Some things I've missed-
Street vendors- Just like in Porgy and Bess, vendors from the country still roam the streets singing out their wares- honey in re-purposed plastic bottles, oranges in horse-drawn carts.
Micro garage sales- This morning Mary and I wandered around for a couple of hours. When I told a taxi driver no thanks, we're walking, he replied, ah, the exercise of all of Cuba! On busy streets it seems almost every home has a little "garage sale" going on the front stoop. Everyone we pass is carrying something- a bag of groceries, an alternator, a cake.
La economia- Some days ago I asked Oscar what a sign like "la revolucion continua con Fidel" means today, 50+ years after. Oscar says people believe in the revolution and what it has meant for the Cuban people - health, social security, an end to racism, etc.- and the economy is a problem. Older people may feel they have sacrificed too much for the revolution, yet nobody want to go back to how things were. In Oscar's opinion, the very centralized government stifles creativity and creative thought, and therefore is not good for the economy. Like Lucila in Havana, he envisions a social democracy along the lines of the Scandinavian countries.
Still confusing to me is how the 21st century economy works. Raul tells me el commandante has eliminated the sugar industry, and Cuba now imports sugar. Raul is distressed at this loss of cultural heritage. Then there is the dual currency- Cuban pesos for most Cubans and CUCs for foreigners and the people who serve them. That appears to create a privileged class of service workers who have access to the goods and services CUCs can buy. My afternoon project is to be in Oscar's car and hope to learn more about Cuba's economy, both how it works and how it doesn't.
Internet card is running out. Photos next week. If you have specific questions about Cuba (or about CubaNOLA, the organization under whose auspices we are travelling), just ask. I'll do my best.
Toni
Micro garage sales- This morning Mary and I wandered around for a couple of hours. When I told a taxi driver no thanks, we're walking, he replied, ah, the exercise of all of Cuba! On busy streets it seems almost every home has a little "garage sale" going on the front stoop. Everyone we pass is carrying something- a bag of groceries, an alternator, a cake.
La economia- Some days ago I asked Oscar what a sign like "la revolucion continua con Fidel" means today, 50+ years after. Oscar says people believe in the revolution and what it has meant for the Cuban people - health, social security, an end to racism, etc.- and the economy is a problem. Older people may feel they have sacrificed too much for the revolution, yet nobody want to go back to how things were. In Oscar's opinion, the very centralized government stifles creativity and creative thought, and therefore is not good for the economy. Like Lucila in Havana, he envisions a social democracy along the lines of the Scandinavian countries.
Still confusing to me is how the 21st century economy works. Raul tells me el commandante has eliminated the sugar industry, and Cuba now imports sugar. Raul is distressed at this loss of cultural heritage. Then there is the dual currency- Cuban pesos for most Cubans and CUCs for foreigners and the people who serve them. That appears to create a privileged class of service workers who have access to the goods and services CUCs can buy. My afternoon project is to be in Oscar's car and hope to learn more about Cuba's economy, both how it works and how it doesn't.
Internet card is running out. Photos next week. If you have specific questions about Cuba (or about CubaNOLA, the organization under whose auspices we are travelling), just ask. I'll do my best.
Toni
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