(observations)

i have been here for six weeks and have made many an observation about how the cuban people live. some things they do that i find odd/interesting/disgusting are cultural, some religious, some things are just simply done out of necessity. i always knew they had very little here but i am finally seeing just how little. here are a few things that might help you gain a better understanding of life in this country outside of the plush resort in veradero:

• the average cuban salary is $10 a month – they make pesos (kind of like monopoly money) and if they are lucky to have family in the US or work with tourists, they have access to the CUC (the cuban dollar that foreigners use) and can buy things like…..clothes. i went into a store where they buy clothes in pesos and unless you enjoy fashions that look like they came from wardrobe sale from the film marie antoinette, you’re outta luck.

• cuban television…..the worst. i love this – they actually shamelessly steal all their programming. for example, they steal shows from discovery US and they just put a black box over the logo and put their own ‘cuban nature’ logo over top. it’s pretty hilarious. but god, if you had to watch the regular cuban tv, you would kill yourself for sure. they are so desperate for international television, they are still talking about the ‘great series from canada, ‘danger bay’. oy.

• movie theatres…..almost as bad as the television. you pay (granted, it’s 8 cents) to see a movie in the theatre (i recently went to see inglorious bastards) and you go this grand theatre and they play a pirated dvd copy with the subtitles cut off and the sound completely incoherent. and the cubans love it – they cheer, they eat (really gross) popcorn and it’s a fun night out for them. so the next time you’re at the amc and you’re a little annoyed by something, remember what my movie going experience is now.

• videogames – most cubans don’t have access to game consoles so if they do get the chance to play a game, they record it on VHS, buy a bottle of rum and have their friends over to watch it again and again. and again. this was a recent saturday night for me. it was kind of depressing actually.

• cubans can’t really afford much and thus have to be really resourceful – they make underwear out of socks, they repair plastic bags to make them last longer, they blow their noses into a towel. the latter is super gross to me and when i recently had a cold and used a whole roll of toilet paper to blow my nose with, they were horrified. when i dried my hands with a towel full of snot, i was equally as horrified.

• hygiene….hmmmmm. well, it’s a little on the dirty side here. those who know me well know that i have stocks in purell and thus this makes for a challenging time for me here. the public toilets (and in some homes) are wretched- without seats, no paper and you are often peeing on things out of a horror movie. i am shockingly adapting quickly to this completely disgusting way of living and feel quite like an open minded hippie. who knew?!

• the food: double oy. i walked by a market that sells meat and vegetables recently and in my newly acquired understanding of spanish heard someone excitedly exclaim “i have saved all month to buy that pig’s head!”. um, first of all….yuck. secondly, said pig’s head is sitting on a counter, in the blazing sun, with flies whiling away the day on it and senora mariella is about to skip home to boil it up for her family. this is something i cannot, and will never be able to wrap my head around (pardon the pun).

• the street animals….the cutest and saddest animals i’ve seen. they are filthy and starving and look at you with eyes that break your heart into a million pieces and whenever i can, i feed them. today in fact, i was eating my 12 cent cuban pizza from the street stall (totally yum) and as the litre of grease was dripping down my leg, a super dirty dog was licking it excitedly and with sheer abandon. i was very tempted to bring him home and call him ‘chico’ but alas, the cockroaches the size of my hand that i currently call my pets in my apartment are wildlife enough for me at the moment.

• sex – cubans have a lot of it. what else can they do that’s free? as i have written about before, the women here dress like whores. and the men love it. like a lot. and when i walk down the street with my boobs hiked up to my chin, i get lots of attention. and when i dress as i should (my age and not like a whore), nobody can be bothered with me. so, here, the sexual energy is rampant. and I have to say, i am pretty impressed by the dedication to safe sex. all the young people use condoms – that’s mainly due to the fact that they are told that if they don’t, they will get AIDS and die in 18 months to two years. period. when I recently asked a young person if they ever had an HIV/AIDS test he responded “what for? i don’t have a cough”. hmmmm.

• when you go to a regular house party, it turns into a salsa extravaganza. i am always clutching the wall as most north americans do when threatened by the possibility of having to dance amongst a room full of cubans who can move their bodies in ways we just weren’t bred to move – but it’s fun. like really fun and i love the fact that they take a bottle of rum, a boom box from 1994 and know how to make a serious party.

want more? well, you’ll have to wait a little longer because i’m about to hit the road on a cross country adventure for the next month to see what other communist wonders (and natural beauty) i can find. when i write next, i will be fully enlightened and with photos. adios!