A Memory from Cuba

Five years ago, I went to Cuba with a group of photographers. My friend Jim Quinn was part of that group and this week he sent me this picture he had taken of me and it brought back some wonderful memories.

We were staying in a Casa Particular in Old Havana. The breakfasts in the casa were wonderful so one day we asked them if they could also make dinner. The very accommodating hosts said they could. We had a great dinner. So good, in fact, that we asked them to do it again.

By this time my sweet tooth was wanting a bite of a dessert. I had seen bananas with the street vendors, there was an ice cream store on our street, Cuba has rum so I asked if our host had brown sugar and butter. She did although I'm not too sure about the origin of the "butter".  And she agreed to let me make a dessert for dinner.

As soon as I turned on the gas stove I realized why meals took so long to prepare. You could not get a high flame. Maybe it was more than a simmer but not by a whole lot. Nevertheless, I cooked the butter, bananas and brown sugar, then added the rum. There was no flambe to this mixture but I cooked it down a bit and put it over the ice cream that was melting quickly in the heat. It wasn't officially Bananas Foster but it was quite tasty.

Everyone enjoyed it and the host wrote down the recipe. I have a feeling that since then she has served it to her guests from time to time.

Risky Business

Every living room, bedroom, corner, doorway or window seems to be a business opportunity for a Cuban these days. Of course, I don't know what regulations these small businesses have to comply with in order to operate but I understand that it has only been in the last couple of years that having a B&B, or fruit stand or meat market or a window where you sell desserts has been possible. Having them as part of the streetscape makes some great photographic opportunities.

On the other hand it doesn't necessarily mean that the Cuban economy is in good shape especially if the business isn't frequented by tourists. Associated Press reports that the Lack of Customers Dooms Many Small Businesses in Cuba.

Another issue that they face is that the rules keep changing. Some Cubans have used their life savings to carve out a little business in a room in their house by selling imported toiletries or imported used clothing. However, Labor Ministry official Jose Barreiro Alfonso recently told Communist Party newspaper Granma that it's necessary to "impose order" in the retail sector, and it will be a crime to "obtain merchandise or other objects for the purpose of resale for profit." So within the next few months they will have to close their business or face criminal charges.

That is what is happening to the common people but the Cuban government is doing big business developing tourism. The Havana Times reported on two huge business ventures, one with China and the other with the UK. That doesn't mean that larger businesses are without risk. The Cuban government has arrested and held several foreign business men for two or more years. The Canadian Broadcast Company reported that "President Raul Castro has said that rooting out rampant corruption is one of the country's most important challenges. Dozens of Cuban government officials and state company executives have been imprisoned for graft, while more than 150 foreign business people and scores of small foreign companies have been kicked out of the country."

The enterprising people who are starting small business out of their homes have my admiration. Doing business in Cuba, whether small or large is Risky Business.

Cuban Ingenuity

This photo is a good clue as to where I've been....Yes, Havana, Cuba. I was expecting to see cars from the 1950's but my expectations were exceed by reality. Most of them are brightly painted but their mechanical parts are a bit of this and a bit of that held together with God only knows what. The fact that they are still running at all is a tribute to Cuban ingenuity. Everyman is an auto mechanic. Seldom can you go for two blocks without seeing a car stopped with the hood up and someone fiddling with something.

The cars are used for public transportation. You can hire one as a taxi or they might just travel along the street and stop for individuals until the car is full. I don't know how the system works when they do this. Is there a route, or do the individuals have some hand signal for where they are going so that the driver knows whether to stop or not.

We had to hire three cars for our group to go to the airport which is a way from Old Havana. All three of the cars had some issue before they got us to the airport. The one that I was in died at a light. The driver tried to start the car several times. To me it sounded like the engine was flooded but what do I know. After about 10 minutes of this, I was thinking we were going to have to get out and flag down another taxi to get to the airport. But just before the light changed again the driver floored the gas petal and the car gurgled and shook and choked and finally a flood of black smoke poured out from under both sides of the car and it started again.

He deposited us at Terminal 2. We got our bags and walked into what seemed to me like an impenetrable crowd of people.