2.19.10

During our break from Spanish today we made plans to meet up with some Cuban students tomorrow at noon (it is so difficult to meet up with students here, especially because nobody has a cell phone or consistent email). We saw our friend A. from FEU and greeted him before we bought ourselves some five cent snacks from the cafeteria. They are SO good- fried dough with some guava paste in the middle. It was very nice meeting Cuban friends at snack, it made us feel a bit more rooted and connected here. We also tentatively agreed to meet some Italian friends from Spanish class after dinner at Don Congrejo’s on Saturday (where we met our Boxer friend). After class we had another visit, this time to the National Direction of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, commonly referred to as CDRs. The primary purpose of CDRs, which the representatives we talked to clearly stated were “not governmental, but were in support of the government” is to defend and protect the revolution. This is a combination of maintaining Cuba’s sovereignty and independence, and also socialism. They also are in charge of the massive literacy campaigns, and push for health services and educational development within the country. I’m impressed with the fact that every Cuban is provided the opportunity to work. They criticize the USA’s high unemployment rate, but I would be discouraged if I had a University education and worked as a bus driver, which I hear is quite common here. I hate to sound like a broken record, but it was another very interesting visit. It was, however, a lot of Spanish and afterward, my brain was fried.



I’ve been inspired by my friend Christina Kay’s blog (which I would highly recommend- her documentation of her time in Uganda is super interesting!) to address the food situation here in Cuba. Sorry for butchering up that sentence so roughly. ANYWAY, In my opinion food here is closely tied with the socialist society and so related to the CDRs, and of course it dominates a large part of my day-to-day life here as I love and need food.
Cuba has a split economy. When you exchange money you are given convertibles (CUCs) they are equal to a little more than a US dollar (though of course you must first trade into Canadian or Euros!). Tourists and foreigners are supposed to use this currency exclusively. Often, the prices for locals and tourists will be listed right next to each other. ‘Museum Entrance: $5-Moneda Nacional $5-CUC. The un-acclimated tourist might then think they were paying the same as locals, when really they are paying 24 times more. This is not to say the tourist should feel ripped off. Cubans simply can NOT afford paying in CUCs for anything that isn’t absolutely necessary.

The supermarket near us (previously referred to as the ‘largest and most well stocked supermarket in all of Cuba’) accepts only CUCs. Most everything offered is more expensive than it would be from a giant Shaws or other supermarket chain in the States. This is where we must buy cheese, meat, milk, pasta, rice, and soap; most of our needs- we’re lucky when they have half the things on this list. It is clear that the average Cuban cannot shop here. Or that they buy only the items they cannot get elsewhere in moneda nacional.

About a week in, my group was extremely happy to find an outdoor agromercado, basically a farmers market. Finally! Fresh fruit and vegetables! We bring between 4-8 dollars and shop for the week. Normally we get carrots, cucumbers, avacado (they again were missing today!), onions, peppers, garlic, pinapple, and other finds. This is all purchased in moneda nacional. It is very cheap- some odd cents for a bunch of onions, purchased by weight.

In general, we’ve had extreme difficulty finding bread (must be purchased from one of a few hidden panaderias), eggs (“we’ll have eggs next week”…”tomorrow”, “we don’t sell eggs here, you heard wrong”), cheese, cereal and many other things. I think the entire group has lost some weight, though we’re pretty good about putting together a hearty meal at the end of the day. We don’t loose consciousness of our relative ease in finding food compared to the locals here. The other day my Spanish teacher was explaining how vegetables were extremely expensive for a Cuban to purchase. Seeing as vegetables are the cheapest things we’ve found to buy, I asked, well what then is a cheaper food to buy? She replied that no food was cheap, that all food was expensive for a Cuban.

It does not take a long time being in Cuba to hear about their ‘special period’ after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Our friend Alejandro told us about how a normal main meal in that time consisted of either one egg or one potato. The Cuban culture class discussed how cats were eaten during that time. That is all there was (I’ve seen several pigeons being transported on the bus, and I’m pretty sure they end up on someones plate these days). Today, a Cuban’s subsidized food includes rice and ‘a variety of beans’. But I’ve still heard complaints that the subsidized food rations are not nearly enough for a month. The vegetables are expensive; the meat is even more expensive. The shops in CUC are unrealistic for the Cuban shopper. A teacher of a peer here even declared to the class that ‘the special period’ is not over.

Undoubtedly things have improved recently. We have finally found a selection of eating hotspots near the university that serve a large number of locals. A favorite is Doña Laura’s: you get a huge plate of food and some Guava juice for a dollar. Hotdogs can be purchased for fifty cents, and anywhere with a giant line promises not only to be rewarding but also cheap.