Day 238 – The tongue-twister flu

The thing that is on everybody’s daily schedule is to check the news, in order to see what is going on with the flu, which now is not called “swine” anymore, since it discriminates against pigs, who seem to be innocent. Instead we are supposed to use the comfortably short name A-H1N1-flu.

Whatever we call it, it does trouble people here, but more so it troubles people who look at Mexico from outside it seems. While people here are reacting demonstratively cool about it and try to go about their daily business, it must come across to the external observer as if Mexico has become collectively sick and chaos ensues. The truth is however that, despite extreme measures by the government in Mexico City and the half-hourly message on each TV program, life just goes on.

In Cancun life goes on almost undisturbed and were it not for some people wearing masks one would not be reminded of the situation at all. However, the whole thing is a nuisance since we do not know where we are heading with this and if it is safe for us to be heading towards Mexico City. Less so for fear of infection as more for fear of the flu spreading and inhibiting the touristic possibility. Mexico City already has been rendered useless from a tourist perspective.

Day 232 – The cars of Cuba

The streets of Cuba are filled with these wonderful old cars. I am dreaming of taking one home, but it naturally is not so easy to do. Some of them are in pristine conditions and make your mouth water…sure not the most ecological or economical way to get around, but one of the coolest I can think off…

Day 237 – Bay of Pigs

A day-trip to Isla de Mujeres was the attempt to get away from the ever present topic swine flow, which looms in the media constantly.

Some of us have flights to catch from Mexico City and the situation becomes more tense on an hourly basis. Someone here is planning to go to Cuba, but the Cubans have stopped all airtraffic between Mexico (country) and Cuba.

I am uncertain what to do, since traveling to a city which has closed all parks, museums, restaurants and many shops is not so thrilling. But I have a plane to catch there… Like me, many consider changing their plans now.

On the other hand the countries available to go to from here are decreasing, since the flu is spreading. Also Colombia does not allow Mexican flights in right now, and the US and Canada have their own cases, making us wonder if there is a point in going there, maybe just in time for a proper outbreak in these countries.

Traveling under these circumstances is tiresome and not so much fun any longer. The situation changes constantly, usually for the worse, and some expect all flights to be stopped leaving Mexico City and in the worst case Mexico.

Realistically we apparently are far away from such a drastic decision but on the other hand, no one would have thought last week that by today Mexico City would have come to a complete stand-still!

So we laid on the fantastic (!) beach of “Mujeres”, sipped a beach, took a dip and were only indulging in one very different thought for a change: “man, isn’t life just wonderful and easy here?”

Day 230 – The Cuban dream

Backstreets of Havana

When walking around in central Havana one could think that the place is uninhabited. The place is falling to pieces, garbage covers the streets and disgusting looking and sick dogs roam the neighborhood sniffing for anything to eat.

In stark contrast to this stand places like the national hotel, a place where you sip a mojito by the pool and light a Cohiba with sandalwood sticks. I assume that the difference in experience of Cuba stems partially from people experiencing one or the other side of Cuba. Or in asking the locals all the “right questions”. “Are you happy in Cuba?”. “What do you think of the US and would you want to live like they do?”. “Are you pro revolution?”.

There is a risk to romanticize Cuba due to the simple fact that it is too simple to fall for the picture Fidel has presented to you rather than exploring and looking behind the facade. One thing that outraged me was for instance that people are arrested when you talk to them, even without asking them all the “right questions”. I met three people who talked to locals in the street at night when the police stepped in and arrested them for their interaction.

Maybe it is convenient to fall for the smile Cubans put on if you ask them how they like the place. Who in their normal mind would tell you that they suffer from generally poor conditions of public facilities and low wages that give no room for much else than the basic survival, if they may be arrested and put away for counter-revolutionary tendencies?

Havana, stray dogs

Some tourists I talked to argued that the Cubans have all they need. That they would in fact trade their English or whatever home for this wonderful place. But then again, with a return ticket in your pocket and a mojito in your hand that seems easy to say. Yes, people are not starving to death. Yes, they kinda have a job. Yes they might have a decent and free health-care system. But can they express there thoughts freely? No. Can they travel and compare what they have with other places? No. Can they escape the all-surrounding propaganda, that is painted and each and every wall of Cuba? No. Are they free to choose between the life they have versus the life they want? No.

I am amazed that socialism seems to end up looking like a dictatorship as a general rule. I am not a fan of a lack of freedom and I sensed that Cubans’ are not either. I am sure against consumerism and totalitarian-US-style-capitalism. However, any system that allows basic freedoms is better than any other system which does not, in my mind.

Fidel is on the way out, and the American way of life is already lurking on the other side of the waters off Havanas promenade. It may not be for the better in all ways, yet in most ways it most likely is going to improve Cubans’ lives.

Cuba is a depressing and suppressing place to me which got stuck in the 60s and which is forced to try to live one mans egoistic dream. I think it turned into a nightmare for many. But rest assured, that if you like to come to Cuba and leave again loving it, you just book a room in the hotel nacional, sip you mojito and smoke you Cohiba and Cuba is going to be a mystical place full of wonders and happy people…

Day 233 – Swine flu in Mexico

I am currently evaluating the situation of swine flu in Mexico. My plan was to fly to Toronto from Mexico City, but now the situation has changed in that there might be either no chance to get to Mexico city easily or that the risk demands a change of plans.

As a friend of mine pointed out, when looking at the number of dead individuals which now is somewhere around 200 the risk appears small, as to compared to let’s say being run over by a car in Mexico.

However, the epidemic development of the past few days may indicate a near exponential increase of cases which in turn can change the above assessment within days. Considering the incubation time for the disease it is entirely possible that we will see a pandemic within the next two weeks.

On the other hand it maintains possible as well that the outbreak is temporary and stays restricted to some regions of Mexico.

If you have planned a flight check with your company. Mine for example (Mexicana) offers a change of the tickets from Mexico City. The situation is not clear yet as Mexican authorities are alarmed but have not yet blocked entrance to Mexico city. They may, some speculate, be about to do that though. Already gatherings of large crowds have been reported to be forbidden and travelers may be checked at train stations.

Check the WHO for more, the CDC or the Robert Koch Institut for info in German.

It seems hard to come by “good” info and a lot of Mexicans doubt that the goverment tells us the truth. For more comments by people from Mexico city check the BBC. Some excerpts:

A MD says: “The official number of deaths is 20, nevertheless, the true number of victims are more than 200. I understand that we must avoid to panic, but telling the truth it might be better now to prevent and avoid more deaths.”

A reader comments: “The situation in Mexico City is really not normal. There is a sense of uncertainty that borders on paranoid behaviour in some cases. At this very moment, Mexican TV is showing how military forces are giving masks to the people in the streets.”

Day 228 – Cuban Salsa and Prostitution

Very seldom have I felt as misplaced as I did, when going to a salsa club in Trinidad, Cuba. One must admit that we Europeans are just not equipped for the kind of hip-movement it requires to dance in a Cuban club (not me at least). On the other hand many European women seem to think they are, and really it makes them look funny. But then again, who cares? Not the Cuban guys anyway who fancy being with one of those westerners. There are mainly slightly older (really middle-aged plus) folks around. And I have noticed some of the older women hanging with massively younger men. Basically these boys could be grandsons. A curious thing.

Then for the gentlemen there also is the possibility or temptation to “sponsor” a local girl. Oftentimes this special relationship looks not so much different from how people would hook up in Europe, with some small differences. You never know if the interest is mainly financial of romantic. But then again, if as a man of humble wealth in Europe you buy a lady drinks, ask her out for fancy dinners or invite her to various types of costly entertainment you never know what her interest in you is either, do you?

Here they call this situation prostitution and sometimes money changes hand in exchange for “romantic” services, they say. Then it is a clear-cut deal I suppose- more or less at least. If, on the other hand, the situation is as described above, without “payment for action”, it is not as clear. How do you distinguish a one-night-stand from one with “benefits” for the girl? What surprises me (not really) about it though is, that the middle-aged women hanging with guys seem not to be frowned upon (as much), while the men choosing a local girl are. Or in other words, what the local men do is not considered prostitution, as far as I can tell. I wonder, how come if a man hangs with a local girl, it is considered prostitution while when a women hangs with a local boy, it is not?

I suppose it is simply due to tradition. We do not ascribe to a women that she would “use” her financial capacity in order to “attract” a potential mate. We are used to women being attracted to the financial security a men can offer her, while we expect a man to be attracted to physical beauty of his female mate. Evolutionary, many think, this arrangement makes sense. Women need a mate with potential to take care of their kids, while a man needs a healthy women to carry his offspring. But then again, in the Caribbean western females occasionally seem to do what men are “supposed” to do, and use financial arguments. I wonder if they look at it this way- doubt it though…

Fidel does not like prostitution and yet it is everywhere. It seems this so called oldest of professions is omnipresent here. As a man you cannot walk a street at night without being approached by women who want you to buy them “a drink”. And at the clubs it is impossible to distinguish if “real interest” has capitalized or if you deal with “genuine interest”. What was the difference again?

But then again, it seems that some Cuban women reckon, that if they pick a guy for the night or some nights, as they would do anyway (they by the way say that inFIDELity is a national pastime) if they feel like “romance”, it may as well pay off financially. Seriously, I fail to see the difference to what some women may do in Europe when they go out in weekends and pick a guy for the night who they fancy, also, if not only for his financial capacities?! Except, surely, the fact that people here are poor and one suspects financial interests a more prominent incentive in peoples’ decision processes.

Already in Thailand have I realized that the idea of prostitution we have in Europe does often have nothing to do with what goes on in these countries where, sadly enough of course, poverty drives women into offering themselves in order to make money. You will see guys who hang out with a girl for the three weeks of holiday they have and they come back as often as they can, to visit her. They call her a girlfriend, live with her at their apartment, are roughly the same age as the girl, often good looking guys, who you do not expect to have any difficulty to find a girlfriend at home either and yet they dream about taking the Thai girl with them to Europe. A real love story? Well, the guy does pay her expenses and helps to sponsor her family. And while the girl also calls him her boyfriend, when he is gone the girl has other “boyfriends” until he comes back. We do call it prostitution therefore.

Were that same situation occurring in Europe, I doubt we would look at it the same way. But then again, the Thai girl has no other option, or does she? We assume that it could never be a “life-style” choice. I wonder however, if this assumption is always strictly true? In Scandinavia the view is quite popular that women are always forced into prostitution. I doubt that is true. In fact, there are prostitutes speaking up, even in conservative Sweden, who very vocally oppose this view, and who feel that they should have the right to choose prostitution as a career choice. Sounds bizarre? Maybe, but I think it is wrong to assume that they are mentally ill and need help for their view, as people do in Sweden.

Now, I am aware that you cannot compare a prostitute in wealthy Sweden with one in poor Cuba, but what I am trying to say is that in both instances the incentive for a womens decision to prostitute herself may be more complex than the conservatives amongst us may want to accept. In countries like Sweden, as in most countries, personal freedom is only awarded if the behavior is conform with certain conservative norms that society has adopted. Should freedom not be more universal though? How much freedom is it if it is tied to conditions? Do we need to “protect” people from themselves? If so, who decides what action people have to be protected from? Who is to say which behavior is harmful and which is not? Because the answer to this question is hard to find, some countries have accepted even prostitution as a valid life-style choice.

Maybe in life things are not as black and white as we think they are and need them to be, but more mulatto, like the Cubans…

Day 228 – Become a member of SuCCESS

I know, I have been talking a lot about how expensive it is in Cuba. And it sure all is relative. I compare with developing-world prices of course, not central European prices. However, everyone I talk to is aware that prices are higher than they expected. Surprising, since everyone warns beforehand. On the other side, it is one thing to hear about it and a completely different one to experience how money seems to simply diffuse into the environment from your wallet. Especially after traveling on the cheap for eight months a painful experience.

But then again, we pay these prices for a good cause, it is all to help Fidel and the Cubans (or maybe just Fidel?). Here are some prices so you get a better idea what to expect, in case you plan to come and become part of the “Support-team for the Survival of the Cuban Colony for the Experimentation with Socialism and Sugarcane-production” or in short “SuCCESS”!

1 Mojito (a staple food item in Cuba) – 2,5 to 4 CUC (1,1789 CUC equal 1 € as of 15/04/2009)
1 Double room for a single traveler at Casa Particular (private home) – 20 to 25 CUC
1 Beer (a staple food item in Cuba) – 1 to 1,5 CUC
1 Cheese Pizza – around 2 CUC (think: soft, mushy and thick dough, little cheese topping)
1 Chicken dish at a restaurant – appr. 6 CUC
1 Dish with seafood – appr. 10 CUC
1 Breakfast/Dinner at a Casa Particular – 3/8 CUC
1 Cigar from a farmer/ from a store (a staple food item in Cuba) – 1/3 CUC
1 hour of internet access – 6 to 8 CUC (!)
1 Museum entrance fee – 5 CUC
1 short taxi ride in the downtown Habana city – 3 CUC
1 Scuba Dive – appr. 40 CUC
1 Bus-ride in tourist bus (ca. 400 km) – 40 CUC
1 bottle of water (1,5 L) – 1 to 1,5 CUC
1 can of TuKola (Coke substitute) – 0,55 to 1 CUC (depending if you get ripped off or not)
1 portion of French fries – 1,5 CUC
1 Spanish style ham-croquetta – 0,10 CUC per piece

But if paying with “Pesos nationales”, the “real” Cuban money, not the monopoly-game type tourist cash, things get very reasonable:

1 Sandwich with chicken (and some hot sauce; I keep dreaming of mayonnaise) – 10 Pesos, that is 50 cents (one Peso is roughly equivalent to 0,05 €)
1 very filling breakfast sweet thingy with marmalade (think: soft cake with sweet thick paste with undefinable taste and thick creamy topping of unknown origin) – 1 Peso, i.e. 5 €-cents
1 Big portion fried rice with ham, soy-bean sprouts and onion – 15 Pesos, i.e. 75 cents
1 large portion of chocolate ice cream – 4 Pesos, i.e. 20 cents
1 Soft drink – 2 Pesos, i.e. 10 cents
1 Museum entrance fee – 5 Pesos, i.e. 25 cents (if you manage to pose as Cuban native without them asking for a passport- I personally failed, but at least I tried and confused them, for like five seconds. I still wonder what gave me away though? My accent, the light complexion of my skin? Or was it my Hawaiian shirt, or the fat-ass camera dangling over my big tourist belly? )

The places where you can pay in Pesos are not advertised by the locals (they will usually send you to the tourist places where you must pay with CUC) and you either stumble upon them coincidently or you have to get lucky to be pointed into the right direction by a compassionate Cuban or a fellow traveler. And even if you find the places, where you can in theory pay with Pesos, it does not mean they will let you.

In order to get these cheaper Pesos nationales prices you may have to be persistent. They often don’t allow you to buy in Pesos, or at least they try to make you pay a higher price in CUC. It is however not illegal to exchange some CUC into Pesos nationales and try to pay with them. Therefore, just be persistent, or better yet, just hand over Pesos nationales and see what happens. Usually they don’t care enough to argue, since the money goes to Fidel and not into their pockets, I guess. And if they do care, hand over the biggest CUC note you have. Chance are they have no change in CUC.

Regarding the room: if you shop around you get them for 15 CUC (I hate the abbreviation “CUC”, reminds me of the Swedish “KUK” too much ). I have one right now for that price. It is spotless clean, with patio, roof terrace and the room comes with TV (not that any of the three state run stations were of any interest to me), fan, aircon and my own bathroom as well as a separate living room with sofa and little veranda (I know! How did I get that?).

It may be that the owner does not exactly tell Fidel that you are staying there, so it is not strictly legal. But that is not of my concern, since this is a part of the system here I should not intervene. I am not saying that you should perform illegal acts while in Cuba! On the other hand it was damn suggestive, wasn’t it…?

Day 227 – Caribbean chill in Trinidad

Finally, after looking for a cozy place in Cuba, I might have come across it in the shape of Trinidad. To be quite honest, the touts and hazzlers here reach a new dimension for Cuba. Nothing in comparison still to many other countries, but if you do not want to pay too high prices then you stay away from the touts who get a commission which you will pay in the end.

However, I got a lovely place (somewhat illegal) for little money and look forward to staying here for a while. With its cobble stone streets and the little churches and plazas the place sure comes across as what you think of when you hear the word Cuban. A band playing some swinging music for the tourists, a big fat cigar along with it and a Mojito on top of it all, and Cuba does all of a sudden look much more acceptable, despite its flaws…

The Mojito- and I have made it a mission to sample them a LOT- has not been much to my, or any of the people who I met, satisfaction. The reason might be that the lemon harvest was bad and there are not many lemons to prepare this delicious drink. Remember, if life deals you lemons, you make lemonade, but what do you do if life does not even deal you that? A nice metaphor for the state Cuba is in. They do not even have the lemons…

Sad but true, I have to stick to the local beer to quench my thirst after long days of…mostly not much. There are bits and pieces to do here, but mostly it is about hanging out in style it seems. Fine by me. Maybe I manage to go diving some time, but that is so much activity at once that it needs some days of consideration and thorough planing. That is for another day, I guess. For now it is back to the Mojito testing and cigar sampling…

Day 226 – Rural Cuba and tourism

While the countryside to the west of Habana in itself is beautiful an enjoyable the circumstances under which the towns here have been developed are not. Viñales is one of the so called tourist “musts”, but that turns out rather negative. The problem with the place simply is that it is as authentic Cuban as Cuba is authentically communistic. Not really quite at all- in case I have to spell it out.

Some three hundred family homes offering accommodation in a place that only feels like 350 families in total and dozens of offers to ride, hike or bike the areas, along with access to the sea not too far away make the place easy access for tourists. This understandably kills a lot of atmosphere though. The family homes are not too expensive (some for 15 CUC- about 13 €). But they all try to sell you extras as dinner, lunch, breakfast, water, tours, transportation to somewhere and so on. Seems nice at first, but when looking at the guest book at my family house, most complaints are about the price and some hidden charges (like that they serve dinner for 8 CUC but then add some CUC extra for water and other things assumed to be included).

I know that I might come across as winy telling about it, but I assume that someone out there wants to do a Cuba trip and might want to know the details. I get the feeling that some here restrain themselves from almost any type of criticism. I am not sure if it is due to sympathy with the suppressed Cuban people (which I share), or some kind of ideological blindness (cannot criticize the last carrier of the political idea you love so much?) or maybe simply because people coming here often have quite a lot of money and simply cannot be bothered by it (while some of us obviously do have to care)?

Whatever it is, beware. I would not really recommend Viñales too much. That means it is OK, when considering that you may just be on a holiday and not a long trip as me. In that case I am sure you can find some relaxation here and some nice experiences too. If you are into horseback riding through the agricultural region here you will be pleased. If you like some walks or a day-trip to the beaches north or south you should be happy as well. If you though, as I did, plan to dive, again be aware of the prices.

Transportation can easily cost 50 € or more for a day-trip and that does not include the diving (an extra 42 € per dive). I decided to instead go to do an organized hike (10 €) and see some farms. It was great to see how they grow tobacco and how cigars are made. We watched the hand rolling of cigars, drank some local alcohol mix, smoked hand rolled cigar and got to eat some exotic fruits. To many peoples annoyance though none of the tastings were really included in the price of 10 €. Asking for tips is a constant companion.

You cannot blame the locals for that. If what our guide told us is true, then he receives 18 CUC per month as payment, while our group payed some 130 CUC for this one tour, meaning that just the tours might make them some 4000 CUC a month! The rest, it seems, pays salaries of a few office employees and the guide (4000 € minus ca. 70 €) , the rest goes to Fidel again. I can see that, when talking to people a bit more in private, frustration is huge. Our guide for example was educated botanist and had studies botany for many years at university level.

While Fidel still is some kind of hero, and you see propaganda constantly (telling you how great it all is, and that the revolution may live long) it sure smells as this experiment is coming to an end. Fidel’s Cuba already seizes to exist in peoples heads. At the latest after Fidel’s death, which is going to be soon, the real Cuba will follow peoples inner image.

Day 226 – One Cuba, two Cubas

One of the most confusing things to explain to someone who has not been to Cuba, and probably one of the most annoying things to someone being in Cuba is the reality of having two currencies. After Fidel had managed to piss off even some of the countries who were formerly friendly to him (partially by imprisoning people who were speaking out against him and by killing people who instead chose to flee the country) and lost his allies due to fact that the socialist experiment had failed in the east, the US gave him an even harder time than ever before.

As a reaction stubborn Castro decided to introduce a new currency and abolish the dollar, which had been an official currency in Cuba for a while to that point. He also started looking for some type of income other than sugar cane for which now there was no market for Cuba anymore. He decided to have the tourist industry be expanded, amongst some of the measures taken.

Cunning Fidel decided to have the tourists pay with one currency and the locals with the other. Furthermore the prices are different for the two currencies and it must be easy for you to guess who gets ripped of in the process (despite the fact that Cubans themselves are already ripped of on so many levels).

While you may get a sandwich for 0.40 € if paying with pesos nationales (which the locals use) we tourists are asked to pay 5 € in some places for a similar sandwich. It is not just outrageous it is a real nuisance and pain in the ass. We were even stopped by some guards when we wanted to enter an ice-cream parlor for the locals. We managed to get in another way and got a huge ice cream for a meager 15 cents (!) while around the corner, at the tourist place, the same ice cream would have cost us 4 €.

This genius idea brings in a lot of money for Fidel and indirectly one might think the Cubans benefit from it. Nevertheless, for a budget tourist it is a pain. Despite this there is hardly any accommodation cheaper than 20 € available. All tours cost a lot and most other things also are in the range of central European prices.

So if you are on a budget you may not like Cuba too much. If you are annoyed to death and threaten with a nuclear attack every time you are asked to pay “special” tourist prices in places (hello my Israeli fellow travelers) then stay away! I am already tiered of that side of Cuba. I kinda knew about it of course, but once you are here it annoys more than expected. It feels like there are two Cubas, one for the Cubans, which is not “experiencable” for tourists and another Cuba for tourists. One especially prepared and in many ways not real at all.

I sure hope Cuba compensates me for it in some way…