Overview

This is an overview of our findings while in Cuba.

Cubans

Cubans are of all colors -- from white to tan, brown to black -- depending on their family origin. I was quite surprised to see many (natural) blondes – not a single redhead though.

When asked where we were from, we’d say “Canada”. Most replied with "ah Toronto!" Some said “Quebec?” A few said “Montreal?” Only one knew Newfoundland.

Language Barrier

I LOVE THE TRANSLATOR (Google Translate) app on my tablet! It worked offline, so no connection needed. I was able to type in whole sentences and they could read the Spanish translation and answer me – most were phrased for  ”yes or no” answers – those that spoke some English could answer back. The only thing the phrase book was good for were numbers, months, and days of the week.

Between the translator, pantomime, some sign language, our broken Spanish, and their broken English, we managed conversations pretty well.

I knew 0 Spanish when we arrived, but came away knowing 50 words by heart. The first one I learned was ‘banyo’ – for ‘bathroom’ – because I drink a lot of water/iced tea and needed to go often.

Brian would put an 'a' (uh) on the end of words (stamp became ‘stamp-ah’). He thought that would turn it into a Spanish word. Hahaha!

Music/TV

There were no commercials on the TV or radio. There is no product competition as most is government regulated. They show the upcoming shows/times or a music video between shows, sometimes a short cartoon. There are 5 TV channels and one of them is a movie channel. On the weekends, they’d show English movies with Spanish subtitles – we could watch the movie AND learn some Spanish at the same time – cool!

I wasn’t crazy about their music – I found it to be loud/noisy. However there were a few slow/soft tunes that were pleasant to listen to.

Casas (I will show photos and details in the Home section)

You get a surprise behind the casa doors. They may look like barrios/ghettos on the outside but, once you step inside, you see beautiful homes with exquisite woodwork and décor.

Our backs had to adjust to each new bed. We had to accustom ourselves to new night noises in each new place. It could be disconcerting and take about 3 nights.

There are no box springs on the beds – just a thick slab of plywood under the mattress – which actually made for a firm bed which both of us liked.

Their light bulbs are the fluorescent (CFL) kind but at very low wattage. The lighting in the bedrooms was always very dim. Good thing I had E-books on my tablet, I couldn’t have read a regular book in that low light.

There are no stoves/ovens or bright lights -- they try to keep the heat down as much as possible. They do use fans but no AC in their main homes – only in the rental rooms (thank goodness!). Cooking is done on hot plates/electric skillets/crock pots and pressure cookers.

We met other guests, at each casa, that were from many places -- Germany, Switzerland, France, Australia, Belgium, Holland, England, and more. We ran in to a lot of Canadians, too.

Food/Stores

Meals are served in the courtyard or terrace, some did have a separate dining room -- each dish is covered with large strainers or fine mesh umbrellas that are real cute! Those kept the flies off the food. Fish, chicken, or pork are about the only choices for dinner. There is no beef/ground beef.
There are no can openers -- they use a sharp knife to stab into the top of the can. But, actually there wasn’t much in the way of canned goods – mostly fresh produce and meats. Brian did find a store that had tins of tuna, then borrowed a knife from the casa owner to open it. So, a can opener is on our packing list for next year.

After the first 2 nights, seeing how much food was left/wasted -- portions are huge, one meal could feed a family of 4! -- we started ordering one dinner and shared it. None of the casa owners had a problem with that.

They make a yummy guava 'jelly' with guava, sugar, and vinegar. It is served at breakfast to put on bread. It's more the consistency of thin applesauce rather than jellied.

A wide variety of fresh fruit is served for breakfast. My favorite was papaya, I didn’t care for mangos at all. The fresh pineapple is sooo much better than canned.

Milk is sold in foil-lined wax boxes, by the liter, and kept on the shelves. After opening, it needs refrigeration. It is highly pasteurized so it doesn't spoil on the shelves. It has a rich taste -- more so than whole milk -- but it is good!

Coffee is very strong with a rich flavor. Weird, though, that I had no caffeine effects after drinking it – usually more than one cup makes me really shaky. It’s served with hot milk, in a small pitcher, on the table. When we got back home, all coffee (my own or Tim’s) tasted watered down. It took me a few days to adjust.

Prices =  Vodka/Rum ( 1 liter) was an average price of $6, 1 beer cost $1.00, bottled water (1.5 liter) was $1.20.  5,000 ml (about 1 gallon) was $1.90.

Packs of cigarettes -- Hollywood Red (like air but better after the 1st pack -- I stuck with those as they were easy to find -- 60 cents,  Cohiba at $1.20 were pretty good, Lucky Strikes (the most expensive) $2.50 – were like air.

Hustlers

The hustlers can be a persistent bunch indeed! Constantly hawking their wares, anything from home baked bread, vegetables, music CD’s, or taxi/horse cart/bici-taxi rides. We had one guy follow us for over a block trying to sell a CD to us. We kept saying ‘No thank you’ which did no good. We finally ignored him and just kept walking. It can be very annoying!

Brian got bilked out of a dollar for a 3 peso coin from some street lady saying it was for entry to the theater which was across the street.. I had walked away, rolling my eyes. We crossed the street, went into the theater, and paid $2 each at the theater door.

Another time, a guy talked him into giving him $2 for a new pair of shoes. Brian said the scam was genius so he gave him the money. (Whatever).

Another time, we popped into a store to buy water/Coke and some old lady put a can of pop with our stuff -- sucker Brian bought it for her (rolling eyes).

Transportation 

There are many modes of transportation which are all fairly cheap. You can ride a bici-taxi for under $2 and go for a couple miles or so. A horse cart was around $5 so we didn’t try those.

It amazed me how the bici-taxi drivers could endure for so long – all that peddling for hours! We had one take us to La Boca, from Trinidad, which was 5k and uphill most of the way! Wow.

There are regular taxis – some in good condition, some in horrible shape. They are cheap compared to here. The most we paid was $60 to go from Matanzas to Cienfuego (220K).

There’s also Coco-taxis that are really cute but rare to find, so we didn’t use one of those either. They have two back seats, three wheels, and an egg-shaped fiberglass body around a 75cc two-stroke moped engine. The word coco means coconut, whose shell shape the vehicles mimic. They are a bit less than a regular taxi.

Most of the time, we walked everywhere. Sidewalks were very narrow, had to walk single file. Many people would stand and chat, so we had to step out into the street to go around them. Cienfuegos'  and Sancti Spiritus’ were twice as wide – we liked being able to walk side by side.

                                           Bici-Taxi

                                          Coco-taxi

Bathrooms

 

Public bathrooms = good luck! They are only at some gas stations and the museums (it’s worth paying the $1-2 charge, to get in, if you have to go bad enough. There are no seats on them -- I kept alcohol pads with me to clean it before using, plus my own toilet paper. IF they have toilet paper! Some give you a piece of newspaper.

Then you should tip the attendant for that and because they have to pour a bucket of water into the toilet to flush it. By the way, I'd read their toilet paper was like rough sandpaper. Not true -- it's like our cheaper brands and it’s tan instead of white. I asked a casa owner what they do when they went out and about, she said they stop at family/friend’s homes.

Internet 

Using the internet is a nightmare! There are places, in a few towns, called Etecsa where you go to get on a computer.  $3 for 30 minutes. A lot of the keyboard keys rubbed off. The @ symbol wouldn't work (for email addresses), I had to do Alt 64 to get it. I had to guess at keys, backspace, and try again. Checked my email but only read 2 that were pertinent. Then I pulled up Facebook and posted "We are in Trinidad all is good. Post again soon." I’d type a letter and it took about 2 seconds to show on the page. It took 25 minutes just for that!!  Very, very, slooooow!

The next time I went, there were people waiting and I knew if I went to the desk, to buy a $3 ticket, I'd lose my spot. There was usually up to 50 people in line, outside in the heat with no shade. Each one gets 30 minutes, I’d be there forever so I didn’t try it again.