Stores, Houses, Schools, Medical Care

The time spent on the bus was time to ask our young guide and bus driver many questions about Cuban life. Today we got curious about where Cubans buy stuff, since we were seeing no real stores or shops in our travels.

The type of store we were seeing

We learned that the government has stores that sell clothing . . . but not very cool clothing. Many people want to buy more stylish clothes. So, some folks go to Latin America and buy clothes to resell to their friends and family. It used to be legal but became too much competition for government stores so it became illegal.

Another roadside shop

A website is run by a Cuban living in Spain. It operates like Craig's List. It is illegal and if you go to the URL the screen comes up black. Most people know the work-around to get on it.

Since you cannot use American credit or debit cards in Cuba, you must exchange your money here, in country. The exchange desks are very busy, and not very efficient. So, along the way today, those who had spent their initial stash of CUCs  wanted to change money before going in to Havana, where we expected the lines would be very long since there are more tourists in Havana than out in the countryside where we have been hanging out. 

Where we stopped to exchange money, there were two lines, which of course led to another question. Why was there one line was for us and another for the locals.

It turned out that the locals to pay their utilities and some of them were paying their mortgages. Most Cubans pay no rent, only utilities. Especially in Havana some housing space does not qualify as a "house." To be a house, a space must have electricity and water and be more than 45 square meters.  Those are the free spaces.

City houses

When the government-owned buildings in Havana  are deemed unsafe, or need extensive renovation, the residents are allowed to relocate to other apartment buildings farther out on the edges of the city. Sometimes they are allowed to pay a monthly fee and eventually own there apartments (houses). We stopped to exchange money in such a neighborhood and that's why there were long lines of locals as well as a line for tourists.

 

 

We asked Milena more about the houses and towns we were seeing during the week.

Driving up the mountains we had passed through a few widely scattered villages. The single-story houses are built of concrete. They often have shutters rather than windows. With the shutters and doors open you see right through them. 

There is little furniture -- often a few wooden chairs or rockers and a table is all o could see, except most have a TV turned on. 

Milena says they almost all have plumbing, washing machines, and electricity. None have clothes dryers. Many have a horse in the yard and a bike. Those are primary means of transportation. There is a lot of horse poop everywhere. 

The kids all go to school, in uniform. There is a medical house in each village. Prenatal care is mandatory, as is breast feeding until 6 months, and vaccinations. There is a 12 month, paid parental leave. The parents can split it however they want.