Cuba, a different place

These are some of my pictures from my travels in Cuba. Almost a month ago I was anxiously waiting for my trip. I knew Cuba was to be the most different place that I have ever been. I was excited to see many of the stereotypical things that Americans would expect to see in Cuba. The things that came to my mind when I first thought of Cuba was the romanticism of walking through the narrow streets with locals sitting on there doorstep, jazz, Ernest Hemingway, Cuban food (consisting of “chicken fish or pork”, (Dr. Cuesta)), mojitos, beautiful old cars, and amazing beaches. However, while I did see all of these and they all were breathtaking there was so much more.

While the beaches, the old cars, rum, and historic buildings were amazing my favorite thing about Cuba was the people. Speaking to the people was probably my favorite thing about Cuba. One of the most evident characteristics of Cuba is poverty. I honestly don’t think that poverty is a main problem in Cuba it is more of a side effect of Castro socialism. The average salary in Cuba is about 25 dollars a month. I remember the day I was sick in Matanzas the housekeeper came into my room to clean and I don’t know how we started talking about it but she started talking to me about her job and education. She told me that she went to university and had a degree in agriculture but she is a housekeeper because she can earn more money working in a hotel because all the money is in the tourism industry. She then promptly told me that she hated her job. To me it was mind boggling that a housekeeper or waitress could earn more than a doctor or a teacher. I soon learned from meeting other students in Cuba that nearly everyone went to college in Cuba but many people took jobs in hotels or restaurants because they could make more money. Another aspect of Cuba’s reliance on the tourism industry (especially in Havana) was many of the street performers in Cuba. I mean they were everywhere posing for pictures, dancing, singing Guantanamera. There was this one lady dancing in a traditional Cuban outfit in Havana and a tourist took a picture of her and started walking away without giving any money. She proceeded to say something in Spanish probably not worth repeating and then went off to sit down and rub her feet. That’s when I realized that this is her job and in the 15 minutes I stood there I saw at least 10 people put money in her bowl next to a sign that said “un peso”. Which made me realize that this lady must earn at least an average monthly salary in one day.

I also really liked the arts in Cuba. While we were there our group went to about 3 different publishing houses. “Ediciones Vigia” was probably my favorite. I thought it was so cool that they made all their books by hand. The covers were made of leftover pieces of cardboard and they used different materials like denim, buttons or ceramics to decorate them. I also really liked being able to help out in making the books because I got to see the work that went into them. I really enjoyed the time when I got to talk to the owner about there art programs with local kids because that is something that really interests me. Also while in Matanzas one of my favorite experiences was when we were walking along the river and we were invited into an art studio. They worked with metal, glass, and ceramics. The works of art were really interesting. The picture that I included was one of my favorites. I really liked because it showed faces made of different material like metal or ceramic showing different expressions. Some were calm, some were in pain and some were sad.

One of the main things I noticed on my travels to Cuba was the sheer lack of access on the island. I mean most things in Cuba seem as if they are from the 1950’s. Giving rise to the overused saying that Cuba is stuck in the 1950’s. While this is true in the sense that you see old restored cars everywhere. However, it is more than that. I believe it demonstrates how resourceful the Cuban people are. On our very last day our bus broke down. I don’t mean just broke down where a wire got disconnected or something. I mean our engine literally fell out of the bottom of our bus. Honestly, it was terrifying, gasoline was leaking and I just didn’t know what was going to happen next. But then, our bus driver and his son got to work. Meanwhile, our Professor Dr. Cuesta and Macy hitched a ride back to Camaguey to retrieve another bus. Some of the students tried to help out wherever we could. At one point two people in passing horse cart got out to help and one man even cut a path in the sugar cane to be used as a makeshift stall for people who needed to use the restroom (needless to say I held it). After about an hour the we managed to get the engine somewhat back in the bus but there was a lot of gasoline still leaking. That when the bus driver said he needed bar soap to make a paste to cover the holes. So we all tried to find all of our bar soap and about ten minutes later Dr. Cuesta was back with our new bus which consisted of a trailer with two bench metal benches. Honestly I was so tired  I passed out (please see last picture courteously taken by Jenny). At one point on our way to Santa Clara when we stopped to go to the bathroom our old bus passed us and the next day we were riding it to the airport. I know it is a bit unorthodox but this is probably one of my favorite memories because despite of everything (including me thinking that I might have to sleep in a sugar cane field) it all turned out alright.

Thank you to everyone who was apart of this amazing Cuba experience.

Laura Cowling