and galleries everywhere, like the home of Fuster who is known as the Cuban Picaso and has decorated his entire complex in mosaic work (as well as most of the street!). And everywhere you go there’s someone with a musical instrument, playing not even for the money as a street performer but just for the sheer joy of playing. That instrument is sometimes a voice, such as the beautiful voice of Adriana, a wonderful person we met through Couch Surfing. One of the most memorable nights was with her and a group of friends, having an all out jam session in a beautiful park. She was the main vocalist, but certainly with very talented accompaniment, there was a drum, someone tinking away on a bottle, maracas, etc. Strangers walking past would stop and join in, singing if they knew the words, always dancing. This was all after attending a performance by her and others on a rooftop theatre in Viejo Havana, a little place we would have never even known existed if we hadn’t been invited there. After the performance drinks were enjoyed by all, followed by impromptu dances, including salsa, square dancing, and unfortunately, yes, country line dancing.

“Going to the market was a different experience than what they had expected. Lines start forming before it even opens, and a government truck rolls in with the produce. People go in one at a time, all with their ration books. People are only allowed so much per month- not only at the market but at other stores for staples such as meat, rice, and beans. There is less food now than usual as three hurricanes have ripped through the country, devastating crops. The discontent that you might find with “the system” is caused mostly by this lack of enough food. While food is the number one concern, there are other government regulations- for instance, you can’t just sleep on someone’s floor if they invite you (a hindrance to Couch Surfing, and people don’t break this regulation as you never know what neighbor might be listening a little to closely), if they are not registered as a “casas particulares.” This put us one night at the home of Glady, who is registered to house guests at her lovely apartment in Havana. Through a language barrier, we enjoyed a lovely morning and only wished we could have gone out dancing with her later that night, she seemed like a lot of fun.

“Transportation was interesting. At first it was taxis we would use, which were expensive because they were for the tourists and only accepted CUCs. There are two types of currencies in Cuba- Cuban pesos which is what the locals use and CUCs (1 CUC = 24 pesos) which is what the tourists use. Mostly as a foreigner this meant you couldn’t even have access to some of the things reserved for the locals- such as the local buses. But if you can figure out the system and you have the pesos to pay, you can ride. And it is always an experience to use public transportation, plus about 250x less expensive! For Havana, people get packed on buses until the doors can barely close. But the buses run frequently, work well and allowed us a new perspective on the city.

“These are just a few thoughts on the many things we saw and did in Cuba. Through many miles walked in Havana, conversations with locals, eating the cuisine, and just generally enjoying our time, we felt like we got a good taste for what Cuba is like. At least what it is like in Havana; we’d like to have spent time in the rural areas, but this trip did not afford us that. After leaving Hemingway Marina we thought we could see some countryside at ports West, but all that greeted us where a boat with an 8 foot draft could be accommodated were mangroves. So we left Cuba, puffing on a cigar with only mangroves to bid us farewell as the shoreline faded in the distance.”

Lars and Inger related all this to us, as well as many other stories as we sailed. As we listened we could imagine ourselves walking around and taking in the beauty of Havana, being introduced into someone’s home as they were by Zulma and getting to fest on a traditional Cuban meal of frijoles, arroz, pollo, pan y vegetables; having a couple walk us around the city for a while just because they wanted to show us their city and get to know us. So when the boarders are opened up and Americans can freely visit Cuba hopefully we will get to have as wonderful an experience as they did.