TDI: 2-3 What's this?
The madness of vehicles
Cuba is famous for American 50’s cars. Not only the touristy taxis in Havana’s city center, but everywhere in the country, locals use them. I had the privilege of riding in one of them while hitchhiking. It looked even older from the inside!
The roads are great, though. At least for the most part. I remember once taking a bus ride from Havana to the countryside… The bus was surprisingly new, just like in Western countries. The passengers were dressed just like in Western countries, and the highway was new. Then I saw a 70-year-old car passing by next to us. I felt like the driver had a time machine and got teleported here from the past.
The cars were just one of many unusual things I have noticed about this country. Other than the ’50s, people also drove cars from the ’40s and even the ’30s! Also, there were Russian cars from the ’70s and ’80s. And there are normal cars from this century, as well.
In Havana, as an alternative to ordinary taxis, there are tricycles, like rickshaws in Asia or tuk-tuks in Africa… Except the Cuban version looks very unusual: yellow and fully rounded like some sort of space capsule. So they have it all: the cars from the past, present, and future! What else… the 30’s trucks, 50’s motorcycles with sidecars, and all sorts of carts and wagons pulled by bicycles, tricycles, or horses!
The list of unusual things about Cuba
The country has plenty of architectural variety. A contrast of rustic, charming colonial buildings and plain, cold buildings from the communist period. Luckily, many residential areas that were built during that period are creatively painted. The government turned some boring-looking neighborhoods into fun ones.
I have never been to a country where smoking is as prevalent as in Cuba. Everybody smokes everywhere… Cigarettes, for the most part. Also, those without a filter and rolled tobacco. Cigars as well, but to a much lesser extent. They’re more popular with old people. I saw people smoking at the indoor bus terminal and in the local restaurants (not the touristy ones, of course). There’s no such thing as a “Designated Smoking Area” anywhere.
While walking on the streets, I had to be careful not to get too close to the windows or the apartment buildings. People in there were smoking all the time, and they would throw their cigarette buds out on the street. I know a backpacker who got hit with a lit cigarette bud that way.
I’ve also seen backpackers smoking cigarettes, who normally don’t smoke. I could tell that because they were puffing while they were supposed to inhale. They just got carried away with the vibe. That’s what traveling does sometimes to people. Motivates them to do things they normally wouldn’t do.
The next thing that’s on my “Unusual List” is the local currency. There are two of them: the Cuban peso (CUP) and the convertible peso (CUC). $1 = 1 CUC = 25,000 CUP. So what’s the point of CUC if they can just use $ instead? I was wondering, but I didn’t get a clear answer. When I asked some of the locals, the answer was: “It’s always been like that.” I hate that answer. Nobody wonders why. Nobody cares… Since the country is isolated, most of the people are not even aware that their currency system is unusual.
The country is very cheap. Every day, cheap expenses like food, bus rides, and cigarettes are normally priced in CUP, while larger transactions are priced in CUC. Also, since the government is aware that tourists come from much more expensive countries, it has adjusted prices so that all tourist activities in CUP are charged in CUC.
However, one can easily buy mangoes on the street or cigarettes with CUC. When getting change from the vendor in CUP, vendors will rip off a bit. That’s why the best way is to hold both currencies. So when you need to pay for anything, you pay in the currency asked by the vendor. Simple. Except that the currency needs to be exchanged, which is not that simple. That leads to the next unusual thing…
Interested in the natural beauty of the Caribbean islands? I would recommend checking out my photos from Dominica.
In the capitalist world, there’s pretty easy access to any product or service needed. There is a wide selection of companies offering that product or service, so they need to make themselves accessible to beat the competition and stay in business. In the communist system, only one company provides a product or service – the government. That company is not really desperate to make its products and services accessible. That’s why people need to wait in line at a specific location: they can’t get that product or service anywhere else.
There are long lines outside bakeries, pharmacies, and banks… Sometimes one needs to wait for what is needed, and sometimes it’s a hustle to find it.
People can’t buy bread in grocery stores. Only in the bakeries at specific hours. Once I found a bakery, and waited in line for 15 minutes, only to learn I couldn’t purchase the bread there. It’s like a food stamp program, and I did not have those stamps, of course. Luckily, as soon as I walked out, the gentleman who was in line next to me gave me some of the bread he got. That brings me to the next unusual thing…
Free food! In the USA, the food stamp program is for very low-income people, but in Cuba, it is widespread across most of the nation. The country won’t let you get rich, but on the other hand, it won’t let you starve! One afternoon, while walking on the streets of the amazing city of Havana, I was looking for some street food. While walking by a cute plaza, I saw a stand where a guy was handing out plates of stew and rice. I approached curiously. It looked awesome! Too bad, I couldn’t buy any. The people who were getting it did not look poor or homeless, though. Damn, I wish I could get some of those food stamps, I thought.
There are more unusual things…
So it’s a developing country, with no hungry people! Also, I didn’t see any homeless people, junkies, crazy people, prostitutes… I am not saying they don’t exist, but obviously, to a much lesser extent than in other countries. The local girls weren’t smiling at me on the streets or asking me if I was single, which is very common in many developing countries. That tells me the local girls are not desperate to escape Cuba with the westerner. I did run across some drunks, but not many. Now, if I were blessed enough to spend 3 months in this very intriguing country, I would probably spot a homeless person, a junkie, or a prostitute… But it seems like crime, drugs, and poverty are not very common here.
The basic things everybody needs are either very cheap or free: housing, healthcare, education, and food. Things we don’t necessarily need, but we’d like, are usually expensive: a new car, a flight to Europe, alcohol, drugs… The government’s pricing formula is: the less important, the less affordable. The exception is tobacco. Maybe because it’s essential to them. Maybe locals could use food stamps to buy cigarettes:)
Another interesting pricing example is the Internet. It’s available only in the hot spots, usually the plazas and parks. One hour of credit is 1 CUC. So if locals wanna go online to do something important, the price is a bit high for them. However, if they wanna waste their time Instagramming and Facebooking all day, as the rest of the world does, then it is not affordable. That was exactly the reason why I met so many fun travelers. In the hostels, since we weren’t able to connect online, we connected with each other!
The payphones in Havana are not street decorations, as they are in other countries. In Cuba, locals actually use them.
What else was unusual… Ah, the people… They’re smart! At least that was my impression. When chatting with them, after asking me what country I’m from, the next question would usually be: “How come you speak Spanish?” Since it’s very uncommon for a Croatian to speak Spanish, the question is very appropriate. But, how come nobody ever asked me that question while traveling in Mexico, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, or Paraguay? Maybe in those countries, people think the whole world speaks Spanish. Or maybe they just don’t think.
Well, based on this little social experiment, I have concluded that Cubans do think about geography and languages. Speaking of which, the proprietor of the hostel I stayed at was fluent in Spanish, English, and Russian. On another occasion, when I was eating outside, I met a local who spoke my native language! He had spent a few months in Serbia, and their language is very similar to Croatian. I was impressed. Our language is very hard to learn.
Aside from the language, evidence that Cubans are smart can be found in statistics. The country has one of the highest literacy rates in the world: 99.75%. Also, the profession that’s traditionally popular is a doctor. No joke!
Cuba has a well-developed healthcare system and an abundance of highly skilled professionals. Many of them work in other countries because there are too many of them here. The next ‘Unusual thing’ is the salaries…
Some travelers at the hostel mentioned that doctors don’t get paid much more than cashiers at grocery stores. From an American or European perspective, that is ridiculous. I have a different opinion: People’s choice of profession should be driven by their passion and talent, not by money. That way, they would do their job to the best of their ability. Otherwise, they’d just do whatever it takes in order to make more money for themselves, which is not necessarily related to doing a good job and contributing to society.
It is definitely not cool to be paid miserably, like the doctors in Cuba, but they have free housing, almost free food, free education, free healthcare, and they have jobs they love. So I don’t necessarily feel sorry for them. I feel more sorry for the Western doctors who make fortunes, but they are still running behind on their bills just because they’re victims of a material lifestyle.
What about the restrictions Cuba is famous for? Well, obviously there are plenty… The government is restricting its people from becoming a junkie or homeless. Does that sound terrible? I wouldn’t call it a restriction. Rather, the protection. The government is also protecting them from developing ‘Attention Deficit Disorder’, by being attached all day long to social media on their smartphones. They’re protecting them from traveling the world and becoming nomadic junkies, like myself, who can’t be happy anymore by being in one place.
Humans tend to make many bad decisions and do many things wrong. Government restrictions can protect people from their own stupidity. So, does that mean communism is good, and capitalism is bad? Well, it depends on who’s asking.
So, is the country pretty? Well, I have a bias. My heart, body, and soul belong to tropical islands, with plenty of humidity and marine life. So from my perspective, Cuba is awesome, and those unusual things made me like this country even more:)
Want some more stories from Caribbean countries? I would recommend checking out my post on Haiti.
Cuba doesn’t issue tourist visas to American citizens. They can get in through different types of visas. It is complicated, but not impossible. More info is available on the Cuban Embassy website.