Making life work in Cuba

Cuban house in need of repair, but still a residence

The complexity of life in Cuba became bizarrely apparent one night when we had dinner with 2 Cubans who explained some of the rules concerning inheriting or transferring property.  I’ll try to make this somewhat intelligible, so bear with me.

One person Don and I had met on our first visit to Cuba had told us how he and his wife were slowly building their house.  It turned out to be a much more complicated endeavor than he’d discussed with us on our first trip to the country.

typical Cuban transportation, particularly outside of Havana

First, in Cuba, you can only give your house or car or personal property to a child or spouse.  You can’t sell it to another person, though you can swap property between two parties (more on that in a minute).  If a married couple divorces, you can transfer property between divorcing partners in order to equalize a divorce settlement.

Our acquaintance, whom I’ll call Arian (not his real name), and his wife have known each other since primary school.  They began dating in high school and continued to see each other even after he went off to the university, which she was unable to attend because her grades in high school were too low.  They’ve now been together 10 years and have 2 children and a tiny house.  But, she’s not officially his wife.  This wouldn’t be all that strange except for the circumstances that have kept them from marrying.

colorful, restored homes in Trinidad

Arian wanted to find a piece of land where he could build a house.  You can acquire the land if your parents or spouse have some land they can give you.  He found a piece of land, but it was owned by an older woman who couldn’t give or sell it to him.  So, he married her in a 4 minute ceremony at the municipal office (this after considerable discussion with his girlfriend, who agreed that this was necessary).  He then paid his official wife, whom he never has and never will live with, for her land which, because they were married, she was legally able to transfer to him. 

Normally, and not uncommonly in Cuba, he would have divorced her since he now owned the land he wanted, but because of even more quirks in Cuba’s laws, he had to put in a foundation and 27 square meter room in order to keep the land.  He didn’t have the money to do this, so he had to stay married until he could save the money to build the required structure.

Initially, he and his girlfriend built a 15 square meter room with a bathroom.  This wasn't large enough to meet the government requirements for maintaining ownership of the land.  Even though they started the house 7 years ago, saving the money for expensive materials with 2 children is very difficult.  Until they can find a larger house for their swap, the four of the them all sleep together in 1 tiny room and live in another.  His desire is to have a balcony or terrace or small garden where his children can play outside.

crumbling apartment building, Havana

Originally, Arian and his wife hoped to build a second floor with 2 bedrooms and turn their tiny 2 room downstairs into a kitchen/living space.  Now, they are thinking about trying to swap their current home for a larger one.  That would require paying extra money for the larger home, the difference between its value and the value of their home.  Meanwhile, he needs to stay married to the woman from whom he bought his land years ago in order to maintain ownership until he can swap the land and house.  Confusing?  Very much so, and pretty typical of the creative ways Cubans get the things they need.

Our other guest told us how he'd been able to build his house.  He found a woman with a single story house who needed a better roof.  He offered to build a concrete roof for her if she'd sell him the roof, again under the table, and let him build a second floor home on top of her house.  They reached a deal, not requiring that he marry her because she wasn't transferring land, just adding a story to her home, which he was paying for.
Cuba doesn't really have titles to homes, so his deal is a bit shaky, but he, too, is hoping to swap his apartment, which he built mostly himself, to someone else for a better and larger home.

private truck packed with travelers

Barter is key to the Cuban economy.  Few people could survive without doing deals under the table, buying and reselling items, renting or buying (usually with remittance money) an old car or truck to transport people who pay a couple of Cuban pesos for the ride, trading services with family and friends.

renovated apartment building, Havana

Life like this is very creative and very difficult. Everyone longs for the day the U.S. will lift its embargo, so futile since it has accomplished none of its goals--i.e., removing the Castros--in its 60 years of existence.  It has only served to impoverish the very Cubans we want to help.

private travel in Cuba

sunset over lake near Holguin

Since I have blogged about Cuba on two previous trips, I will try to tell people’s stories this time around.  We were back in Cuba with a group, ten of us, taking virtually the same itinerary we took in October because we think it showcases the island very well.

cutting sugar cane with machetes in government field

This time, however, we flew American’s newly scheduled flight to Holguin, on the northeastern coast of Cuba, a vast improvement over the charter flights that were always late.  We did a “private” trip this time because the government refused to confirm any hotel reservations for us.  They told us they would guarantee a hotel in each city, but wouldn’t say which ones.  Since there are very few good hotels in Cuba, we were unwilling to leave it up to the government to tell us at the last minute where we’d be staying, which would most likely have been a barely acceptable or unacceptable hotel.

chef in one of the private restaurants (paladar)

So, we decided to take the private route, which means we stayed in private homes, used privately owned vans and the drivers who work for those owners and a private guide hired by our U.S. based travel agent who specializes in private tours.  There were 10 of us, so we had 2 vans.  You can’t get a bus if you travel privately because the government owns all the buses and won’t let you use them unless you are on a “government” tour.  The vans were 10 passenger and 6 passenger models with 2 delightful drivers, so we were very happy with them.

ration card used to by supplies in government store (bodega)

Something we learned after our first 3 nights in Cuba—private providers of accommodations also switch you to other private accommodations (hostals or casas) without telling you.  We had 5 rooms reserved in the best hostal in Santiago de Cuba and 1 in a lesser hostal, since we needed 6 rooms.  But, when we arrived at our reserved hostal, the owner told us she could only provide 3 rooms in her home and had booked 2 rooms in a second (turned out to be less desirable) hostal nearby and 1 room in a third hostal (considerably less desirable). 

Same thing happened to us in Camaguey, where we had a 7 room hostal for one night.  We were not told that we would be in a different hostal from the one we reserved until we arrived.  Our new accommodation was fine, but not as good as the first.  I was peeved, to say the least, particularly when our guide told me the same thing would be happening in Trinidad, where we’re staying 3 nights. 

band of musicians in plaza (private enterprise)

I called the Cuban concierge who was supposed to help us if we had problems on the trip, woke him up, I’m sure (it was Sunday morning), and told him I did not want this to happen again and to please fix the problem immediately.  Though he said he would, I also called our travel agent in Florida, who quickly got us returned to our booked accommodations.  So, if you travel privately in Cuba, be prepared to fight for what you paid for.  I think that these hostal owners share the government view that, provided your itinerary stays the same, you won’t care where you stay.  Wrong!  But, this kind of private business is quite new, so it may take some time to work out the kinks.  I think they overbook and then move the last arrivals to other accommodations.  So, until this becomes a more routine part of Cuban travel,  check and doublecheck and then call again to make sure you are getting what you expected.  One thing to understand about private accommodations in most of Cuba is that they are very basic--generally small rooms, 1 to 3 beds, a towel per person, no amenities except soap (not everywhere), clean, run by families (more about the families and their dreams in another blog).

private family-owned cars in Havana

One other note—we traveled legally to Cuba, so used a U.S. travel agency that is licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department to do business there.  They provided us with our visas and our letters of authorization that prove we are authorized to travel in Cuba.

The rest of our trip was smooth.  We had a gorgeous 7 room villa in Havana with a wonderful staff and lovely rooms.  The location was in Miramar, about 15 minutes from Old Havana, so not as convenient as staying in the center of the city if you want to sightsee on your own or shop—but, then, while the sightseeing is great, the shopping is minimal.  We all loved the villa despite the neighbor’s dog who barked long into the night (our villa owner has been informed and, hopefully, will deal with this significant annoyance).

our villa in Havana

More on the stories we heard in my next blogs.

a Cuban writer's story

outdoor bookstore in Old Havana

We just returned from our third trip to Cuba.  Since I've blogged about Cuba twice before, including our travels from Santiago de Cuba on the east end of the island to Havana and the Vinales Valley on the west, this time I will focus on people's lives and stories and the different views of U.S./Cuba relations held by Americans and Cubans.  Things are changing fast in Cuba in some ways and in others, there is no change.  Above all, Cubans, particularly government officials, value their independence from the U.S.  At the same time, every Cuban we talked to would love to come to the U.S., at least for a visit.

sunset over lake in SE Cuba

This is the first of several stories I'll tell over the next few days.

One person we met is a writer and poet.  He has been very active in negotiating with government officials to gain more artistic freedom for writers, artists, musicians and dancers.  Perhaps because Cubans have such a restricted life, they put enormous energy into their creative lives.

This writer, whom I’ll call Jose, but which isn’t his real name, is highly regarded in Cuba for his work on behalf of writers and artists.  His life is so circumscribed by poverty that he has turned to intellectual pursuits to give his life meaning amidst severe deprivation.  He seems to be very sad because of all his dreams that he knows he’ll never realize since they go beyond Cuba to a world he can’t afford to access.

ration book issued to every Cuban family to buy basic goods

He would love to travel outside Cuba, particularly to New York, but he’ll never be able to afford to apply for a U.S. visa ($160), much less buy a plane ticket even to Miami on the new and much cheaper scheduled flights between the U.S. and Cuba.  His dream is to experience New York’s cultural life, to walk the streets where artists show their work, visit the city’s great museums, wander through the bookstores, talk to fellow writers, even if only for a few days.  There is no chance he would overstay his visa because his wife needs his care and his grandson is his treasure.  But, besides the prohibitive cost of applying for a visa, his chances of actually getting one are near zero, especially now.

When I asked Jose what I could bring him and his family, he asked for vitamins because their diet is so poor.  I am guessing he makes about $10 to $12 per month, which he supplements with an occasional job translating books from English into Spanish.  Even in Cuba, this doesn’t buy much, meat on rare occasions, little in the way of fresh fruits and vegetables (which are in amazingly short supply in Cuba), mostly rice and beans which are subsidized by the government.

Bodega--ration store with very limited goods

Jose has published many articles, books of poetry, and anthologies.  He particularly enjoys the book fairs that attract hundreds of thousands of Cubans to Havana and other cities.  We were in Havana for part of their huge book fair this year, the only time Cubans can buy books from other countries.  The crowds were enormous, waiting for buses back into the city late into the evening.  This is one of the premier events in Cuba, not just for intellectuals, but for average citizens who want a chance to read about the world outside their island.

I’ve seen booksellers in Havana’s main plaza with their used books spread out on tables under the trees.  The government publishes some books every year, but because of the U.S. embargo, can’t get high quality paper on which to print the books, so they’re pretty fragile.  Nonetheless, Cuba’s many book lovers hover over the books, old and new, and the magazines, mostly several years old and extremely limited, looking for a bargain they can afford.

In the past, Jose has traveled under sponsorship to 10 countries, something he’s very proud of.  Literary organizations in Europe and Latin America have paid his way to teach and speak on his writing and that of other Cuban authors.  He doesn’t think he’ll have that opportunity again, and that, too, makes him sad.

family home in need of major repairs

He told us he’d love to have a big house.  He and his wife, his son and daughter-in-law, and his grandson all share their tiny house.  He says he’ll never have a big house, but is very happy to have his family together even in a cramped space.  His biggest worry is his inability to provide adequately for his family, but he acknowledges that he is doing everything he can given the lack of work in Cuba, so that gives him some peace.

We had lunch with Jose in one of his city’s best paladars (privately-owned restaurants).  He told us he never went to a paladar because they were all way too expensive.  Our lunch was about $10 per person, including way too much food as well as several beverages apiece, but that is far beyond what most Cubans can afford.  So, it is mostly foreigners and a few well-connected Cubans who patronize these establishments.  The families who get government licenses to open these restaurants can make quite a bit of money, far beyond what the average Cuban earns, and that is creating considerable unease within the Cuban government, which prefers to have everyone on the same economic level.  The paladars and the privately-owned bed and breakfasts are testament to the longing of Cubans to build better lives and the energy they put into that when they have the opportunity.

more prosperous families' homes

We left Jose after a wonderful conversation, standing on the crumbling sidewalk, waving to us as we departed in our van for another Cuban city.