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Trip to Havana and Trinidad,
Cuba Sept 2004 |
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comments and photos by Dimos |
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PHOTOS |
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Havana |
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Philologia,
Istoria del Arte, University of Havana
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Sacra
Catedral Ortodoxa de San Nicolas |
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Trinidad |
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Many people
go to Cuba for the all-inclusive resorts... I went alone and tried to get
a feeling of the real Cuba. I arrived at 8pm in Havana Vieja (the old center
of Havana) without a hotel booking...I thought I would find signs "Rooms
to Let" as one finds in Greece, Spain etc. There were no signs... The
travel guide book says that people will offer you accommodation... Truly,
few minutes latter, someone asked me if I was looking for a room... |
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Once you
walk just outside Havana Vieja, dozens of people try to sell you cigars
or sex. Even if you say "No", they just walk with you... Of course,
at the moment that you are tired and your senses are relaxing, someone will
take advantage of you (in my case I was persuaded to buy milk for a woman
that looked pregnant. We went to the store, she ordered the milk, kissed
my hands 10 times, and disappeared. The "milk" cost me 13USD..
I latter found out that the salary of a professor in Cuba is 13 USD...) |
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Havana
and Trinidad are difficult places to understand. All buildings look ready
to collapse. But once you enter inside, you find TVs, VCRs and even computers.
People use really old busses and drive old cars, but some actually drive
new cars... People ask you for money, for soaps, but then again you see
young people at night clubs that charge $5 for entry... |
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If you
dress like a Cuban, you can walk around Havana without anybody noticing
you...until you stop to take a picture... |
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My best
experience was talking to the students at the Philologia, Istoria del Arte
at the University of Havana about culture. |
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I left
Cuba quite disturbed by the poverty, the buildings etc. But if you compare
Cuba with other countries in Latin America, one thing is certain: everybody
gets to go to bed with a full stomach in Cuba thanks to the coupons provided
by the government. This is not the case in the other Latin American countries. |
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