A good friend asked us what we liked most in Cuba. For some reason we were hit hard by that question and had to think and talk about it a lot. There were many things we liked, some that we didn't and a lot was just different. To answer such a question in one sentence is simply impossible. So here are some of our final thoughts on Cuba with a bit of detail..
Arriving in Cuba our first challenge was the dual currency system. CUP (Cuban Peso) is the currency for the locals and CUC (Cuban Convertible Peso) the one for the tourists which is basically equal to the American dollar. 1 CUC = 24 CUP and it took us a while to get the hang of using both for different things. We were paying with CUP in local shops as often as possible since the places requiring CUC were, at least for us, simply not affordable.
Additionally, when we were asking for a price, we would get a much much higher one than a local person. So we learned never to ask for the cost but instead find out in advance how much a Cuban would pay.
Also when it came to public transportation between cities the divide between tourists and locals was apparent. Tourists were not allowed on the buses used by Cubans. So the only choice we were left with was to use the way more expensive buses to get to our destination.
A thing we were quite happy to observe was the fact that despite the obvious diverse looks due to different ethnical backgrounds nobody was being discriminated against. That also included different styles of clothing and body types.
We noticed that the Cubans did not fall victims of fashion in a capitalist sense and there was a general lack of fashion trends and beauty standards as we know it. The male younger generation was sporting a specific style imitating the looks of popular footbal players but other than that there was no distinguishing sub-cultures of young people that we could see.
There was not a specific body type standard that Cubans wanted to copy. Both men and women were comfortable with possible extra weight. Women would wear quite short skirts or cropped tops and men had no problem with taking their beer belly out to see the sun whenever they were feeling a bit stuffed.
Also we witnessed that men were showing a sense of pride towards their wives and girlfriends. Holding hands, kissing or having an arm around her shoulder was often seen in different generations.
Another pleasant fact was the fact that women were not harrassed on the street or on the bus. Unlike in most places in Europe there were no comments, no inappropriate looks and no honking after women.
Another aspect of the Cuban way of life was the ubiquitous presence of communism.
Getting into a supermarket there is only a limited choice of products with the imported "valuables", such as glue sticks or instant meals, put on display as in a jewelry shop.
The local beach bars and food kiosks near the sea, the "kioskos de verano", were almost all state-owned and only recently was the law permitting individuals to own property enacted. Nevertheless, we collected opposing views from different employees of the kiosks on the political regime. Some were fervent supporters of Fidel and praised Che Guevara as a national hero whereas others expressed their skepticism.
Visiting an area in Havana tangible poverty crossed our path. We saw makeshift houses out of wood and corrugated iron, people selling goods on the street, exposing meat and other foods to the bare sun and many more things we rather not get into details in this format.
In terms of food, the standards of hygiene were practically non-existent and Nikoletta decided from the beginning of our Cuba trip to turn vegetarian. I took my chances with some meat but learned my lesson. I had to learn the hard way that she was right to do so.
Once a chunk of ice melted in our mug and left behind all sorts of impurities. Didn't look very appetising. It was a very visible proof that we did well drinking only bottled water.
The animals on Cuba were plentyful but very different from those back home. Even though we saw many stray dogs there all were small and kinda cute. We saw birds we had never seen before, crabs of all sizes and lots and lots of lizards.
So what is our conclusion about Cuba? Well, it was for sure a very strong experience which is not easy to put into words. Would we travel there again? Probably not. Nevertheless, we are very happy to have had the chance to visit that unique island.
Panos & Nikoletta
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