Hey From Cuba – Part Four – Paperwork Galore – The University Of Havana
Resort Havana Libre, Tuesday, April 5, 2005, 7:20 pm
Yesterday I had to enroll in my Spanish course at the University of Havana. The Campus of the University is an astoundingly stunning assortment of classical buildings and a Cuban tank graces the entrance to the library.
At 9 am all of the overseas college students, about 40 of them, met within the Edificio Varona and we were shepherded by various professors into a very antiquated lecture hall. (By the way, of the 5 or 6 washroom stalls in the girls´s rest room, just one or 2 have toilets in them, no toilet seats, and no working water in the sinks. Again a sign of slightly run-down infrastructure…)
There they informed us about the program, however only in Spanish, which was okay for me, since I communicate Spanish, however about half the group was fully lost. We then needed to do a fast written placement take a look at to evaluate our existing Spanish abilities after which the bureaucracy began.
We found out that we needed the following documents:
– a copy of our passports
– an official copy of the hotel guest card and/or a replica of the licence of the non-public Casa
Particular – 200 CUC (Convertible Cuban Pesos) in cash for a 2-week course or more for other programs
– 40 CUC for altering our vacationer visa to an educational visa (in fiscal stamps which we needed to get hold of abuot 5 km away)
– 2 passport pictures
– 25 CUC in money to expedite our tutorial visa if we’re on the town for only 2 weeks.
I linked up with a bunch of foreign students and we headed off collectively on our quest to satisfy the Cuban desire for Burocratismo. We first obtained money at bank at the Hotel Havana Libre, then got the passport footage done (to be ready for pickup three hours later), then looked for the other bank on Calle 23 that would provide us with the 40CUC stamps for the tutorial visa. With extremely lengthy lineups everywhere, this took us about 2 or 3 hours.
Then we bought really hungry and we have been approached by a neighborhood “Jinetero” (restaurant tout) who promised us an entire meal with most important dish, salad and side dish for 6 or 7 CUC. We walked with him, only to search out out that the wait on the Paladar (private restaurant) can be about forty five minutes to even sit down, not together with food preparation time.
So we walked up Calle 21 and a private restaurant owner approached us for a meal and we gave in and came inside. It was a stupendous colonial villa, besides that the guest room with is compulsory three tables and 12 seats was in a dark small dingy room completely without windows.
Nonetheless, we had a delicious house-cooked meal, I had roasted hen with rice & beans, salad and a lemon soft drink, all for 8 CUC (about eight US$). 2 of my pupil colleagues were from Germany and the opposite fellow is from Toronto as effectively, however initially from Poland. We had some nice conversations and it was interesting linking up with a bunch of Europeans in Havana.
After a short rest within the resort, my pal Pedro once more picked me up in the evening and I couldn´t help however inform him about my expertise with the Cocotaxi driver yesterday, who had tried to pick me up, despite my clarifications and statements that I was married and not fascinated about any amorous activities.
Pedro defined that sexual relations in Cuba are a comparatively common, easy-going factor and that it is rather widespread for folks to hyperlink up for fast “significant in a single day relationships”. He referred to the Cuban folks as very “passionate and hot-blooded”, I assume that explains a few the advances that I have been receiving to date, particularly since there is additionally numerous sex tourism where males (and even ladies) come to Cuba to interact in simply accessible erotic experiences.
Pedro and I walked by the old city and of course along the Malecon (the seafront boulevard) and noticed the gorgeous Plaza Vieja and the Plaza de la Catedral the place a mass was being held for the passing of Pope John Paul II.
This was very interesting, since Cuba is a Communist / official atheist country and there are a lot fewer Catholics right now than before the Revolution. Actually a lot of Cuba´s faith is a mixture of Catholicism and Santeria (religious practices of the African slaves). No matter religiousness, Cuba has declared a three-day “duelo nacional” (a national mourning interval for the Pope) and the mass was attended by a whole lot of people.
Pedro and I then had a pleasant meal in the “Barrio Chino” (Havana’s Chinatown) for 5.60 CUC (less than US$6) for two people and a pair of vegetarian meals and mushy drinks. After a pleasant dinner he once more flagged down a neighborhood private car driver and gave him about 1 CUC for picking us up and dropping us off at my Hotel. At midnight I dropped into bed, exhausted.
Nevertheless, at four am this morning I awoke with main intestinal problems. Apparently my Chinese meal had not change into me so effectively and I had severe digestive points emanating from either side of my body. This morning I realy felt rotten and I ended up using my very own medical package for the primary time and took some Immodium.
I was unable to eat breakfast, but I made my strategy to the college the place at 9 am our courses started. Surprisingly the position test had put me into the level of “perfeccionamiento”, the best stage and the level of Spanish in my class was certainly very high. The class consists of seven college students, a younger girl from England, a younger female medical pupil from Denmark, a center-aged female physician from Finland, a younger male law scholar from Sweden, a young woman and man from Norway and myself from Austria/Canada.
Obviuosly there’s a very heavy Scandinavian slant in my class and it appears everyone within the class is a interest sociologist, political scientist, environmentalist and historian. We requested some somewhat tough questions about Cuban life, the political system, the economic hardships, the double economic system, the situation of ladies and blacks in Cuba, machismo and the situation of the environment.
A few of these questions made our female professor really feel extremely uncomfortable and it appeared like she was squirming below the barrage of probing political and sociological questions. She obtained very defensive just a few times in regards to the Cuban system and only after we discussed the great and unhealthy points of European and Canadian societies did she loosen up a bit and develop into a bit more open and frank about the real Cuban life. Evidently to at the present time Cubans should be very careful about what they are saying in public.
For instance, she frankly admitted that racism still exists in Cuba and to at the present time it’s nonetheless a country with a variety of machismo. Nonetheless, she didn’t admit that Internet entry and access to non-Communist media is forbidden for Cubans, she merely explained it as an economic issue. (A number of of my colleagues had heard otherwise of their travels in Cuba, simply {that a} Cuban is not allowed to have access to the Web). She also admitted that it’s not allowed for Cubans to visit the tourist areas of the Cayos (e.g. Cayo Coco) which is solely reserved for vacationers and Cubans have no access to that area whatsoever, a particular point of competition among the many locals.
Class ended about 1:20 and my upset stomach did not permit me to consumption any food. I headed again to my hotel, slept slightly and have been on the Internet for the previous 2 or so hours (racking up a bill of about $US 20.00 or s0), documenting my trip.
It´’ll be a quiet night tonight since I’m trying to calm down my stomach. But I’m certain the adventures and the educational will continue tomorrow.
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