I just returned from my trip to Cuba where I visited my family!
It was an awesome experience (as usual). There is nothing like spend time with family...
We cried, we laughed, and we did a lot of fun and adventurous stuff together!
I even survived 2 weeks without internet!!!
I will be lying if I say I didn't miss the Wifi. πππ
It's like going back in time to 1950's...
Since the island has been under a Communist dictatorship for almost 60 years, the government only shows to the world a fake life while Cuban people at the same time are kept isolated of what's going on around the world.
The government controls all the media and owns everything...
I want to share with you both sides of Cuba: How regular Cuban people live, and what tourist people can experience!
It's like day and night!
Let me start with the reality. What the Communist dictatorship hide from the world!
There are a lot of ruined buildings from a century ago. The government only restores those close to tourist attractions.
They still use horses as public transportation (even inside the cities)
90% of cars in Cuba are antiques (Most of them before 1959 when Fidel Castro started his revolution)
Due to the embargo all these cars have been repaired for decades with Russian and Asian parts, so it's mainly the body that remains original, everything else is "mechanic ingenuity"...
Water comes to the neighborhoods maybe once a week, so people has to store it in containers, and the government frequently shuts down the power of entire cities to save electricity.
Monthly salaries are so low compared to food prices, that most people can't afford it, and It only lasts 7 to 10 days (JUST TO EAT)
You can even see professionals like doctors etc hustling on the streets for another source of income.
Sadly a lot of people wake up every morning with the same question: How am I going to feed my family today?
This picture below is from a neighborhood market place (Look at the brainwashing note on the wall about the Revolution)
You can't talk against the government because you will end up in jail the same day.
They have CDR's (An organization in each neighborhood to snitch everyone and report to the police)
You spend more time in jail for killing a cow than killing a person (Beef is only available for very sick and old people, tourists, and the government people)
Education and Health care is FREE, but beside having great doctors, there are no medicines and hospitals are in really bad conditions
Now I'm going to show you the paradise that tourists can experience while Cuban people living there can't afford and die without seeing it!
I took my family (18 people in total) to this beach in Cayo Jutias for 1 day. Beautiful place...
But I only saw tourists there, not Cubans.
It will cost a full salary of a doctor for 7-8 months to visit this beach...(Imagine on a regular worker's salary)
The picture below is the Melia Hotel in Varadero Beach (Prices start at $200/night)
Comparing again with a doctor's salary in Cuba, it will take almost 10 month's salary to spend a night at this beautiful hotel
This is Vinales Valley (One of the best tourist attractions in the mountains of Pinar del Rio with awesome caves and rivers)
Those mountains behind me are called "Mogotes" because of the shape and vegetation. (They are found only in 2 places in the world turning this valley in a world heritage center)
This is another tourist attraction called "Mural de la Prehistoria" (Prehistory wall) and I took this picture from a 1948 Dodge!
I took some of my family for lunch to a restaurant, and I spent 2 months of a doctor's salary in less than 2 hours.
That's insane! Only tourists can afford it!
Cuban people have been living in surviving mode for almost 6 decades, that's why a lot of them decided to cross The Mexican Golf in rustic boats to emigrate to Florida with the hope of arriving. Thousands of them died trying to cross those 90 miles...
The main crime in Cuba is robbery, and because of the necessity, robbery to government establishments has become part of their hustle...
They don't have a lot to share, but if someone has a problem, the whole neighborhood tries to help.
Cubans create humor and make fun of their own necessities, and our culture is very strong.
I can keep sharing tons of pictures, but I hope you got an idea of both "sides" of my island.
A place of contradictions. On the one hand it looks so beautiful and colourful but on the other hand there's the poverty. It's sad that the Cuban people can't enjoy the beauty of their country as they struggle to feed themselves, as is the case in many parts of the world.
Thanks for posting, the photos are lovely!
Thank you. That's a sad reality, and they can't even protest. Those who had tried are dead and the lucky ones emigrated.
Very interesting, @lulita. There is one thing about Cuba I've been very curious about. It has to do with urban gardens / farms. I've never been myself, but I've heard that when the Soviet Union collapsed and stopped sending cheap food to Cuba, the locals took the initiative to convert many parks, rooftops, and other public spaces into urban farms to produce food. Of course a lot of time has passed since then, but I was wondering if you can still see these kind of urban farms. I can imagine they would have gotten bigger and more established since then, but I'd be interested in how you saw it.
That was true. In the 90's the situation was really bad and they turned their gardens, patios, etc into mini farms to grow their own food, but it was just for few years because the government found its way to press the real farmers and bring food to the cities.
Well, that makes sense. I was hoping that situation would have evolved a culture of urban farming. But if nothing else, at least it goes to show that a crisis like that can be avoided, or at least alleviated, should our food transport system fail, for whatever reason.
The Cuban spirit is "whatever it takes"...
I like what you have written here! It shows the real picture of Cuba π¨πΊ and their people..
Thank you. We all hope that 1 day the dictatorship will be over.
I do too ππ¨πΊβ€οΈ
thanks, for the real look at Cuba. I had no idea it was like this.
Like I mentioned before. The Castro's pictured a completely different idea of Cuba to the world. The reality is way different.
Oh, and what's the situation with the dual currency? (Sorry for so many questions, just my curiosity) I've heard there is the national currency for the local commerce, and then there is a second national currency only for tourists, which is pegged to the dollar. Please correct me on this. By the way, is the dollar accepted at all? I mean unofficially, under the counter / on the black market?
You are correct. I'm going to put an example: If you bring $100 US dollar into the country, you have to exchange it for Cuban dollars. You can't buy with US dollars. (Government gives you $87 for every $100 US dollar) Ironically they value their currency more than the US dollar and it only works inside Cuba. You can't use it outside the island. Also they have the Cuban pesos. 1 Cuban dollar is equal to $24 Cuban pesos (Salaries are paid in pesos). Recently they changed the commerce, and you can use both currencies everywhere.
Of course they value their currency higher than anything else. Reminds me of when I visited Yugoslavia during the war: the official exchange rate at the official exchange places was 1 USD = 1 Dinar!!! Only a couple of years before the rule was: ignore the last four zeros on the dinar bills. Of course everyone just laughed at these "official rules" and used Dollars and D-marks under the counter as if they were the national currency, resulting to the Dinar only whenever they couldn't avoid it.
What a rip off...