CUBA

Friday November 1st

I again completed my morning routine by taking my bike down to the beach and trying to find Louis, but he was not there. Then back up the hill to share my gifts with the street merchants. Marcelo and I agreed to get together later that day where I would have a loaded backpack that I would bring to his Airbnb and after that where we would be joined by his friend Melody who he also met on Facebook. Marcelo had intentions of sharing my gifts with people that he wanted to help. My plan for transportation that day was either to take a cab or utilize a travel method common in Cuba that is actually a form of hitchhiking called “Autostop.” I have seen others doing it and, coached by Marcelo, I stood in the street with my hand in the air and whenever I saw someone driving in a beat-up car I would look them in the eye. The method was that a driver would pick you up, just like a hitchhiker, but you would give them about 300 pesos equal to one dollar. I decided to try it while walking along a fairly busy road. I wasn’t having much success and I had my heavy backpack. I ended up walking part of the way and making it to The “Plaza de Revolution” or Revolution Plaza. This was one of the most well-known landmarks in all of Cuba.

Due to my lack of success at “Autostop” I hailed a cab and had to shell out the 15 bucks to get to Marcelo’s Airbnb. Finally arriving we spread out the gifts in his room and developed our plan. We decided I would come back again the next day with my bike and another large load from my bigger backpack. He had a student that would greatly benefit from the laptop computer and some thumb drives that I had gotten from my friend Jim. Marcelo knew a lot of people in the rural areas that lacked electricity most of the time so that became the home for most of my flashlights, batteries, and rechargeable kits. Some also lived along the ocean, so we developed an inventory of fishing gear. I also included a little bit of just about everything I had from dental care to reading glasses, insect repellent, pens and paper, and many of the things from my original list. Another thing that I learned was of extreme benefit were women’s bras for which I acquired 30 from Nancy’s friends. As it turns out, in order for women to work in the government-run resorts and restaurants it was a requirement that they wear a bra. Many could not afford them or would wear them out to nothing and therefore either could not work or might lose their job. They actually exchanged them when they changed shifts, but naturally, the proper size was an issue, not to mention the fact that this is a personal item of selective importance to women.

With our plan in place, we left his Airbnb and went to a restaurant that he had been to frequently. Marcello seemed to know everybody there, and after a few drinks, his friend Melody arrived. In her early 20s and very attractive, Melody had to travel over an hour to get there. We had a very nice dinner. We then fired up Cuban cigars and Melody took a photo.

I began to feel like a third wheel, largely because she spoke no English and I learned already that Marcello had no problem when it came to gaining women’s attraction. He insisted on picking up the tab because his girlfriend was there, but I told him that it would only be acceptable if he would be my guest along with the host from my Airbnb and his girlfriend for dinner the following night. He agreed and we decided that I would come back again the next day with a large backpack full of gifts at 9 AM and continue with our plan. He got me a cab for 10 bucks and asked me to message him to ensure that I got back safely. I was home shortly after but forgot to send the message.

Saturday November 1st.

I woke up at 5:30 AM and shortly after I heard my WhatsApp go “Ding!” Marcelo asked if I got back okay. I responded yes and apologized for not checking in. He then messaged that he wanted to push our meeting back from 9 to 10 o’clock because he just got home. I told him to just give me a call when he got up. “Chill brother!” I said, “We have time.” He called me back at around 10 and I was on my way. I loaded my backpack as much as possible and headed out on my bike. I arrived at his Airbnb and he carried my bike up two flights of stairs to his room where we spread out and organized all of the items.

Vasectomies and tubal ligation were encouraged by the government and used to be paid for by them, but that went away several years ago and she said that since Covid, everything as far as hospitalization became a complete disaster. Most procedures required that patients pay as much as $50 for the procedures and usually required that they bring their own sutures and other medical supplies! Their only chance of getting medical supplies was on the black market and only if they could find or afford them. Black marketers would buy large containers of aspirin and sell them one at a time to their customers for about 400 pesos each, equaling over a dollar. She knew a chef at one of the large resorts in Old Havana and assured us that by giving him the bras, he would find women who need them most to help secure their jobs at the resort.

Marcelo hadn’t had much sleep after being out with Melody till 5:30 AM, so after my delivery, I headed home and let him get some rest. I put my smaller backpack in my bigger backpack, attached them to my back, and rode my bike back to my Airbnb hoping to cool off in my air-conditioned room. Again, Havana had no power. I switched my morning routine to the afternoon, and began riding to the ocean in search of Louis but again, he was not there. I saw some kids fishing as the tide was low, but they had very primitive fishing gear so I began a conversation with one of them using Google Translate. I pulled out my bag of fishing gear and asked him to choose some lures. He did so, and I gave him a reel and a bunch of fishing lines and a couple of other items.

I went back up the hill to give the merchants more of my gifts, then back to my room to avoid the heat in my air-conditioned room, but still, there was no power, so I took a cold shower and as I was walking out of the bathroom when power was restored a little after 2 o’clock. I relaxed for a few hours working on this documentary and planned on meeting with Andrew and his girlfriend at 5:30 where we would go meet Marcelo for dinner. Andrew demonstrated his technique using “Autostop.” It took a while but eventually, we were picked up by a rickety old car without seatbelts. It got us there without a problem.

We met Marcelo in Old Havana’s City Park and he took control by finding a great restaurant that we would all like, in a nice area with music that was not too loud. I knew this would be a good meeting because Andrew and Marcelo had a lot to talk about and Andrew’s girlfriend Alisia only knew Spanish. They would translate often enough to have a good time..

After our dinner, Andrew and Alisia had to head back as he had a client to meet at his Airbnb. It was Saturday night. Time for Marcelo and me to take on the town once again. We went to an outside festival with a live band and inexpensive beer. The problem was, they’d run out of cups. They were pouring in empty bottles and any kind of vessel that they could substitute. We went to a vendor that had cups and brought them to the beer guy.

Marcelo asked me if I wanted to go to the top music venue in all of Havana. Naturally, I agreed, as I expected that this may be our last time together. We arrived to find that it didn’t open until midnight. We found a small bar across the street and I really liked the way it was decorated. We ordered our beers and I noticed a young boy sitting across from us with his family. He was falling asleep and I had a really cool colored pencil set in my pack that I thought it would be a good idea to offer it to him. I gave it to Marcelo and he spoke with the family and passed it on.

It turned out the music venue didn’t open until after 12:30. I thought that was particularly strange because it was daylight savings time which gave them an additional hour. They finally opened, and as I paid the $3 – 1,000 pesos each, it was obvious that we were among attendees who were at the very top of the food chain here in Cuba. Other than the fact that no one else spoke English, it seemed like I was back in the US. The lighting was spectacular, the Latin music sounded clean from a great sound system, everyone was well-dressed and dancing happily. I also noticed that at 68 I was definitely the oldest person there. Marcelo told me earlier that he was a good dancer and proved it.

We were waiting for the curtain to open because a live band was supposed to start. It turned out that didn’t happen till about 1:30 AM. That’s when the place really came to life. I walked up to the stage and shot some videos. Marcelo was at our table chatting with a very attractive young lady that appeared to be very interested in him. We left at after 3, actually 4 with the time change. I commented on the woman he was with and asked what he thought. His answer, “Gold digger.” Marcelo got me a cab for $15 reminding me to check in with him upon my return. It took me directly to my Airbnb where I forgot to check in once again.