Up until day 5
Carols says that someone once said the Cuba program is more Hampshire than Hampshire.
I’m reclining in a metal rocking chair on the balcony that is attached to my room. I hear some faint American music, sweeping, a running truck engine, chirping birds. I feel sticky. For the second day it’s hot and humid. Maybe in the high 70s. I’m saving money writing this on the balcony instead of in the hotel while paying for wifi.
I’m having a easier time understanding the Cuban accent than I thought I would. It’s not so much the accent as the speed. Which is easily fixed by a “despacito.”
Roberto really is like our Cuban mom here. He’s younger than I thought. He keeps everyone (Carol) in check. He’s already passed a 1:30am run to the hospital (food sickness) with flying colors.
The second day I was here, I started having a sore throat. It went away the next day, replaced by a runny nose. Now I’m stuffed up.
So far, we’ve been doing a lot of planned activities. Usually we meet at the house Carol (Hampshire professor) is staying at and go from there via bus, taxi or foot.
I met with my tutor, Eduardo Hernandez yesterday. In the beginning he seemed more nervous than I did. For the first minute he furiously rocked in the rocking chair he was sitting in in the living room. I showed him some of my design work (posters, etc) to which he said the work that he and his colleagues do is completely different—less commercial. After I showed him some of my photography work, I think he gave me a little more artistic credit. He’s a photographer and professor who has worked with four Hampshire students previously. We’re meeting at the Capitolio (tourist spot) on Friday at 9am. Then we’ll go to his friend’s place who has a high apartment that overlooks the city. This is to give me a different view of the city than what is normally seen (by tourists).
Mari is just as nice as Courtney and Becca (past homestayers at Casa Mari) said she is. Becca (current homestayer with me) and I were inundated with “Cómo te sientes”es during the day we were both sick. Tea and soup were made for us.
Homestay food has been rice, beans, meat (boiled? chicken, shredded beef, pork chop), and some vegetable (chopped lettuce or sliced tomatoes with vinegar). Contrary to (maybe because of) what Courtney and Becca said, we didn’t have to ask for vegetables to get them.
Everyone lives within about six blocks of each other.
I thought in Spanish for the first time this trip a couple days ago.
Our first night here, most of us walked the 15 to the Malecón. As soon as our group of 10 or so managed to avoid on coming cars, we were approached by a trio of musicians (guitar, bongos, singer/trumpet) on the Malecón saying, “Rumba, barato!” After we said we didn’t have any money but that we’d think about it next time, they played for us for free and talked with us a little. Although their talking with us seemed very genuine (ie, not necessarily in the interest of getting our money), you could identify some things they did while they were playing that looked spontaneous and natural, but that were maybe done every time they played for tourists in order to make it seem like a more ‘authentic’ performance. The way the guitar player held his instrument high and to his ear made it seem like he cared about the sound he was producing more than he might actually have. Twitches while the singer was singing made it seem a little more like it was coming from the soul than it might have been. Call me a skeptic, but whatever. It was my first first-hand experience of tourist interactions in Cuba. It really made me think about how tourists and their desires can influence and dictate the lives of others. I wanted to know what the trio would be doing if tourists didn’t exist. I’d love to talk with them a little more and find out what they do to appease tourists, and how they know what tourists are looking for.
I want to find the few people here who play tennis.
I need to find somewhere to get a haircut.
I’m trying to keep CUCs (convertible money that is worth more and used mostly by tourists) and pesos (aka moneda nacional, which is worth less and used by most people) separate in my wallet. A hard task since they look alike.
I’ve got a handle on how the streets work in Vedado (the neighborhood we’re all living in), but the taxi situation is still confusing. Today we rode to el Obalisco in Marianao in a 10 peso taxi. These look like old American cars and are used by locals. They accept pesos only. There’s a complex hand signaling system that I have yet to understand. It’s used by the driver and potential rider to see if the destination that the cab is going (because of other passengers already in the cab) is in the same direction that the potential rider wants to go. These are called máquinas, carros de 10 pesos o almendrones. I still don’t understand “yellow and black negotiables,” “CUC metered” taxis, and gypsy taxis.
Within the last hour I met Yasmin and Jeadry. They picked up gifts from Courtney and Becca. They both seem really nice. It was really hard to understand Yeandry. He had to ask Mari if we understood Spanish.
On Tuesday we went to Habana Vieja and got a tour with Jaime Rodriguez, the head architect of the restoration. Tourists, tourists, tourists. Tomorrow, Thursday, I’m thinking of trying to take a tour on the red double-decker buses they have. Just to see what’s seen as essential Havana.
Showers at Mari’s house are hotter than at 66.
