28 Marzo 2010

This morning we went with the program to the cemetery where Jose Martí’s remains lay. We saw the changing of the guards of his memorial and some other noted tombs of figures from Cuba’s history. It was a really beautiful cemetery, though I’m a bit strange and find them to be very peaceful places in general (I recommend people in Boston visit the Arlington cemetery- it is a really nice arboretum). Then we traveled to the Moncada Barracks, which Fidel Castro Ruiz attacked in the event known as the 26th of July movement. I’ve really enjoyed supplementing all my class learning with trips to these museums: it helps put pictures to all the histories (even though often, I can’t look at the pictures because the violence depicted in them is extremely unsettling).
In the afternoon we drove to the church of la cobra. It contains an emblem of the patron saint of all of Cuba and many people leave offerings including Hemingway’s Pulitzer which got stolen years ago. It really reminded me of Thailand. Normally, Cubans are not very religious (as I’ve said before, the most common religious affiliation is atheism). Here, however, I saw a very superstitious and pious people. Our driver in the city even requested that we bring back some copper from the mine for him, for good health. A few years ago, a buddist monk in Thailand gave me directions to follow to ensure good health past 30, and so, with my shoes on the left side of the house and budda in my window, I did not feel appropriate as an agnostic and with my fulfilled duty to the thai monk to participate much in the offering/fortune ensuring rituals here.

Then, at 8 tonight we all met up again to go to another Committee for the Defense of the Revolution.

There are Committees for the Defense of the Revolution in every neighborhood dispersed throughout every few blocks in Cuba. They are non-profit, democratically elected committees that work to defend the revolution and fix community problems. The one we visited was working to eliminate Dengue fever from the city and also focused on donating to the national blood bank. Similar to the other CDR we visited they had a presentation planned. They sat us down in chairs gathered in the street near a table filled with fresh fruit. They proceeded to inform us about the goals and formation of CDRs in general. Then, interestingly and uncomfortably, they began ‘telling’ us about the injustice of the embargo and the damage it has done over the years to the economy and the people. One man even called us (Americans) criminals; I didn’t see him later, he must have left early. A woman defended Cuba and reinforced that it is not a terrorist nation. We sat silently and listened. It was a difficult position to be in. on the one hand, I really appreciated the neighborhood people’s sincerity with us. On the other hand, the embargo began decades before I was even born, and I don’t think they realize necessarily just how little power three students in the United States have to end the embargo if they could convince us to petition it. The president of the CDR redirected the conversation (thankfully) by addressing the crowd to say that our presence in their CDR was appreciated and that our efforts to come to Cuba are an example of the distinction between the people and the government of the United States.
After this dialogue the atmosphere lightened considerably. They wanted us to say something because we had been very quiet until that point. We turned to Veronika (the most proficient at Spanish) and she began to say that we have felt very welcomed and are learning a lot as we try to gain a more complete understanding of this country. It was funny when she faltered before the word ‘welcomed’ because the CDR members were suggesting ways to fill in the blank: ‘Like family?’ they asked. ‘yes, like family’ we agreed.
For the most part this is true. The women show us which houses are theirs so that if we are ever in the area again, EVER, we can go and find open doors to welcome us. They shared the fruit with us and then brought out some Cuban rum and coke to drink (a Cuba libre) before turning a speaker towards the street out of an open window and demanding we join them for a street dance party. It was fun. We piled back into our embarrassing tourist van and drove back to our over-comfortable hotel to sleep.

March 6 2010

Las Tunas is a pretty small city. I like it better than Camagüey, but I can’t quite pinpoint why. There are very few tourists here, which is very nice. Today was a day of museums. I am pretty much museum’d out so I’ll save you all the details! In short, this morning we went to several museums that document both the recent revolution (the one with the victory in 1959) and also Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spain. Then we went to the house of a youth who had died aboard a Cuban plane bombed in the 70s. One point- a few of these museums have had rocks or stones from the various cities where famous events took place- one had rocks from Bolivia near where Che’s guerillas were killed-which is strange, because the rocks really have nothing to do with the history.
Tonight we have an event at a local CDR. Not sure what to expect!

I’ve just returned to our hotel after our visit to the CDR. It was incredible. I had been feeling pretty travel weary and disinclined to go out again after all this morning’s museums, but this excursion was well worth it. I really hate it when people put on a show and make a big deal about our attendance, but then again, it is a pretty cool way to get to know the country. Let me explain: We arrive to a closed off street. There are tables with lots of food set out, one with a giant cake, another with laces on display, and another with other handcrafts of Cuba. Lots of people are mulling around; some are congregated around a karaoke like machine, but it is playing traditional music instead of pop. They present the leaders of the CDR and of the neighborhood and sing the national anthem. A few of the children sing for us and one (dressed as a bee) goes to retrieve flowers and brings them back to us as well. They gave us each a bag with a book of stories about las Tunas, as well as a Spanish copy of ‘The Little Prince’ (oh, how I love that book!). Then, they escorted us through a procession of the tables, and fed us deserts and a stew they made for the occasion. The kids would run up and say something in English: “ I am smart” or “Will you marry me?” or, “where are you from” and would run away again to learn more before we could respond. Evidently they have these street parties when any visitors come, but it seemed especially extravagant to me. I think everyone had a good time, and Dr. McKelvey addressed the crowd to thank them and to say how he hoped our two countries could work together in the future and learn from each other etc etc. We got to talk with many of the neighborhood members and I hope we made as good an impression on them as they did for us!
Feelings: fat and happy. Dreading the 8.5 hour bus-sans-shocks ride tomorrow.

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.