Hello From Cuba – Part four – Bureaucracy Galore –
Hello From Cuba – Part 4 – Bureaucracy Galore – The University Of Havana
Yesterday I needed to join for my Spanish route at the University of Havana. The Campus of the University is an astoundingly pretty selection of classical constructions and a Cuban tank graces the entrance to the library.
At nine am the complete international college students, about forty of them, met inside the Edificio Varona and we were shepherded by assorted professors into a terribly antiquated lecture hall. (By the method, of the 5 or 6 washroom stalls in the womens lavatory, basically 1 or 2 have bathrooms in them, no lavatory seats, and no operating water inside the sinks. Again a sign of rather run-down infrastructure…)
There they instructed us approximately the program, yet solely in Spanish, which was o.k. for me, for the reason that I dialogue Spanish, however about half the workforce changed into entirely misplaced. We then had to do a swift written placement check to evaluate our latest Spanish capabilities and then the paperwork started out.
We found out out that we essential here documents:
– a copy of our passports
– an authentic reproduction of the hotel visitor card and/or a replica of the licence of the inner most Casa Particular
– 200 CUC (Convertible Cuban Pesos) in coins for a 2-week direction or more for different courses
– forty CUC for replacing our visitor visa to an academic visa (in monetary stamps which we needed to attain abuot 5 km away)
– 2 passport photos
– 25 CUC in dollars to expedite our instructional visa if we are on the town for handiest 2 weeks.
I connected up with a gaggle of overseas students and we headed off at the same time on our quest to meet the Cuban preference for Burocratismo. We first received earnings at bank at the Hotel Havana Libre, then acquired the passport pix finished (to be geared up for pickup three hours later), then sought for the alternative bank on Calle 23 that would supply us with the 40CUC stamps for the instructional visa. With hugely long lineups worldwide, this took us approximately 2 or 3 hours.
Then we acquired incredibly hungry and we had been approached via a regional “Jinetero” (eating place tout) who promised us a finished meal with primary dish, salad and aspect dish for 6 or 7 CUC. We walked with him, simply to discover that the wait on the Paladar (inner most eating place) could be about 45 minutes to even sit down down, no longer consisting of nutrients guidance time.
So we walked up Calle 21 and a private restaurant owner approached us for a meal and we gave in and got here inside of. It changed into a lovely colonial villa, until that the guest room with is essential 3 tables and 12 seats used to be in a dark small dingy room solely without home windows.
However, we had a delicious homestead-cooked meal, I had roasted rooster with rice & beans, salad and a lemon smooth drink, all for eight CUC (approximately eight US$). 2 of my pupil colleagues had been from Germany and the alternative fellow is from Toronto as nicely, however originally from Poland. We had a few awesome conversations and it was attention-grabbing linking up with a host of Europeans in Havana.
After a temporary relax inside the motel, my pal Pedro lower back picked me up in the evening and I couldnt lend a hand yet inform him approximately my ride with the Cocotaxi motive force the previous day, who had tried to pick out me up, regardless of my clarifications and statements that I used to be married and now not enthusiastic about any amorous hobbies.
Pedro explained that sexual kinfolk in Cuba are a relatively familiar, simple-going element and that it can be very widespread for americans to link up for immediate “meaningful overnight relationships”. He stated the Cuban humans as very “passionate and hot-blooded”, I bet that explains a few the advances that I have been receiving thus far, distinctly since there is additionally really a large number of sex tourism the place adult males (or even females) come to Cuba to interact in really reachable erotic reports.
Pedro and I walked by using the antique town and of course alongside the Malecon (the seafront side road) and noticed the eye-catching Plaza Vieja and the Plaza de los angeles Catedral the place a mass was being held for the passing of Pope John Paul II.
This turned into very thrilling, due to the fact that Cuba is a Communist / reliable atheist kingdom and there are lots fewer Catholics in the present day than earlier the Revolution. Actually so much of Cubas religion is a aggregate of Catholicism and Santeria (devout practices of the African slaves). Regardless of religiousness, Cuba has declared a 3-day “duelo nacional” (a national mourning period for the Pope) and the mass changed into attended by way of hundreds and hundreds of worker's.
Pedro and I then had a pleasant meal within the “Barrio Chino” (Havana’s Chinatown) for 5.60 CUC (much less than US$6) for 2 human beings and a pair of vegetarian nutrients and smooth drinks. After a pleasant dinner he lower back flagged down a native exclusive car driving force and gave him approximately 1 CUC for picking out us up and dropping us off at my Hotel. At midnight I dropped into mattress, exhausted.
However, at four am this morning I aroused from sleep with fundamental intestinal difficulties. Apparently my Chinese meal had not was me so neatly and I had severe digestive topics emanating from both facets of my frame. This morning I realy felt rotten and I ended up simply by my possess clinical equipment for the first time and took a few Immodium.
I was not able to devour breakfast, yet I made my way to the tuition where at 9 am our periods started out. Surprisingly the placement take a look at had positioned me into the extent of “perfeccionamiento”, the highest stage and the extent of Spanish in my magnificence was once certainly very excessive. The magnificence includes 7 scholars, a young woman from England, a younger lady clinical pupil from Denmark, a center-aged girl general practitioner from Finland, a young male regulation student from Sweden, a young lady and guy from Norway and myself from Austria/Canada.
Obviuosly there may be an excessively heavy Scandinavian slant in my class and it seems anybody in the classification is a activity sociologist, political scientist, environmentalist and historian. We asked a few extraordinarily rough questions on Cuban lifestyles, the political method, the fiscal hardships, the double economy, the drawback of ladies and blacks in Cuba, machismo and the scenario of the setting.
Some of these questions made our girl professor really feel enormously uncomfortable and it looked like https://penzu.com/p/7b16227cb89ea696 she used to be squirming beneath the barrage of probing political and sociological questions. She obtained very defensive just a few instances about the Cuban technique and in simple terms after we mentioned the nice and bad points of European and Canadian societies did she lighten up a section and emerge as a section extra open and frank about the real Cuban lifestyles. It seems to be that to this present day Cubans must be very cautious about what they say in public.
For instance, she frankly admitted that racism still exists in Cuba and to this day it's miles nonetheless a country with a considerable number of machismo. However, she did not admit that Internet access and get right of entry to to non-Communist media is forbidden for Cubans, she sincerely defined it as an economic subject. (Several of my colleagues had heard in another way of their travels in Cuba, with no trouble that a Cuban isn't really allowed to have get right of entry to to the Internet). She additionally admitted that it seriously is not allowed for Cubans to talk over with the visitor places of the Cayos (e.g. Cayo Coco) that's exclusively reserved for vacationers and Cubans haven't any access to that aspect by any means, a certain level of competition among the locals.
Class ended approximately 1:20 and my disenchanted stomach did no longer let me to consumption any nutrition. I headed lower back to my resort, slept a touch and had been at the Internet for the beyond 2 or so hours (racking up a invoice of approximately $US 20.00 or s0), documenting my ride.
It’ll be a quiet evening this night considering the fact that I am trying to relax my abdominal. But I am convinced the adventures and the getting to know will keep day after today.