My Tia’s house is the light coral one on the 2nd floor with the terrace on the far right. You go through the black gate to go up the stairs.
Tagged with Caribbean
My Thoughts on Cuba & Tourism
I know I’ve been posting a lot of photos from Cuba, And it’s funny because through the various Instagram filters I’ve used, I am romanticizing the city. As I edited my photos in Instagram I’d show my Tia Gladys my pictures and she was like, “Wait, that’s my street or that’s the city? You’ve made it look so nice!”
As a Cuban-American who has gone twice now I have mixed feelings on how everyone views Cuba as a tourist destination and how everyone is anxious to go. It’s like a new hipster destination and the old cars and crumbling structures are quaint photo ops.
Look, I’m not against Americans going at all but I do hope that if you find yourself traveling to Cuba, that you educate yourself on the realities of what the Cuban people have been through and are still going through. As a tourist, you see the romantic, sort of cleaned up version of Cuba, not the hardship going on behind closed doors. Did you know they still have rationing? And the reason they have all those old cars is because no cars could be imported until recently? Oh, and Che Guevara is NOT the hero history has tried to make him be.
I can recommend several books if you are interested. “Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know” by Julie Sweig may be a bit heavy & academic on the history but it’s great background.
And I leave you with a picture of the market where my Aunt shops & picks up her rations – whenever they get the limited items they do get.
Visiting Mom’s Old House in Habana
Today’s story… We visited the house Mom & Dad lived in as newlyweds (Dad had lived there during his previous marriage). The current owners graciously allowed us in. This mirror and shelf are right at the entrance and the current owner said they just can’t be removed without doing damage so there they are, over 50 years later.
I took a picture of Mom in front of them and here are pictures of her in the same spot on her wedding day and the day after as they headed out on their honeymoon.
Across the street from my Mom’s old home in Santos Suarez.
Why aren’t there mosquitoes in Havana?
While in Havana, I did not see a single mosquito. My aunt explained to me that it was because the state was fumigating homes (inside your home, not just spraying in the streets). On my last day we heard, then saw them coming down the street. Fascinating to me since here in the US most people would not take too kindly to military personnel coming into their homes to fumigate. Now, you could say no (like my aunt who asked them to come the next day because she hadn’t been prepared for them – you have to leave the house for 45 minutes when it’s done) but they make a note of it and you can’t say no too often. Also, I shudder to think what toxic chemicals they are using.
Check out this article to find out more details on their fumigation plans.
A final note – the newspaper has a column, much like a health inspection column, that reports businesses where any signs of mosquitoes have been found. They describe how many, what larval stage – and they are fined. Cuba takes the Zika virus, dengue and chikungunya very, very seriously.