Cuba: Part Three, Oh the cigars...
What a weird time right now…. I honestly debated posting anymore about this trip in light of all the events happening in the world. In no way am I trying to promote travel or attempt to create cabin fever. Trust me, I’m stuck inside as well.
First, let me say Cuba is the most functionally dysfunctional place I have ever been to. The government oppresses its people, as a result, the people act illegally to gain extra income (selling items on the black market…LIKE TOILET PAPER), and the government knows about the black market, monitors and controls it (fining people when caught, but lets them proceed). At the end of the day, the people are making enough to get by, the government is supplying jobs and paychecks to everyone, and it somehow painfully works.
In total, we took 3 different tours. Our first guide worked for the government, he was a friend of a friend, and obviously his views were mainly positive. Our second tour was 8 hours with an economist, who pretty much hated the government and was quite open about it. This had to be one of the most intellectually stimulating tours I have ever been on. We learned about Cuba’s economy, healthcare, public transportation, and the black market… and got to see some of it in action. Our third tour was to Viñales, the farmlands two hours outside of Havana with views like Costa Rica. Here our tour guide used to be a college professor (quit to make more as a guide) and had mixed reviews about her country.
As previously mentioned, the government owns mostly everything: restaurants, markets, and farms. Their agricultural system was an interesting and infuriating subject to learn about. Obviously, it was a beautiful and fun being on a farm; riding horses, hand-rolling cigars, ate with a family, but within that experience, we learned dark truths. Most farms are for tobacco, sugar/honey, and coffee. Why? Because of the tourists!! Tourists are the main economy driver, so everything is catered to them. The tourists are the ones that come to Cuba for the cigars, the people don’t smoke cigars (unless they’re 60+), and if they do smoke, it’s cigarettes, but it’s expensive, and the people reserve their money for necessities. Sugar produces all that Havana Club Rum. Rum is cheaper than water in Cuba, sad but true. And Coffee…well, that’s self-explanatory. Their coffee is honestly to die for. I wish I brought a tub of it back.
Fun fact: Cubans use honey to seal cigars and on the end that they smoke, making everything a sweeter experience.
Produce is a big production but as for meat, cows are scarce. The government controls how much meat is produced and then everything is rationed off. Restaurants seem to get the most out of this ration because you guessed it, tourists go to restaurants. The rest can be bought at a market but is too expensive for the average family (making around $30 a month). Cows are considered prized possessions, each cow has an ID, and if you kill one, you can get up to 30 years in prison, whereas if you kill a person, you can get up to 10 years in prison. Fucked right? Obviously the people that lived out in the countryside were doing much better than the people in Havana, mainly because of “the surge,” the black market.
Top items to find on the black market:
Toilet Paper
Cooking Oil
Tampons and Condoms
Rationing was a real thing over there, and now I’m curious if we might find ourselves in that state. Because the government rations out everything, if a store is out of that item, the store will remain open with nothing to legally sell. We went to a coffee shop that had 0 coffee, but they were selling black market toilet paper.
Of course, we had fun overall. It wasn’t all a learning experience 100% of the time. We went out drinking and dancing every night. Smoked cigars, did rum tastings, and explored the city and countryside. We let our hair go wild in convertibles. Fun was had, but this place was so interesting, everyone had a story to tell, and I tried to soak up as much as possible.
By the time my trip was over, I was really happy to get back to capitalist America… where now people are hoarding toilet paper….
My outfits:
White top: Amazon (super cheap)
Plaid dress: Nordstrom Rack (ON SUPER SALE) - Buy a size up or 2 if you can… funny story, right after that one photo on the staircase (that we walked over 40 minutes to get to) this dress just popped open in the back. Hysterical and sad all at once.
Oh, and you bet your ass we did a subtle cosplay….because yes, I am a literary nerd, and if YOU get it, YOU get it Beck… I mean, random reader. You also have no idea how annoying I was learning Connor kept his sunglasses on for this shot. We basically had one chance of finding a stranger to take a weird photo of us and not seem annoying. But whatever… not like we’re really accurate in our costuming.