Hello from Cuba (11) - Inside A Cuban Home
Etecsa Telecommunications Building, Downtown Havana, Wednesday,
April 13, 2005, 3:06 pm
So I am sitting here in a new place and I gotta hurry since
I bought a $6 CUC Internet access card and I only have 53
minutes left.
At any rate, the dinner at Pedro´s family on Sunday was amazing.
We took the GuaGua (Public Transit System) and after about
1 hour we arrived in the area of Marinao. From there we had
to walk another 30 minutes or so to get to his house.
Lush tropical vegetation.
There I was received by an entire Cuban family, Pedro´s wife
and daughter, his sister in law and their two female cousins
who had come in from out of town. It was amazing being in
a Cuban home, after having spent a whole week in an impersonal
hotel. It was immediately obvious that the Cuban concept of
family is very different from what I have experienced in Austria
or Canada. Family members live in very tight living quarters
since housing is scarce in Havana
and often 2 or 3 generations live under one roof.
My friend told me that in his father´s house 3 of his brothers
live in one bedroom (and they sometimes receive visits from
their girlfriends who end up sleeping in the same room), his
sister and mother sleep in one room (as his mother is divorced),
and the father and another sibling sleep in another room.
It´s very difficult to imagine this type of crammed living
environment, there is definitely not much privacy....
Laundry day in Havana.
By Canadian standards, the home is very basic, located in
a complex with about 6 apartments, this apartment contains
2 bedrooms which are shared by my friend, his wife and daughter
(who together have one bedroom), his wife´s sister (who has
the other bedroom) and the father of the 2 ladies sleeps in
the living room.
Furniture and decor are very basic and instead of upholstered
sofas the furniture consists of traditional wooden chairs
that have a colonial appearance. One of the cousins who was
in from out of town got married last year to a friend of mine
in Toronto, so she came to Havana
to go to the Canadian Consulate to get her visa to finally
go to Canada. Getting to go to Canada is not an easy thing
at all for Cubans, since it is very difficult to obtain a
Cuban passport.
We talked a lot about Canada and about the fact that life
is very different, the climate, the environment, the concept
of family. This discussion was particularly relevant since
Pedro´s wife´s female cousin is hoping to come to Canada in
the next 6 weeks as she is currently pregnant.
At any rate, the hospitality was great. I was received like
a long-lost friend and the ladies had really taken great care
to prepare an outstanding dinner. The table was full of dishes:
fried chicken, white rice with bean sauce, fried
sweet plaintains (one of my favourite foods) and a tasty
bean salad. We had flan for dessert and it was one of the
best meals I have had in Cuba so far.
View at the Puente de Bacunayagua
I had brought a little souvenir for the family: 2 sets of
coloured pens for the little girl which she absolutely loved
and some beautiful flowers for the ladies of the house. The
atmosphere was a little shy at first, but after a while we
started chatting, asking each other questions about our respective
lives in these 2 very different countries. All the while I
was there I felt very special and I felt truly honoured to
have had an opportunity to be introduced to a Cuban family
and to experience Cuban hospitality first hand.
Interesting and useful books about Cuba:
Related Articles:
"My
Post-Cuba Reflections: Appreciation and Balance"
"Cuba
is Calling - Why I selected Cuba as my language study destination"
Hello from Cuba (1) -
First Impressions"
"Hello from Cuba (2) - Rain
in Vinales"
"Hello from Cuba (3) - Hiking
Vinales and Exploring Nature"
"Hello from Cuba (4) - Bureaucracy
Galore - The University of Havana"
"Hello from Cuba (5) - Another
Mind-Twisting Experience"
"Hello from Cuba (6) - The
Student Experience and Political Insights"
"Hello from Cuba (7) - Fun
and Recreation"
"Hello from Cuba (8) - Bicycle
Rides, Camellos and Cannon Shots"
"Hello from Cuba (9) - Havana
Neighbourhoods"
"Hello from Cuba (10) - A
Country Excursion"
"Hello from Cuba (11) - Inside
a Cuban Home"
"Hello from Cuba (12) - Contrasts
and Contradictions"
"Hello from Cuba (13) - Exploring
Downtown Havana"
"Hello from Cuba (14) - Field
Trips and Interviews"
"Hello from Cuba (15) - Getting
ready to say 'Goodbye, Havana'..."
"Hello from Cuba (16) - The
final day"