Susan in Havana Cuba
Shaya Moya
Don & Susan Smyth
Sun 17 Apr 2011 12:50
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From Cuba with
love... from the galley slave
 One more month left to go in the Caribbean. I am Bob Marleyed and rice and beaned OUT. I too would smoke a whole lot of the GREEN STUFF if I had to live here. The Queen of clean is done with filth and apathy. It all starts out quaint and ethnic and seeing how the locals live and once the rum euphoria wears off and the mosquito repellant OFF runs out, YOU run for cover back aboard Shaya Moya or through the gates of the closest beach resort and seek shelter from the onslaught of humanity. Litter, scrap metal, life's refuse abounds and can be overwhelming when it reaches your knees. Mangy skinny packs of dogs roaming the streets in search of a scrap to eat. The blue waters and white sandy beaches are plentiful and they are gorgeous and they are the saving grace of these islands. Education is free and compulsory. Illiteracy is low and there are many signs pleading with inhabitants to keep their islands clean. Tourism is in most cases the highest source of revenue. Go figure! I'm not sure why I have always wanted to visit Havana. I've never met anyone who has been here. It's the strangest place I have ever been to. Where to start.. A city in decay, Old Havana is crumbling down piece by piece. In 1977 the Cuban government named Old Havana a national monument. In 1982 UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site worthy of international protection. Three decades later it's in an absolute state of disrepair. There are 160,000 people living in 1.3 square miles. A combination of age, decay, neglect and the elements threaten 19th century neoclassical villas and Spanish colonial mansions, along with Art Deco palaces from the 1930s and modernist structures from the 1950s. The interiors of the buildings have been rudimentarily divided into tiny living spaces that each house up to three generations of a family. There is no running water and the spaghetti like electrical installations, which are all metered, are unreliable. A population still on ration books allowing them to buy so little food its insufficient nutrition for healthy living may soon be encouraged to join their Libyan counterparts. Fidel has told them to pull in the belts they can't afford to buy. It is different to any other area of poverty I have ever seen in that it takes place in these monumental , once ornately facaded buildings, still hosting grandiose marble staircases and Spanish tiled floors and pillars and carvings and statues - architectural masterpieces in decay. The chamber maid Marbie who cleans my room at the Santa Isabel on Plaza das Armas has worked here for 14 years and is now 35. Most of the work force work for 10 hours every second day. The wages are very low and they earn Cuban pesos. In order to buy anything not in the ration book they have to convert these to CUC currency which gives them 24 to 1. Hence you would have to save for about 6 months for a pair of shoes (no not Jimmy Choo) . A policeman earns more than a doctor -about 700 a month , a coke costs 3. A waiter earns about 150 a month. Cubans are forbidden to buy a new car or house. Only the state buys cars which are used by state officials and state taxi drivers. For the last two years Cubans have been allowed if they can afford them to have mobile phones. Incoming calls are charged for. There is no wi fi in Cuba. Today I did a city tour on foot and went into many of these dwellings just to have a little look at what goes on inside them. In recent years Cubans have been allowed to set up their own businesses. There are lot s of rules and regulations and vast sums of tax to be paid but it has created opportunities for people to improve their lives. One industry that is thriving is that of the paladares. Cubans set up little restaurants in their homes and cook for tourists. Previously illegal it is now allowed but certain food forbidden. Like the shrimp I had in one for lunch today?? I have now arranged a cooking lesson with the couple Eric and Elvis his wife on Monday morning. A little sign language, a little English, a little Spanish and a lot of enthusiasm. It's hot and I am exhausted. May just have a Mojito to liven me up - the other choice would be a Daiquiri or a Cuba Libra.. Hmmmm. We'll see. |