More of Cuba I

My friend Don Fernando with whom I sat next to on the plane told me that "Cuba is not about the beaches, salsa or food. It is about the people. They are free spirits". I am starting to understand that more and more.

It is very difficult to describe all experiences, places or people I have met during my trip as they are simply too many, nor do I want to write in the style of a guidebook. But I will endeavour to describe some.

-from the conversations I had with various Cubans, I gathered the painful situation. If you are professionally qualified in Cuba (e.g. have a degree in engineering or law) through a state-paid job you can earn CUC 15 per month, which is the equivalent of about USD 15. To understand how little that is, I've paid for a normal meal CUC 12 and for a night of accommodation in a casa particular (Cuban type of B&B) CUC 20. Then how is it even possible to live off something that little? Though owning a high degree, most of them get jobs as waiters and taxi drivers and rely heavily on the relative component of their earnings (i.e. tips from tourists). A cab driver can earn as much as CUC 16 per day.

-Main driver for economic growth is not tourism as I originally thought, are remmitances. Almost everyone I've spoken with has a relative working abroad and providing a monthly steady source of income. Due to the high purchasing power, entire families live off that.

-I have been told I am already half Cuban for two reasons: 1) knowing how to negotiate almost everything (as a rule of thumb, I try to get to something between 1\2 and 2\3 of the price they give me); 2) picking up and using some Cuban slang words such as inflador (arrogant), canchanfleta (good for nothing), pampao (poor) and yuma (meaning foreigner, very related to the word gringo; this last one they always smile when they hear it from me)