Cuba
October 2017
05
Cuba is one of the most interesting countries I have ever visited. The country has been communist since the end of the revolution in 1959. Today, many years later, it seems like the the time just stopped back then. The houses, the cars, the food and the way of running agriculture is the same as in the 50's. All the shops and grocery stores are of course owned and run by the government so you can only get the most necessary things and the prices are usually way to high for the local people to be able to pay with the small salary they get from the government. Therefor, since traveling outside of Cuba was permitted in 2012, the black market has boomed! Everybody is selling something imported out of their home to try and make a bit more money than what they get from the government. When that is said, Cubans are the happiest people I have ever met. Music is played in the streets everyday and you will always see people chatting, dancing or enjoying a beer outside around the plazas. Everybody has access to free education and free health care, so poverty was not as evident as what I have seen in India. When I visited a small town where I was literally the only tourist, I was welcomed into several peoples home, invited for mojitos, and people where generally very interested in getting to know me - even though I have to admit it was quite a challenge with my limited spanish skills!
I celebrated my 21st birthday by the Bay of Pigs. In the morning by sunrise you can see the fishermen heading out.
The small town Caibarien was hit hard by hurricane Irma and now the houses are even more worn down, some even destroyed. The nearby tourist area had been closed for a month when I got there, so many people were left without a job and no support from the government. When I asked my host, a sweet old man that used to sell fish on the black market, what he though about the government, he just laughed and said "We don't talk about that."
