Steven’s Cuba Blog

Cuba Chronicles, Chapter Two

November 22, 2005 at 6:31 am | In Trip Report |

SHAVING THE YAK

Casa Particular, Vedado District, Sunday August 28th, 2005
I woke up sunday morning after a comfortable night’s sleep, despite the heat. The friendly but distant casa owner prepared me a decent breakfast, and then I spent the better part of the scorching day walking a few miles up and down the deserted, beautiful Malecon. I also assembled my bike and took it around the block, making sure everything was solid.

It was a good idea to get here on the weekend, giving myself a day to familiarize myself with the city and get my bearings. Most of the city is easily walkable from where I was staying (Vedado): Habana Vieja, the Port, etc. The only part of the city I didn’t explore in detail was Miramar, which, if you live in Montreal, can be compared to the West Island; suburban, many foreigners and rich families, more expensive. That alone made me prefer the inner city streets of Vieja and Barrio Chino, which were more of an artsy “Plateau” type of attitude.

On the way back, I stopped at a paladar for a well-deserved drink. Bottled water was $1.50 CUC; a bottle of beer was $1.00 CUC. Guess what I drank for 2 months?
Back at the casa, I spent the rest of evening going over some papers for work, sitting on the balcony, until the sun went down in front of me in a red-and-purple sky. I could definitely get used to this.

Havana, Monday August 29th, 2005, 1pm
I met up with the doctors from the Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina (ELAM) that I was working with this morning, and had some great conversations about what kind of participation they’d like to have in our project. This led to a fair amount of “Yak Shaving” - “Sure, we’re totally interested in participating in this online community project of yours! First, we’ll need computers and an internet connection” - but it was still way more productive than similar meetings I’ve had in North America, or - gasp! - Europe. People are excited and motivated when you come to them with new ideas, and they actually take the initiative and make sure that they’re doing their part to make the project work. Despite the excessive paperwork and bureaucracy involved in getting the ball rolling, Cubans make things happen.


Afterwards, I went to the University of Havana, and biked around much of Havana, including the awe-inspiring Col√≥n cemetery. The whole jintero / jintera phenomenon (hustlers, prostitution, etc.) really didn’t stand out to me as much as others said it does. Now, that might have something to do with my dark skin and attitude, but I still don’t quite pass for a local. My bicycle is much flashier than I’d like, and while I didn’t bring any fancy clothes with me, I’m still dressed slightly different than the average Cubano. I get a lot of looks - but Cubans are the type to stare at everyone who walks by. It’s not a bad thing or a good one - it’s just the way it is. (Some Cuban men also feel the need to holler at every girl that walks by, and again, it’s only out of courtesy - most of them don’t expect a response, but they feel that if they don’t acknowledge her, she’ll feel upset. So they’re only doing her a favor, really…)

Havana, Capitolio, Tuesday August 30th, 2005, 12pm
Sitting in the internet cafe in the capitolio - probably the fastest connection I’ve had in all of Cuba - checking my mail and various other things I need to catch up on. I walked another big chunk of Havana Vieja and surroundings today - Zapata, Avenida de Los Presidentes, and pretty much all of Barrio Chino. On foot, I got approached more often by Cubans, whether hustlers or not. After making it clear that I had no money on me, most of them were still just as happy to sit and chat.

I decided that I’m going to leave Havana on Thursday, find a place to stay in Matanzas for a few days, then continue on eastward.