Travelling not soliciting: Cuba part 2--Revolution, renovation and resolution

Here are some further musings on Havana and other useless bits of information from my few days in Havana. I pick up my rental car on Monday and leave for the central and eastern parts of Cuba. I could have done with at least one more day here in Havana. I spent yesterday on a coach tour to the western end of the island: Pinar del Rio and Vinales. It was fascinating but did reduce my time in Havana. I think I will probably come back another time, not least because I am very curious to know how the complexities that I mentioned in my last post are resolved.
By the way, I don't know what internet connections I will have once I get out into the country so you may not hear from me for a while.

Revolution
In Havana and indeed in the countryside, it is impossible to escape the impact of the Revolution. Slogans abound, even in the most rural areas. Since there is no other advertising (I can't tell you what a welcome absence that is!) you really do notice them: "Revolution or Death", "Patria e Muerte", "Viva Fidel; Viva Raul" as well as posters trumpeting the 53rd year of the Revolution. And of course the million faces of "Che" on every possible flat surface and item of clothing.

But even the Museum of the Revolution has no exhibits after 1980. And the evidence of the consequences of the fall of the Soviet Union and the continuing US embargo is everywhere to be seen. Street lights are dim and used sparingly . Food and goods in the local stores are unattractive and seem to be sold out by late in the day. The theatre where I attended a ballet performance last night is in a terrible state of repair. The state of the sidewalks and streets would give a Health and Safety Inspector a heart attack. Nothing works as it should. Service is normally awful. Private enterprise is very small scale and constantly being harrassed. I've already mentioned the dilemma of the dual economy.

Transport for the people is limited to dilapidated buses which make Delhi's look flash, or to bicycle trishaws and the venerable old 1950s cars, or the much less evocative ancient Ladas. I haven't seen so many motorcycles and sidecars since the 1950s in England. It does look as though China is starting to fill the gap, though, since all the tour buses are brand new Chinese manufactured coaches.

But it is when you get out of Havana that you really get a shock. In yesterday's 12 hour excursion to the most lush farming land in the country I saw only one tractor. Fields are ploughed with oxen and hand held plough. Public buses in the towns are horsedrawn wagons. You are as likely to see a horse and buggy as a local car.

However people are managing . The fields are full of beautiful crops. Occasionally you get spectacularly good service with a warm and genuine smile. People are trusting---a credit card imprint is not the first thing you are asked for. The ballet theatre was full and with a knowledgeable and appreciative audience. People are out on the streets having a good time. On the whole people look pretty healthy, well dressed, and confident. Today was Sunday and the families were out in force, promenading , taking the children to the park or the museums.They grumble openly about the taxes and the rations without any apparent fear of consequences. Despite the difficulty of setting up any private enterprise people are doing so, albeit in a very small and rather amateurish way.

It is of course impossible to make any assessment in a matter of a couple of days, but I did not see any signs of imminent collapse. Nor, however, did I see any signs of a light at the end of the tunnel.

Baseball
Baseball totally absorbs the nation.There is even a section of one of the main parks where the baseball fanatics get together to argue about the teams and re-hash the latest game and the future prospects. Ironically the local sports channels report in detail on the US baseball scene.

Music
Yes it is everywhere, just like they say. And I like it. I really am not a fan of modern music in general and certainly not "celebrity" plastic stuff you get in shops, on the car radio and TV, leaking out of people's earphones. But the stuff here is genuine live music of all genres from classical to salsa and it is really really good--except of course the strolling restaurant musicians playing the obligatory Guantanamera over and over again.

Toilet seats
I was asked by a friend who was here 20 or so years ago, if they now have seats on the public toilets. The answer is no they don't.

Gays
From what I can see in the streets around the central area I am in, there is an open and pretty numerous male gay community in Havana.

Cold
It has been cold here since I arrived! I came expecting the same 30 degree temperatures that I had in the British Virgin Islands over Christmas, since Cuba is only a couple of hundred miles away and not much further north. But no, it has been hovering around the mid 20s and a lot lower at night and there is no heating in the houses or in our hotel. I've been glad I brought a coat and sweater!

Tourists
I was wrong in yesterday's post. There are some Chinese tourists here. I saw a party down in Vinales yesterday . They were riding horses and taking photos of each other with expensive cameras and generally having a great time. They lunched at the same place we did and they started to dance to the band --very well. I recall that when I was working in Beijing and out for an early morning walk in the park I was amazed to hear recorded western dance music and rounding a corner saw a group of Chinese men and women solemnly foxtrotting at 7 am. I believe it is regarded as an acceptable form of morning exercise and suitable alternative Tai Chi.

And I have also seen two parties of Americans, sleekly groomed and expensively dressed and HERE! How, I don't know. I wonder if I should tell Mitt Romney?

Miami Beach in Cuba
Yes that's right. The residential suburb of Vedado was built to be like Miami, right down to the grid pattern of Avenues called with letters of the alphabet and Streets with numbers. And the one story bungalows and car ports and yards are straight out of Miami circa 1955. In fact they are rather charming and the suburb is clearly a desirable area for Cubans to live since the houses and yards are well kept and the cars are nearly-new. Less desirable are the hideous sky scrapers and crumbling concrete shopping centres that were thrown up nearer the beach in the last heady days of Batista and his Mafia friends before the Revolution.

Food

They say that no one comes to Cuba for the food. I'd revise that to say people come to Cuba in spite of the food. It is as dire as they say. I can't quite put my finger on it but it is a combination of lack of imagination, very limited selection, poor ingredients, lack of seasoning, poor preparation, bad service. So not a whole lot of plus points there, is there? Gordon Ramsay! Jamie Oliver! Cuba needs you!