Socialismo o Muerte! (Socialism or Death!) An Introduction to Cuba

Cuba!

Jamaica may be unique, but setting foot in Cuba is like touching down on another planet. An extremely beautiful, friendly, and fascinating planet. We arrived in Santiago de Cuba after an overnight from Port Antonio, Jamaica. We had been patient with the weather and it paid off - with the wind and current behind us we were making incredible time. A few hours in it looked like we would be arriving before dawn… until at 2am we were abruptly becalmed and had to fire up the engine. When dawn arrived we were still about 25 miles away so we motored on through glassy seas.

El Castillo - 17th Century Fort

Anchored in the Tiny Bay

The first thing I noticed upon arrival in Santiago is the massive stone fortress guarding the entrance to the harbour. The second thing I noticed was my Dad and half-brother Dax standing on the dock of the marina waving at us with massive grins on their faces. This wasn’t entirely expected but it wasn’t a coincidence either. We had been communicating back and forth to see if it was possible to meet up somewhere over March break. They had managed to get a last-minute flight into Holguin and had arrived in Santiago even earlier than expected. We were exhausted from the trip and anxious to welcome them aboard but of course had to go through the lengthy check-in process first. We were visited by a doctor on the boat followed by a very lengthy meeting with the Port Captain. 

Jamaican Bananas - All Fruits Ripe

City of Santiago

The Port Captain was having some new furniture delivered and assembled in his office that day. His new desk had been assembled but not screwed together when he called my Dad and Dax into his office to check their passports. My Dad, not realizing the desk was not sturdy, leaned back on it with all of his weight and scattered himself and all the pieces of the desk all over the floor of the Port Captain’s office!  Thankfully Dad was unhurt and although it was clearly an accident, the Port Captain was less than pleased as he had been apparently waiting for the new desk for quite some time. We tried to smooth things over by lending a bottle of strong glue and the proper screwdriver. What a start…

Santiago Marina

After we had all recovered we set about exploring Santiago and learning as much as we could about travelling in Cuba. It was clear that a lot of the information we had was already out of date as what could only be described as a “complicated” country is changing so rapidly.

Cuban Flag and the Flag of the Revolution

Our crash course included:

Money

There are two official currencies in Cuba. One is called the Peso or Moneda Nacional (abbreviated CUP) and is the primary currency that Cubans receive as their salary and to purchase whatever they need for their day to day life. The second currency is also called the Peso, but more specifically the Convertible Peso (CUC). This is used primarily by tourists to pay for anything they might need such as tours, drinks, or meals out at tourist restaurants. Cuba used to use the US dollar, but it was replaced by the CUC years ago. Thus 1 CUC is roughly equal to 1 USD. You can also exchange a CUC for 24 CUPs. It is sometimes not posted whether a price is in CUP or CUC but in general if you’re buying something a tourist might buy or a Cuban might “want” rather than “need”, the price will be in CUC (more on this later). Contrary to what we had read, our Canadian bank card worked in the ATMs in Santiago to withdraw CUC. Once you have CUC you can exchange it to CUP by waiting in line in a bank. By “line”, I don’t mean an actual line or queue as Cubans have their own system. When you encounter a group of people that look like they’re waiting for something, you call out “el ultimo?” or “last?” and look for the person that discreetly nods or raises their hand slightly as if bidding at an auction. This is the person ahead of you in line and you are responsible both for monitoring their progress and answering when a new person shouts “el ultimo”. And if that person happens to give up and leave, all bets are off.

Cathedral in Parque Cespedes - Wifi Cards For Sale on the Ground Floor

Parque Cespedes

Communicating

Our outdated guidebook had told us that very slow Internet access is available at various offices in town for 6 CUC per hour. This is now incorrect. Cuba is undergoing an Internet revolution and now all tourists and Cubans can get online. Cubans can now own cellphones and connect to the local cell network however data is only available at wifi hotspots. The hotspots are usually in public squares or parks or in hotels for tourists. In order to get online you must purchase a wifi card from the government agency “ETECSA” for 1CUC per hour. Once you are connected, the Internet is very fast. Some websites are blocked by the government in what seems a fairly random fashion (e.g. Snapchat is blocked but Facebook is not). An interesting result of this policy towards internet access is that public places are now flooded with people engrossed in writing emails, on Facebook, or chatting to friends on Skype. Imagine skipping over 20-minute waits for a picture to download and the eeeeee-awwwwww of a dialup modem connecting to be catapulted overnight into the age of emojis and high-resolution video!

Peso Pizza Window - 5.00 is CUP, or about $0.27 per slice

Bread Cart, Prices in CUP

Tourist Restaurant - Yummy Food, Prices in CUC

Food

We had pretty much expected the worst when we envisioned finding food in Cuba. We had stocked up as best we could before leaving Jamaica and while we were happy to have our favourite ginger beer, jerk sauce, and Red Stripe, it was not entirely necessary. In Santiago, there are a handful of good tourist restaurants with prices in CUC for a little less than what we would pay for a meal at home. Then there are dozens of peso restaurants, which could just be a stall along the street with things like pizza, sandwiches, and juice all in CUP. A piece of pizza might cost 5 CUP, which would equate to about $0.27 CAD. Although these places are aimed at Cubans, they are allowed to sell to tourists as well. Then you have the markets, which are amazing places to pick up fresh organic produce at CUP prices. We bought two giant bags of onions, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, papaya, starfruit, beans, cucumber, and eggs for about $7 CAD! Finally, there are the “dollar” stores which have items for sale for Cubans and tourists but with prices in CUC. For instance, you can buy a jar of mushrooms or a bottle of olive oil for the same prices as other countries. In reality most Cubans can’t afford to shop here, except when they are able to save up for luxury items or get tips from tourists. Last but not least you have Cuban bodegas which are where Cubans go with their ration booklets to pick up what their families are allotted: rice, beans, flour, sugar, and small portions of eggs, pork, chicken, and fish. These are obviously off-limits to us.

Tourist Taxi

Fancy Tourist Taxi

Transportation

The marina in Santiago, which is the only place in the massive harbour where a sailboat can legally anchor, is quite far from the centre of town. Fortunately there are several options for getting downtown - unfortunately none of them are very good. We could take a tourist taxi (the pre-revolution American cars with soviet diesel engines that are just barely running due to age and lack of parts) for about $10 CUC each way. We did this a couple of times but it does start to add up when you’re on a budget. The next option are the ferries that dock near the marina. At first we noticed them coming quite frequently but after asking the marina staff it seems that not all of them go into town but there is one that does at 6am, 12pm, and 5:30pm. For 1CUC this would seem to be a great option but the times are not really convenient and after a couple of days we were informed that the ferry had broken down and would be out of service indefinitely. Finally, there was the city bus or “guagua” (wah-wah). At $0.20 CUP or an extinct Canadian penny this was by far the most economical option. However the guagua has no set schedule other than it starts around 6am and comes every 1.5 hours “or so”. We soon figured out the locals’ way of taking the guagua. One person from the neighbourhood goes to the bus stop around the time the bus should come. When they hear the thunderous diesel engine from across the bay they are responsible for shouting at the top of their lungs GUAGUA! so that the entire neighbourhood can hear. Then all the passengers run to catch the bus and it must stop 20 times as Cubans come out of the woodwork running after the bus much to the hilarity of everyone on board. Who said public transportation can’t be fun! (We never figured out where to catch the bus back from town… that will have to remain a mystery.)

At the Waterfront

Handing Out Dax's Old Football Shirts on Isla Granma

Mucho Grande! But you will grow into it.

Isla Granma

Church on Isla Granma

Daily Life

We are hoping that the time we spend in Cuba will give us a good snapshot of the daily life of many Cubans. What we quickly learned in Santiago is that daily life in Cuba is very complicated and it would take years for us to fully understand. One thing is for sure, it is not the downtrodden backwater that certain western superpowers would have you believe. And it’s not what Canadians might have in mind from their most recent trip to Varadero. Cubans are vibrant, proud, well-educated, innovative, family-oriented friendly people that strive to improve their lives and the lives of their families using what little they are given and can obtain.

As for Santiago itself, it is a beautiful city but can be hot and loud. Thankfully there is peso ice cream!! 

Peso Ice Cream!