Hello From Cuba – Part four – Bureaucracy Galore –
Hello From Cuba – Part four – Bureaucracy Galore – The University Of Havana
Yesterday I needed to join up for my Spanish route on the University of Havana. The Campus of the University is an astoundingly fascinating assortment of classical constructions and a Cuban tank graces the doorway to the library.
At nine am the entire foreign college students, approximately 40 of them, met inside the Edificio Varona and we had been shepherded via quite a lot of professors into an extraordinarily antiquated lecture hall. (By the way, of the five or 6 washroom stalls inside the womens bathing room, simply 1 or 2 have toilets in them, no rest room seats, and no running water in the sinks. Again a sign of fantastically run-down infrastructure…)
There they told us about this system, however in simple terms in Spanish, which changed into all right for me, because I speak Spanish, yet approximately 1/2 the team was wholly misplaced. We then had to do a short written placement look at various to assess our current Spanish talent and then the paperwork started out.
We discovered out that we needed here files:
– a copy of our passports
– an professional copy of the lodge guest card and/or a copy of the licence of the individual Casa Particular
– 2 hundred CUC (Convertible Cuban Pesos) in income for a 2-week path or more for different courses
– 40 CUC for replacing our tourist visa to a tutorial visa (in fiscal stamps which we had to receive abuot five km away)
– 2 passport photos
– 25 CUC in revenue to expedite our educational visa if we're on the town for basically 2 weeks.
I related up with a host of foreign students and we headed off collectively on our quest to satisfy the Cuban want for Burocratismo. We first received dollars at financial institution on the Hotel Havana Libre, then received the passport photos finished (to be prepared for pickup 3 hours later), then looked for the opposite financial institution on Calle 23 that could provide us with the 40CUC stamps for the instructional visa. With super lengthy lineups everywhere, this took us approximately 2 or 3 hours.
Then we obtained truly hungry and we have been approached by means of a neighborhood “Jinetero” (restaurant tout) who promised us a finished meal with foremost dish, salad and area dish for six or 7 CUC. We walked with him, simplest to discover that the wait at the Paladar (exclusive restaurant) could be about 45 mins to even sit down down, now not together with cuisine guidance time.
So we walked up Calle 21 and a confidential eating place owner approached us for a meal and we gave in and came interior. It was once a attractive colonial villa, except that the guest room with is vital three tables and 12 seats changed into in a darkish small dingy room absolutely without windows.
However, we had a delicious abode-cooked meal, I had roasted bird with rice & beans, salad and a lemon cushy drink, fascinated about 8 CUC (about 8 US$). 2 of my student colleagues had been from Germany and the alternative fellow is from Toronto as properly, but firstly from Poland. We had some excellent conversations and it used to be pleasing linking up with a group of Europeans in Havana.
After a quick rest in the motel, my buddy Pedro lower back picked me up inside the evening and I couldnt guide yet tell him about my knowledge with the Cocotaxi driver the day past, who had tried to decide me up, no matter my clarifications and statements that I turned into married and now not interested by any amorous pursuits.
Pedro explained that sexual relations in Cuba are a reasonably favourite, clean-going issue and that that is very uncomplicated for employees to link up for swift “meaningful in a single day relationships”. He cited the Cuban humans as very “passionate and hot-blooded”, I wager that explains several the advances that I were receiving to date, awfully considering there may be additionally enormously lots of sex tourism where guys (and even females) come to Cuba to engage in simply achievable erotic studies.
Pedro and I walked thru the vintage city and of direction along the Malecon (the seafront boulevard) and saw the amazing Plaza Vieja and the Plaza de la Catedral wherein a mass used to be being held for the passing of Pope John Paul II.
This changed into very wonderful, for the reason that Cuba is a Communist / reputable atheist usa and there are an awful lot fewer Catholics as of late than earlier than the Revolution. Actually a lot of Cubas religion is a aggregate of Catholicism and Santeria (devout practices of the African slaves). Regardless of religiousness, Cuba has declared a three-day “duelo nacional” (a countrywide mourning duration for the Pope) and the mass turned into attended by means of tons of of people.
Pedro and I then had a pleasing meal within the “Barrio Chino” (Havana’s Chinatown) for five.60 CUC (much less than US$6) for 2 other folks and a couple of vegetarian food and comfortable liquids. After a pleasing dinner he once more flagged down a native non-public car driving force and gave him approximately 1 CUC for deciding on us up and losing us off at my Hotel. At nighttime I dropped into bed, exhausted.
However, at four am this morning I awakened with top intestinal troubles. Apparently my Chinese meal had now not end up me so effectively and I had extreme digestive things emanating from either aspects of my physique. This morning I realy felt rotten and I ended up making use of my very own medical equipment for the first time and took a few Immodium.
I become unable to devour breakfast, but I made my method to the school wherein at 9 am our classes began. Surprisingly the location test had put me into the level of “perfeccionamiento”, the highest level and the extent of Spanish in my type become certainly very high. The type comprises 7 students, a younger girl from England, a younger lady medical pupil from Denmark, a middle-elderly female healthcare professional from Finland, a young male legislations student from Sweden, a younger girl and guy from Norway and myself from Austria/Canada.
Obviuosly there is an extraordinarily heavy Scandinavian slant in my elegance and it looks every person inside the magnificence is a passion sociologist, political scientist, environmentalist and historian. We asked a few somewhat not easy questions on Cuban existence, the political equipment, the economic hardships, the double economic climate, the state of affairs of girls and blacks in Cuba, machismo and the main issue of the ecosystem.
Some of these questions made our girl professor think incredibly uncomfortable and it appeared like she turned into squirming beneath the barrage of probing political and sociological questions. She acquired very protecting just a few instances approximately the Cuban procedure and in simple terms after we discussed the good and bad facets of European and Canadian societies did she loosen up a little bit and change into a bit greater open and frank approximately the true Cuban lifestyles. It turns out that to at the moment Cubans should be very cautious approximately what they are saying in public.
For instance, she frankly admitted that racism still exists in Cuba and to this day it's nevertheless a rustic with many of machismo. However, she did not admit that Internet get right of entry to and get admission to to non-Communist media is forbidden for Cubans, she without difficulty defined it as an monetary hindrance. (Several of my colleagues had heard otherwise of their travels in Cuba, comfortably that a Cuban will never be allowed to have get entry to to the Internet). She also admitted that it shouldn't be allowed for Cubans to discuss with the traveller spaces of the Cayos (e.g. Cayo Coco) that's day yacht charters cabo san lucas luxury exclusively reserved for tourists and Cubans don't have any get right of entry to to that discipline by any means, a exact level of contention one of the locals.
Class ended about 1:20 and my disappointed abdomen did now not allow me to intake any nutrients. I headed back to my motel, slept a little and had been on the Internet for the prior 2 or so hours (racking up a bill of about $US 20.00 or s0), documenting my day trip.
It’ll be a quiet night time tonight in view that I am trying to cool down my abdomen. But I am confident the adventures and the mastering will proceed the next day.