Steven’s Cuba Blog

Faces Of Cuba 2 - Trinidad de Cuba

This is the second chunk of lightly edited footage from the Faces of Cuba I reel. It is from Trinidad de Cuba and the surrounding area, just over a year ago.

It is in the public domain.

Faces Of Cuba 3 - Villa Clara

The third and last piece of footage from Faces of Cuba I. This was filmed in Villa Clara (mostly Santa Clara). It’s released into the Public Domain.

Do Cubans sweat?

This title is a bit of a joke - but there’s some truth to it.

I was standing in line outside a Cadeca (Casa de Cambio - Currency Exchange) in Santa Clara the other day, with about 100 Cubans waiting to get inside to change some money. It was about 10am, and the heat was already starting to get to everyone.

I fit in perfectly with everyone else - jeans, clean running shoes, white “New Balance” tee. At first we were in the sun, but then the line snaked around under part of the building so after about 20 minutes I was in the shade.

But one thing gave me away: as we were just standing in line, not doing anything, all the Cubans looked perfectly normal, and dry as a desert, as if playing a part in some anti-perspirant TV ad. I, however, was literally dripping sweat. My shirt was drenched, and my forehead and cheeks had little streaks going down them. I didn’t have a towel handy, so every now and then I’d wipe my face with my shirt - not the best way to impress the beautiful girls standing in line with me.

After I got in and changed my money, I walked back home, took my 2nd shower in as many hours, and changed my clothes - then headed out the door again.

Voices of Cuba #2

Yadin is the owner of the beautiful, sprawling casa I stayed at in Santa Clara.

She’s a computer programmer, but instead rents out a casa because it pays more.

She’d like to return to programming but the wages are lower compared to renting out a room.

Like all other Cubans I met she loves Cuba and is proud of her country, but wonders about the economy and how her kids will cope.

Santa Clara, Che Guevara and cops

After 200km from Matanzas, I’m in Santa Clara - the town where Che Guevara fought his last battles against Batista’s forces.

I visited his memorial and grave, where security is “very” tight. No cameras, no phones, no electronic devices allowed. They took down my passport number and asked me questions for 15 minutes before letting me in.

Upon arriving here, I immediately took a liking to the city - few tourists, lots of people and tons of beautiful girls. One could be forgiven for thinking that Santa Clara is composed entirely of finely sculpted young women.

In Matanzas, I visited the local Joven Club de Electronica y Computacion, where they are transitioning from Windows to Linux, and spoke to a young 8 year old boy who was doing his Linux Syntax Homework.

I still can’t upload pics from here. I will try again in Cienfuegos (70km) or Trinidad next week.