Hello From Cuba – Part 4 – Bureaucracy Galore –
Hello From Cuba – Part four – Bureaucracy Galore – The University Of Havana
Yesterday I needed to sign in for my Spanish path on the University of Havana. The Campus of the University is an astoundingly appealing choice of classical structures and a Cuban tank graces the doorway to the library.
At nine am each of the overseas students, approximately 40 of them, met within the Edificio Varona and we had been shepherded by a considerable number of professors into a very antiquated lecture corridor. (By the way, of the 5 or 6 washroom stalls within the womens lavatory, basically 1 or 2 have toilets in them, no toilet seats, and no walking water within the sinks. Again a signal of really run-down infrastructure…)
There they instructed us about this system, yet simply in Spanish, which was once alright for me, considering the fact that I communicate Spanish, however about 0.5 the crew changed into solely lost. We then needed to do a short written placement check to evaluate our existing Spanish knowledge after which the forms began.
We found out that we considered necessary the ensuing information:
– a duplicate of our passports
– an professional reproduction of the hotel guest card and/or a duplicate of the licence of the personal Casa Particular
– 200 CUC (Convertible Cuban Pesos) in earnings for a 2-week direction or extra for different courses
– forty CUC for replacing our tourist visa to an instructional visa (in economic stamps which we had to obtain abuot five km away)
– 2 passport photos
– 25 CUC in salary to expedite our academic visa if we're in town for simply 2 weeks.
I connected up with a number of foreign pupils and we headed off in combination on our quest to fulfill the Cuban hope for Burocratismo. We first received coins at bank at the Hotel Havana Libre, then were given the passport images executed (to be competent for pickup 3 hours later), then sought for the alternative financial institution on Calle 23 that will furnish us with the 40CUC stamps for the instructional visa. With tremendous long lineups in all places, this took us approximately 2 or three hours.
Then we got if truth be told hungry and we were approached by means of a regional “Jinetero” (restaurant tout) who promised us a finished meal with foremost dish, salad and edge dish for six or 7 CUC. We walked with him, purely to discover that the wait on the Paladar (private eating place) could be about forty five minutes to even take a seat down, no longer along with cuisine practise time.
So we walked up Calle 21 and a personal restaurant proprietor approached us for a meal and we gave in and came interior. It was luxury yacht rentals cabo once a pleasing colonial villa, aside from that the guest room with is necessary three tables and 12 seats became in a darkish small dingy room wholly without windows.
However, we had a scrumptious residence-cooked meal, I had roasted fowl with rice & beans, salad and a lemon mushy drink, taken with eight CUC (about 8 US$). 2 of my student colleagues have been from Germany and the other fellow is from Toronto as smartly, however at the start from Poland. We had a few great conversations and it become appealing linking up with a gaggle of Europeans in Havana.
After a transient rest inside the resort, my family member Pedro once again picked me up in the evening and I couldnt aid however tell him approximately my knowledge with the Cocotaxi driving force the day past, who had attempted to pick me up, regardless of my clarifications and statements that I turned into married and not thinking about any amorous actions.
Pedro explained that sexual kin in Cuba are a particularly simple, undemanding-going factor and that it is very effortless for folks to link up for rapid “meaningful in a single day relationships”. He pointed out the Cuban individuals as very “passionate and hot-blooded”, I wager that explains a couple of the advances that I were receiving to this point, pretty considering there may be additionally extraordinarily a good number of sex tourism the place men (or even ladies) come to Cuba to engage in with ease accessible erotic reports.
Pedro and I walked due to the antique metropolis and of course along the Malecon (the seafront side road) and saw the fascinating Plaza Vieja and the Plaza de l. a. Catedral the place a mass was once being held for the passing of Pope John Paul II.
This become very pleasing, because Cuba is a Communist / legit atheist u . s . a . and there are much fewer Catholics today than earlier the Revolution. Actually a good deal of Cubas faith is a combo of Catholicism and Santeria (religious practices of the African slaves). Regardless of religiousness, Cuba has declared a 3-day “duelo nacional” (a nationwide mourning duration for the Pope) and the mass was attended by lots of of americans.
Pedro and I then had a pleasing meal inside the “Barrio Chino” (Havana’s Chinatown) for five.60 CUC (much less than US$6) for 2 laborers and a pair of vegetarian meals and mushy liquids. After a pleasant dinner he to come back flagged down a native personal automobile motive force and gave him approximately 1 CUC for deciding upon us up and shedding us off at my Hotel. At midnight I dropped into bed, exhausted.
However, at four am this morning I wakened with prime intestinal problems. Apparently my Chinese meal had not change into me so well and I had serious digestive subject matters emanating from the two aspects of my physique. This morning I realy felt rotten and I ended up through my own medical equipment for the 1st time and took some Immodium.
I was once not able to devour breakfast, however I made my method to the school the place at nine am our training commenced. Surprisingly the location take a look at had placed me into the extent of “perfeccionamiento”, the highest degree and the extent of Spanish in my category used to be indeed very high. The elegance comprises 7 pupils, a young woman from England, a young lady clinical scholar from Denmark, a middle-elderly woman health care provider from Finland, a younger male regulation pupil from Sweden, a young girl and guy from Norway and myself from Austria/Canada.
Obviuosly there's an extraordinarily heavy Scandinavian slant in my type and it appears every person in the category is a hobby sociologist, political scientist, environmentalist and historian. We asked some tremendously hard questions on Cuban life, the political approach, the monetary hardships, the double economic climate, the crisis of adult females and blacks in Cuba, machismo and the predicament of the atmosphere.
Some of these questions made our woman professor sense incredibly uncomfortable and it looked like she turned into squirming lower than the barrage of probing political and sociological questions. She were given very protective some instances approximately the Cuban gadget and basically once we mentioned the good and awful aspects of European and Canadian societies did she relax a little bit and end up a little bit more open and frank approximately the true Cuban lifestyles. It appears to be like that to this present day Cubans have got to be very cautious approximately what they are saying in public.
For illustration, she frankly admitted that racism nonetheless exists in Cuba and to this present day this is nevertheless a rustic with a great number of machismo. However, she did no longer admit that Internet get right of entry to and access to non-Communist media is forbidden for Cubans, she definitely explained it as an fiscal situation. (Several of my colleagues had heard differently in their travels in Cuba, genuinely that a Cuban seriously isn't allowed to have get right of entry to to the Internet). She also admitted that it isn't always allowed for Cubans to stopover at the vacationer spaces of the Cayos (e.g. Cayo Coco) that's completely reserved for travelers and Cubans have no get admission to to that section whatsoever, a definite point of competition one of the locals.
Class ended about 1:20 and my upset belly did not permit me to intake any meals. I headed again to my hotel, slept a touch and had been on the Internet for the past 2 or so hours (racking up a invoice of approximately $US 20.00 or s0), documenting my go back and forth.
It’ll be a quiet night time this night considering that I am looking to relax my stomach. But I am certain the adventures and the getting to know will proceed tomorrow.