3/17 - day 8 (day 6 of BR)
Today was our first and only full day in Havana with Backroads. We were careful to plan our events at the front end with Cultural Cuba to avoid duplicating events and by and large, we were successful.
The breakfast buffet at the Parque Central was typical European and even more expansive than at the Gran Hotel Manzana.
Our first event was a short bus ride to a neighborhood bodega. It looked like a a small warehouse or indoor farmer's market. Here's what is available today.
Yanny showed us her ration booklet. Here's what it looked like.
In times of economic surplus, it simply meant you could not stock up on supplies, that is, no such thing as a Costco. In bad economic times, it meant sometimes you simply could not get something because there was not enough rice, beans, or cooking oil to go around. Or you could look on the black market and pay inflated prices.
Things are currently not good in Cuba. That said, the people we saw never seemed overwhelmed by their poverty.
Next to the bodega was a small farmer's market. It looked like any other farmer's market in the world with brightly colored produce and fresh meats. It bustled with energy whereas the bodega just seemed grim.
In the spirit of interacting with Cuban people, we were each given a small piece of paper with a spanish word for an item to buy and some spanish phrases to use. I had "ajo" which I should have remembered was garlic.
Mike and I did a tour through the market while Walter motored ahead. He had his oranges before we finished making the rounds. We helped Mike identify a sweet potato.
After the market, we started walking back to the hotel with a lunch stop on the way.
First, we stopped at the Hotel Nacionale for Mojitos.
We had lunch at a breezy rooftop restaurant called Cafe Laurent. It was hardly a “cafe”. Once again, we had to wait way too long (about an hour), we ate way too much food, But the view was spectacular.
Mike likes his Coke, so he is typically on a mission to find a Coke or the local equivalent. That lead us to discover that there is a local Cuban soda called Malta. After many strike outs, Yannay, our Cuban guide, told me it was available here, so I ordered one. We decided it was pretty mediocre and I passed it around, hoping everyone else would drink it. It contained 56% of the RDA for sugar! Turns out it is made in Miami.
About half of us decided to walk back instead taking our bus. We split into two groups. Ben led ours because he was willing to pay exorbitant fees to have a cellphone connected to the Cuban network. On the way back, we passed the Universidad del la Habana.
We stopped at a church on the way back to the hotel dedicated to San Ignacio de Loyola. Again, a Jesuit connection for my reimbursement request.
There were two late afternoon activities. The first was a Q&A with Marc Frank, author of Cuban Revelations. He gave a very frank (ha) discussion of conditions in Cuba, although some of this answers were frustratingly vague. I brought my copy of the book for him to sign. He told me he doesn’t do “sweet nothings” when he autographs books. (Thanks, Mark - I am heartbroken.)
The second activity was a performance by a drumming group. They were very energetic and pretty creative without expensive equipment. Also more snacks, cold cuts and cheese.
Habana Compás Dance - Percussion and dance group, fusion of African and flamenco rhythms:Eduardo Cordova Reyes (Musical Director and Percussionist):
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