I took this picture from our bus traveling through Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second largest city. What I found interesting about Cuba is that there are lots of these apartment buildings throughout the city; apparently the factory that was used to produce the cement slabs that makes up the majority of the building was donated by the former Soviet Union back in the 70s.
What I found intriguing about these buildings was that almost all of them had long gardens in front and horses working these "Fields". There's no doubt about it, there's a culture shock heading down there.
My original intention behind this article was to describe not what I saw in Cuba, but what I experienced. Moreover, my impression of the people; everyone I've talked to who has been to Cuba has always said that the people are nice (Something I will attest to, as this was my second time in Cuba), but what is interesting is that most people are nice for a price. The poverty of the country is overwhelming when visiting cities other than Havana.
From the moment we stepped off the plane, we experienced how there's a perpetual fight to get your Pesos. You enter Santiago de Cuba with a wall of humidity, smoke and people trying to take your bags to your bus; my girlfriend let someone take her bag and he asked me for a Peso by grabbing the back of my arm, though I didn't have any at this point in the trip.
There's an intense sense of guilt in an all-inclusive vacation; if we forgot our money, or didn't have enough to leave an excellent tip for our maid, server or bartender, both of us felt awful until the next meal. On resorts people don't tend to ask for money, but still, it's expected, as it should be.
If you think you're getting a cheap vacation, you'll be surprised at just how much everything adds up in the end.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
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