21/3/13 – Back to Havana

The breakfast buffet at the resort was adequate. After breakfast we packed our bags, thanked our hosts and drove out of our tropical paradise and back into the ‘real world’ on to the highway back to Havana. On the way we saw farmers with their horse and cart who obviously go out each morning to tether several animals to stakes on the side of the highway and gather grass from the verge for their other animals.

We saw men at random intervals with scythes cutting back the grass and various bushes on the median strip. They didn’t seem to be part of a road crew and one could quite easily believe that they had just been allocated part of the highway to keep clear. We also saw numerous men on the side of the road, and even the median strip, who bravely stepped out in front of the oncoming vehicles to sell their wares. We didn’t stop, but it looked like they were selling bricks of some compressed material, strings of garlic and mangoes, at least they seemed the most popular choice. Or could it be that these men had no money to wave at passing cars in order to get a lift back to Havana and had only produce to offer? 

As Peter and I cruised along we discussed what we had liked or learned during our time in Cuba. We agreed that we had almost mastered ‘Cuban time’, and found the country’s history and politics fascinating. We had come to understand the philosophy and conviction of the revolutionaries and, in a small country like Cuba unlike USSR and China, we had seen that the remnants of this political system had been able to survive, as had its people’s commitment in action.  

We both felt quite inspired by the resilience and spirit of the people, especially over those times when outside powers had tried to manipulate them into failure and submission. We also agreed that Cuban music was unique and that dancing the night away seemed to ease the pain and suffering of the hard times. We noted that there is a huge difference between urban and rural lifestyles and that, like in many other places in the world, those in the country who produce the food do it tough.  

We saw no evidence of industrial development in the countryside and the government’s recent support seemed focussed solely on exploiting (to the fullest possible extent) the potential influx of income from tourism, particularly that derived from Europe and Canada. Australia does not seem to have a high recognition factor in Cuba, even in the tourist areas. Peter wore his Wallaby jersey everywhere but not one person recognised it or made a comment. However everyone we spoke to, regardless of age, knew the TV program: ‘Skippy – the Bush Kangaroo’. Apparently ‘our Skippy’ had been deemed wholesome family entertainment and the entire series has been shown on Cuban TV every year for the last 26 years.

 

We learned that universal free access to education and health care services are the top societal priorities here in Cuba (unlike in the US) and that many young people spoke several languages (unlike Australia where people seem to think it is ok to live in an English language bubble). But we also learned not to assume that everyone could drive or had access to mobile phones and the internet (things we had assumed to be absolutely ‘normal’). It was actually quite refreshing to have a break from these devices.

Theoretically there is no unemployment in Cuba, as the Government has an obligation to supply work to the people, but how many hours that equates to we were unsure. Consequently, we saw a lot of people just standing around on the side of the road or sitting on old chairs on the footpath talking, but we didn’t see any people sleeping on the streets or people digging into bins for a feed. Most products were wrapped in paper and the rubbish bins were filled with vegetable matter not plastic bags and packaging. We also noted that, as many restaurants had no room for seating and consisted of just a window of a private house that that opened to the street to dispatch lunch to customers. Much of the local food was takeaway, but it came wrapped in paper with drinks in cans or reusable glass bottles. No plastic recycling issues here. 

We had expected Cuba to be a strictly Communist state, like the China of we knew 30 years ago, but when we got there we were surprised to discover how much Cuban society had shifted towards a capitalist model of entrepreneurship. Businesses were further on the road to personal profit than we had heard or read and there were signs of an emerging will for self-advancement, even if this had to be at the cost of others. This was especially the case with the young men.  

We had been shocked to learn that, in Havana, several taxi drivers had been murdered in order for others to steal and chop up, their cars. We enjoyed our musings but they were only speculations or our interpretations or what we saw as little ‘official information’ or ‘accurate information’ is available. But at least we were having fun, and were enjoying the drive immensely until we realised that we were nearly out of fuel.

In many places in the world this would not be a problem, one would just pull up at a service station and refill, but this was Cuba. In this country the government owns and operates all the petrol stations, which are spaced out and clearly marked on the map at intervals of between 100-200 kms. But we did not have enough petrol left to travel 100kms! So we began to stress fearing that we would run out of fuel and be stranded on the highway and miss our plane.

As it turned out we just made it to Havana, and when we got there we stopped at the first gas station we saw and put in 2 litres of fuel, confident that this would be all we needed to get us to the airport (one is supposed to return ones hire car empty in Cuba). Unfortunately we then found that we were lost in the suburbs of Havana and could not find the road to the airport. So we drove around using up our meagre fuel supply, and when we did find the airport we couldn't find the terminal, and then we couldn't change our Cuban pesos but other than that the trip back to the airport and our flight to Mexico City went well!

Overall we found that Cubans seemed to deal with their hard lot in life by relying on family, working together and choosing to be cheerful and not being in any rush – those who don’t have much don’t expect much. In stark contrast when things go wrong for those affluent but pushy people from NYC we have observed that they  were always seem to be quick to complain, are always pushing to be first and are quick to display rude and/or aggressive behaviour when things don’t go their way. It was amazing to observe their propensity to be negative or criticise when we got back into the US.

A classic example occurred on our flight back from Mexico City into JFK when the guy sitting opposite us refused to put his bag in the overhead locker despite him accepting the terms and conditions that go with sitting in an exit row seat. He went off at the flight attendant and then sought and was given support from his surrounding New Yorkers. When the plane landed he jumped up, climbed over the guy sitting in the next seat and stood in the aisle refusing to move until the flight attendant retrieved his bag from the overhead locker into which she had placed it in readiness for landing.

A woman who was obviously his friend pushed past several people in order to be near him (by no means an any easy feat given the size of some of the Mexicans on the flight – luckily she was NYC thin) and while waiting for his bag to be returned they discussed which movies they had turned off because they were inferior productions, or were directed by Steven Spielberg (we have noted a lot of latent anti-semitism amongst WASP New Yorkers). Their comments were damming of the movies I had quite enjoyed – oh well, guess you can’t please everyone.