cuba burst

Andre
How is homosexuality approached in Cuba?

Jason
A very brief history since the Revolution: During the 1960s and 1970s, the government took a position against homosexuality. Many queer people (along with hippies and many artists and musicians) were sent to rural areas to work in UMAP (Military Units to Aid Production) camps. In 1979, consensual homosexual sex was decriminalized, although people with HIV were quarantined in camps through the early 1990s.

A major cultural event in Cuba was the release of the film “Fresa y Chocolate” in 1993. The movie depicts the friendship between a straight man (portrayed as a fervent revolutionary) and a gay man in Havana. (The title of the movie comes from the most popular ice cream flavors at the ice cream parlor called Coppelia.) This movie became incredibly popular and was very influential in making queer sexuality a much more public issue and making people a lot more open about talking about homosexuality. People supposedly began to muse that they wished they had gay friends, just so that they could friendships like those in the film.

Sex is not at all a shameful thing in Cuba, which has likely helped the climate around homosexuality open up recently. Just from my own observations about how queer sexuality is part of public discourse: During the 2003 Havana Bienal there were cartoons that depicted male/male sex. Also in 2003, the major magazine (La Gaceta) published by the National Association of Writers and Artists had a feature issue on "the homoerotic voice" (mostly poetry and novels written by gay male writers). The cover showed a large drawing of a naked man holding a whip; this magazine is sold at most newsstands, post offices, and bookstores.

There are queer parties every Friday and Saturday night in Havana. These are underground and technically illegal, although everyone knows how to find them: Go to the Yara movie theater (in the center of town), and hang around outside. At around 10:00, taxis begin taking people to the party. The taxi drivers are the only ones who know the address of the huge dance party that lasts until dawn. Lots of Madonna playing… These are supposedly occasionally raided by the police, but no one really gets in trouble.

Andre
What is it like for a young American to study in Cuba?

Jason
It is a wonderful opportunity to study in a place where few Americans get to go. I was very humbled to be able to take classes with brilliant students and professors--who often took their education more seriously than most Americans. Much of the experience has to do with the frustrations and follies of everyday life—squeezing onto the bus every morning, finding the book you need, etc.

Andre
Would you suggest that an American student interested in art and performance study there?

Jason
Absolutely! It's unfortunately becoming more difficult for US citizens to study in Cuba, but ISA (Instituto Superior de Arte) is one prestigious arts school there and does offer classes to foreign students. If you can actually get to Cuba, it’s not hard to find classes and teachers.

Both education and arts are well supported by the government. There are world-class theater and dance companies, a very important film production company (ICAIC), and dozens of art galleries. Every month, there is at least one international arts festival, e.g. theater, ballet, contemporary art, film, etc, where during a 10 day period, dozens of international groups (as well as Cuban groups) perform. The tickets to these are somewhere between 10 and 50 cents-- affordable to almost everyone. It’s a cliché that there’s music in every street corner in Cuba—much of the street performance is geared toward tourists—but I met dozens of fabulous musicians, and many teach.

Andre
What tips would you give to someone who desires to study abroad once in college?

Jason
Study a language now...and when you get to college, find out what opportunities your school has, or what information they have about programs that they can refer you to. Cuba is one of the trickier places to study (or to go legally…), but I have friends who have studied all over the world.

Harry
What memorable experiences do you have from Cuba? What do you miss most about Cuba?

Jason
It’s a big generalization, but people tend to be much more friendly, more outgoing, even strangers. Occasionally this may have had to do with the novelty of encountering a white American (which often also worked against me). Also, although the public transportation system there was often frustrating and waits are horrendous, I could take a bus anywhere within Havana at any time of day or night.

I also had the opportunity to meet several times with a number of exiled African-American activists who are living in Cuba. We had amazing cross-generational conversations about politics, oppression, and radical social change.

Harry
What was one thing that you did not like about Cuba?

Jason
Racism is still a major problem in Cuba, even though the Revolution has made great accomplishments in eliminating much institutional racism and opening education and jobs to all Cubans. The tourism industry is exacerbating racial divisions: most hotels only employ light-skinned Cubans, since they think that’s what foreigners want. Afrocubans are also often unable to enter hotels. Tourism is considered the salvation of the Cuban economy, and the government is so afraid of losing tourists’ dollars that they’ve created a kind of tourist apartheid system.

There is also still a lot of "machismo.” It is very common for men to whistle or stare at women, or even touch their bodies, when they're just walking down the street. Women are very empowered in certain ways--they have equal access to education and work, but men often treat women in ways we would find offensive.

Harry
What type of foods did you have, was there any difference with the foods you usually would eat?

Jason
Availability of food is a major issue in Cuba. Every since 1962, there has been a "libreta de abastecimiento," or ration card, which is issued to every household. This started not because there were food shortages (although these soon appeared), but because one of the main principles of the socialist revolution was that society should guarantee people's basic needs--like health care, education--and food. People go to a "bodega" or market in their neighborhood, where they have basic staples--rice, beans, eggs, sugar, salt, some vegetables, bread--and some items like soap and laundry detergent.

The bodega isn't completely free, but the prices are extremely low (something like a fraction of a penny for a pound of rice) and are affordable for everyone. This is because the prices are subsidized--the government buys all of this food and distributes it, without passing the costs onto the people. The problem, especially recently, is that the government hasn't always had enough money to guarantee enough food for everyone at these prices. For instance, in 1962, every household received 6 pounds of rice, a bar of soap, a tube of toothpaste, a pound and a half of grains... and in Havana, everyone also received: 3/4 pounds of beef each week; 2 pounds of chicken and 1/2 pound of fish every 2 weeks; 5 eggs per month, 1 liter of milk daily for children younger than 7 and 1/5 liter of milk for people older, and 3.5 pounds of vegetables and 1 quart of butter weekly (!) I don't know exactly how much people receive now (since as a foreigner, I didn't shop at these markets as often), but it's not nearly as much. The food people get at bodegas is still an extremely important part of meeting people's basic needs (and also important in creating a sense of community in the neighborhood, since everyone goes there), but it's not enough. People also have to shop at other kinds of markets, such as farmer's markets--which have mostly vegetables (frequently grown on organic farms) plus things like beans and rice--or butcher's shops.

The prices at these places are much higher, especially relative to Cuban salaries (which are about $10-$20 per month). The prices in bodegas, farmer's markets (agromercados), and butcher shops, etc. are all in Cuban pesos. However, there are increasingly things that aren't available or that are in constant shortages, so people have to buy them in stores where prices are in US dollars, and these are extremely expensive. Many Cubans have access to dollars (from their foreign relatives, and from tips they get working in places like hotels), but many Cubans don't. (Lighter skinned Cubans are more likely to have dollars, since they are more likely to have relatives in the US, whereas people of African descent don't have dollars as often). So access to food is a major issue--and many people really do struggle.

The typical diet includes meat, rice and beans, root vegetables, and lots of fruits (papayas, oranges, pineapples, guava, mamey). People love meat, especially pork, but it's expensive. I was amused by the fact that the “vegetable protein” sold at butcher shops is actually soy protein mixed with meat. Ice cream is extremely popular and you can find it everywhere...as are peanuts--they're sold on the street everywhere (usually 4 cents for a handful of peanuts or an ice cream cone). Lots of sweet foods and pastries...and rum--because there is so much sugar grown there.

Harry
How did you get setup with the program that took you to Cuba?

Jason
There are many problems with the program, but it’s the only way for US citizens to travel to Cuba and be students at the University in Havana. http://www.ifsa-butler.org/programs/cuba/ As of the fall of 2004, the program was suspended because the Bush Administration issued rules restricting educational programs to Cuba.

Harry
What kind of security measures did you go through when transferring to different countries?

Jason
It’s not much different from going through airport screening domestically. Nothing in particular.

Harry
Did you have any trouble bringing things there and taking things back?

Jason
Nope--just what I could carry... There are limits on what Americans can bring back from Cuba, but these mostly apply to things like alcohol and tobacco. Books and art are exempt from these limits.

Harry
Were any of your belongings stolen or lost?

Jason
I actually did. While I was traveling, my friends left the door to our cabin unlocked, and all of our bags (including clothing, books, and some money, and passports) were stolen. Fortunately, the people that took these left our bags hidden behind a bush, and they only took our passports and some money (We were able to have new ones issued through the US Consulate, although this was a bit complicated). (The passports are really useless to the people who took them, since it's impossible to change/forge them).

Since we were staying in a camping site where everyone else was Cuban, we were obvious targets since we had dollars. This was a situation that made us think a lot--about what it meant to be traveling around and carrying around more possessions than anyone else had-- and how tourism or foreign travel creates situations where people in poorer countries are suddenly exposed to wealth and material possessions. The really difficult thing about this was dealing with the police---we didn't want to make a big deal out of what had happened, but it seemed like the police wanted to impress us as foreigners by interrogating obviously innocent people who were nearby the camp site. We needed to get a police report so that we could have new passports issued, and this was the only reason I was willing to deal with the police, who had no concern for the people they captured. (This isn't really different than how the legal system works in the US...)

Harry
How was the money situation with you, were things expensive and what can you get with an American dollar?

Jason
Since 1993, there have been two currencies in Cuba. One is the Cuban peso, and the other is the American dollar. (Cuba actually prints "convertible dollars," too, which are the equivalent of American dollars...but obviously not worth anything in the US). Many goods are available in pesos--at the bodegas, at some state-run restaurants, bus fare, movie and theater tickets, most books, newspapers, some clothing, anything at big second-hand department stores, but many goods are available only in dollars (new furniture, nicer restaurants, some clothing, food, especially imported food).

So as an American, some things were incredibly cheap. Coffee for 4 cents, movie tickets for 8 cents, ballet tickets for 30 cents, meals at restaurants for less than a $1, riding a bus for about 2 cents, taxis for 40 cents, many books for 30-80 cents.

Other goods (those sold in dollars) were about what I was used to paying in the US...and sometimes more expensive. An hour of Internet for $4-6—this means that for people who don’t have internet access at school or work, internet and email are prohibitively expensive.

Foreigners also have to pay dollars for some things Cuban buy in pesos (We had residency cards, so we could pay pesos). For instance, a Canadian tourist pays $20 to see the ballet, but a Cuban person will pay about 20 cents. A tourist will pay $3 to enter a museum, but a Cuban person will pay 12 cents. This money gets funneled back into the national treasury, so that the country can keep providing free health care, education, etc.