Havana, the capital of Cuba, is one of the most authentic and lively cities that we have so far visited. By its strong character and its sensuality, it immediately charmed us, and to live in the middle of its streets and its people was for us an immense pleasure. As in a long voyage throughout time, we also lived back various stages of History, which we noted deeply marked the life and the customs of the Cuban people.
So you can better understand the background atmosphere and the feelings we got in the Cuban capital, I will first present a summary of Cuba's history, and then tell everything about our life, meetings and adventures in Havana.
Summary of Cuba's political history
The island of Cuba, on the way of some Spanish navigators, did not make the exception to the rule. Very quickly, the Spanish colonisers settled down and took control of the living Indian populations who quickly all perished, killed by the forced labour and the imported fatal diseases from Europe.
At the beginning of the 15th century, at the same time that the Indians disappeared, the Spanish settlers began to `inject' tens of thousands of African slaves and made them work in the cane and coffee plantations (it is as this very same time that one of my parent was sent from Africa to Martinique in the middle of the French Caribbean…).
Centro Havana, the authentic Cuba
Among the three principal districts of Havana, we were lucky to pick the best to settle down and impregnate ourselves with the real perfumes and authenticity of Havana: Central Havana.
Nested in our small bedroom in a casa particular (homestay with the locals), we are in the center of the city, but also in the middle of its inhabitants, in a very popular zone. Since our room is straight on the street side, we can hear a permanent hub of sounds. Voices, engines, cries, laughter, music, and other sounds that gently mix into one and other… The Havana people live much in the streets, and by their sole presence make them contsantly lively and animated. Some hang out of their balconies, others sit on the pavement, some stand at their threshold, and others chat in the middle of the street. Some run, some jump, others are laid down below a car fixin it. We can see of everything. The street is in permanent agitation!!
We have for a long time tried to take the 'key' picture, where the Havana atmosphere could best show off, but it is impossible!!! To realise how things are intense and seizing here, it is necessary to feel the heat and the smelles, to hear the sounds and the rhythm of the music escaping from transistors, to feel the perspiration on your face and to feel the glances and the smiles of everyone, to have a full vision of your surroundings and be able to turn your head suddenly when an event emerges at the corner of your eye: a kid throwing a baseball to his buddy, a cuban 'bimbo' with her perfect body and tight clothes walking across the street, or a granny yelling from her worn out and sagging terrace. Well, I'm sure you've got it. In this decor of imposing but dilapidated architecture, tired from the heat and the humidity from the sea, live the whole Havana, deeply and warmly.
Around 300 years later starts in Cuba the first war of independence (1868- 1878), and then the second one some years later (1895 - 1898), this time leading to the independence of the country. Relative independence though, since the Cubans just off Spanish's hands fell straight away into another domination: the United States. The United States, for which Cuba was an excellent business partner (the 3rd most important), declared the war to Spain, made them capitulate, and without even asking Cuba's opinion, imposed their military occupation and a quite strange law, the Platt amendment, which conferred to the US the right to intervene in any Cuban interior matter that they judge of relevance! Followed from then half a century of American influences and domination (see our chapter on the district of Vedado) which deeply marked the life of many Cuban people.
In 1958, the famous Cuban revolution takes place. In Che Guevara's biography, we lived this revolution from very close, and it is with excitation and passion that we lived it again, here, in Cuba!
This year, Fidel Castro's regime has celebrated its 50th anniversary! A very impressive length of time considering that it is a non republican revoluntionnary movement... and that the regime had to endure hard times such as the cold war, the collapse of the Sovietic block, or the economic and political blocus from the US since 1959. Without living it or seeing it with your own eyes, it is hard to think at which point the Castro communist regime changed the life of every Cuban. During our short one-month stay on the island, we could seize the principal aspects of this so particular regime. For more details, refer to our article `Castro's regime, a dictatorship?'.
The majority of Centro Habana's inhabitants are black, and we can well recognise their African origins that they all express naturally. They have this naive joy of life. They laugh a lot, smile, are generally of a good mood. They look at you nicely (sometimes too nicely it seems though when you are a woman), without staring too much. We can see and breathe once again the atmosphere of the Caribbean, of Martinique, of Brazil and Africa. We love it!!!
Personally I feel a certain pride of being a mezcla, a mixed race person. I believe that I share part of their origins and that makes me feel closer to the people. In certain people's features I can recognise those of my grandfather, and can well imagine him, here among us, smiling fully and warmly as he used to do.
In Centro Habana, we thus felt well, completely immersed and fascinated by this very Cuban atmosphere. As we were at home, we had our habits in the neighbourhood. Buy a pizza at night at the house next door, eat it on the pavement wile the night is falling through, go for a walk on the Prado and the Malecón on the seaside, get lost in the maze of streets around… enjoy this very hot bath of Cuban life!!
Habana Vieja, the vestiges of colonisation
Unfortunately, Habana Vieja is what we call a typical 'Touristland'. It is the district of museums, churches and huge colonial palaces and architecture, it is very nice visually, but it is true that the mass of tourists and hawkers waste the landscape and the authenticity of the area. The salesmen of 'puros' (the FALSE Montecristo cigar sold at more than 50€), the hawkers and the take-a-picture-of-me 'authentic' Cubans (one smoking a 15 cm long cigar, an old bearded man wrinkled looking like Castro) that invaded the streets and see tourists as cash cows.
It is then in this giant Disneyland that we made the following tours: visit of the Cathedral of San Cristobal of Habana (prettier inside than outside), the 'Plaza de Armas' and all its old booksellers (ALL the big cities colonized by Spain have their Plaza de Armas: La Paz, Lima, Cusco, Buenos Aires…), surrounded by splendid and imposing colonial palaces characterized by very pretty patios and immense arcades, and two other plazas dated from the 16th and 17th centuries, Plaza of San Francisco d' Assis and Plaza Vieja.
Given the very high prices (in our opinion) to get into museums and monuments, we often stop at their thresholds! On the other hand, as soon as we see an establishment payable in local currency, the peso cubano (normally reserved to the Cubans), we rush in!! At our greatest joy, these establishments are often food stalls. Finally, instead of nourishing ourselves intellectually, we nourrished ourselves with cheap delicacies: Ice creams, ice creams, fruit juice (refresco), rice pudding, ice creams, fried rice, granite, and finally… ice creams!!
Vedado, the former quarter of American mafia
From around 1920, during the Prohibition period in the United States, Cuba starts to develop a tourism industry based on vice and deep sensations seekers: gambling, sex and alcohol. An American mafia is born and has spread itself into a big part of a whole district of Havana: Vedado. This new underground economy controlled by a band of godfathers is tolerated by the governing dictators, who undoubtedly put some of the cash into their pockets.
In Vedado we visited the former Capri Hotel, the meeting place of godfathers like Al Capone. It is also in this same hotel that several years later, Fidel Castro and his group of revolutionaries will settle and control their revolution!! In the hall of the hotel - now renamed Habana Libre - we can see a series of wall photographs illustrating key features of the country revolutionary history, such as Castro and his armed barbudos squatting into the hotel after their triumphant arrival into Havana, their dirtiness and clothing interestingly contrasting with the luxury of the hotel.
In the remainder of the district, we just go for a walk and wander around. Quickly, as we do not really enjoy Vedado. The streets are broad, the houses big, the people dressed in fashion, we are far from authentic Havana and we feel that we coud have been in L.A.!! Burghhh!
We will even not make the effort of queeing for Copelia, the so-called best ice cream maker of the country, and set out straight back to Centro Havana…
Meetings in Havana
It is in Havana, the first stage of our 30 day trip into Cuba, that we started familiarising ourselves with the so particular Cuban lifestyle. With our eyes we could observe them, at their contact confront and understand them, with them share our differences... There is not a single day where we did not stop at least 3 times for a 15 minutes chat with one its inhabitants!
We then met many Cubans in the streets, who all like to stop and go for a chat (we will unfortunately realise later in our trip that most of these casual chats happen by interest...). It is especially Marco, this 75 year old Cuban, who agreeably surprised us and honoured us by paying us two fruit juices and by offering us a big cigar! We will stumble across Marco again two days later and invitedfor a drink. We had with him a very interesting conversation about Cuba's history and communist laws.
We will also remember of Delma and her family, who one evening of tropical rain sheltered us under her roof. We thanks to her learned a lot on the daily lives of the Havana people!
We will also remember one of these Cuban waiting for tourists to take a pictures of them, who nicely said to us that we could take a free oen from him, explaining us that despite of tourism remained in him a soul and a heart.
And many others...
Havana made us very quickly plunge into the Cuban way of life. It was for us a marvellous introduction to the country, and on top of meeting our expectations, it made us discover a face of Cuba that we could not foresee. Our voyage through the country thereafter did confirm certain ideas/analysis that we got from our short life in Havana, but also enabled us to view more, step backwards and analyse our meetings and discoveries from another angle. See in particular the following articles: `Pesos and CUC, a double monnaie' (in French), 'Is Castro's regime a dictature?' (in English), and `Portrait of the Fernandez family, some very 'Castro-ed' Cubans' (in French).
