An American in Cuba: Havana Part Two
After our drink break we headed back out to the streets. We passed an active “barber shop” in the park. We learned one of our group had had her hair braided unexpectedly and another member had a big lipstick print on his cheek.
We saw the former presidential rail car. 
This car was used until the 1950’s for campaigning and getting around Cuba by presidents and candidates. We crossed several railway tracks during our stay in Cuba. Our guide liked to remind us that Cuba was the sixth country in the world to have a railway and the first in Latin America. It was originally started to transport sugar cane across the island. I never saw any trains actually traversing the tracks while we were there.
Now it was time to head to lunch. We walked along the streets until we reached Paladar San Cristobal. In our itinerary lunch today was supposed to be at Cafe De Oriente, a government run restaurant. We were told we would not be eating there because Chanel took over that location. I think we lucked out though. Paladar San Cristobal is one of the top rated paladars in Havana. Just three weeks before our visit the Obamas had chosen this restaurant for their family meal. 
Paladars are privately owned restaurants in Cuba. In the early 90’s paladars were legalized but with strict regulations. These regulations required employees to be family members. They limited the number of people who could be served to 12 and even many of the foods and beverages that could be served such as no beef or lobster. In 2010 as part of Raul Castro’s economic reform many of the regulations were lifted allowing these restaurants to actually become profitable.
Many paladars are located in family homes. San Cristobal is no exception to this; the restaurant is housed in a very lived in early 20th century mansion. It is filled with knickknacks and signs giving a ‘50s themed flair or the feeling of eating in an antique shop. 
The ladies’ bathroom became quite the topic of conversation as one lady in our group wanted a group photo. The bathroom was huge with a bathtub and separate shower and beautifully decorated. Colorful bath towels were present for guests to dry their hands on. Paper towel were rarely seen during our stay as paper products are in short supply.
We were brought a tray of appetizers that consisted of olives, fish ceviche, shrimp ceviche, fried malanga, salmon, and eggplant ceviche.
We had several choices for the main course but I opted for lobster. I was not prepared for what I received – three of the largest lobster tails I have ever seen and all out of the shell. I felt so spoiled. Everyone loved their lunch. The lamb stew looked amazing and received rave reviews. We also had wonderful vegetables and potatoes on the side and bread pudding with papaya for dessert. Of course we were started off with our welcome mojito followed by a glass of wine or beer and water. Some of the waiters were proudly displaying photos they had taken of themselves with President Obama when he had visited. The waiters were fascinated with my husband’s Fitbit Surge and another man’s Apple watch. These are things we take for granted but they see as desirable and perhaps out of reach.
Speaking of water, Americans need to drink bottled water while in Cuba. Interestingly though water and ice is safe to consume in the hotels and restaurants and bars we visited. The government requires the hotels to have a means to distill their water. That being said I believe everyone in our group opted to pay the 4 CUC’s for the giant bottle of water in our rooms to stay on the safe side. The restaurants regularly served us bottled water. We had been told the ice was safe and I don’t think anyone ever thought twice about it. Everything we drank with ice came with a healthy dose of vitamin R (rum).
At lunch there was some discussion as to what everyone would like to do in place of the artist’s studio. One thing was quickly evident; Suzanne would try to accommodate everyone’s requests on this trip. With such a large group though everything seemed to take longer – whether it was getting everyone served for lunch or herding us to the bus. The decision was made to visit the art museum. But Suzanne later realized it was Monday and all the museums are closed on Monday. Somehow we managed to fill the whole day without adding another activity so I think all was good.
After lunch we walked back to our bus and headed to Havana Compas Dance. 
Wow what an amazing group of kids. The young ladies in the dance troupe start learning flamenco at age 5. As they get older they start to incorporate percussion and instruments into their training. When they graduate they audition for the company. They have approximately 30 people in the troupe; four men and the rest women. In order to perform for our group like ours they had to be in the company for at least six months. To start to tour with the company they must be with them at least one year. The dancers are also fantastic percussionists. They use their feet, their hands, drumsticks with brightly painted chairs, the floor, and a mix of other instruments. 
Their style is really Spanish mixed with Afro Cuban influences. The most amazing part of their performance to me was the pure joy on all of their faces. During our question period someone asked “is everyone really having as much fun as it looks like they are?” “Absolutely,” was the resounding reply.
Just four days prior to our trip they had made their first tour to the U.S. They played to sold out crowds in Tampa. I hope they make many more tours to the U.S. and I have the opportunity to see their full show.
At some point in time earlier in the day Suzanne announced that a group wanted to go to Tropicana and they would purchase tickets for anyone interested. We weren’t really sure what Tropicana had to offer so we asked Suzanne if it was an experience not to be missed. She said it was just a show and we have an opportunity to go again on Wednesday night if we decided we wanted to see it. Since she didn’t seem that complimentary of it and we knew we had a long day ahead of us the next day we decided to pass on it. We agreed not to regret our decision and recognized we could go on Wednesday if we heard it was awesome. Men had to wear long pants to be allowed in the Tropicana. One of the members of our group did not bring any long pants so he headed down the street when we got back to the hotel in search of a mall. He found a mall and found pants (which he said were clearly not cut for an American man). We teased him about his fancy pants. In reality these were fancy pants for a Cuban. He said all of the pants in the store were marked either 31 or 34 CUC’s. This is more than a month’s salary for an average Cuban. And it turned out we did regret not going to the Tropicana. The group had a great time and spoke very highly of the show. By Wednesday we had decided the time to go was the first night, one of the girls in our group even got pulled up on stage. We didn’t want to miss what we had planned for Wednesday so we opted out again. Just tonight we were sitting out on our patio as my husband finally smoked a cigar and we were drinking mojitos and we both admitted – we should have gone to the Tropicana. We may have to go to back to Cuba just to go the Tropicana and to buy more cigars.
We left the dance company and headed to the cigar and rum shop. We weren’t really prepared for cigar shopping today. Suzanne had told us that we would be able to get cigars 10 for 40 CUC’s at the cigar farm and this is what her husband and his friends prefer. Now it suddenly seemed silly to buy a box of Monte Cristo’s for $400. When we arrived at the cigar shop we got to see the Guinness world record longest cigar in the world and the man who made it. It is 267.4ft long and is in a case suspended from the ceiling. 
This is where we became overwhelmed. My husband and I have a bad habit of not making decisions when we feel rushed or overwhelmed. At the dance studio we both regretted not buying a vinyl record pained with a scene by their music director because we just couldn’t make a decision. The cigar shop felt like chaos to us. Only one person behind the counter seemed to speak English. We didn’t want to overbuy and see expensive cigars go to waste. We ended up not buying a case of cigars and buying some small boxes and an individual cigar. We were very much within the legal limit to bring home our purchases. We also bought two bottles of Santiago Rum as recommended by our guide. He said that is his preferred rum and can only be purchase in Cuba. Decisions hurriedly made; we hoped correctly. Some regrets have been mentioned since returning home,
After the cigar shop it was time to head back to the hotel for a little down time. I decided to try the wifi card we had purchased. It was a struggle to get on the wifi but eventually with help from the desk I made it. At 3 CUC’s for an hour of wifi it seemed most of that hour was going to be eaten up with trying to access anything. Many members of our group bought multiple cards while we were there burning right through the wifi. This was another glaring example of differences between our cultures. Internet access was just opened to the general population of Cuba last year. Service is spotty and expensive. An hour card costs 2-3 CUC’s per hour for Cubans as well. This is a huge expense for them plus very few Cubans can afford devices to access the internet. I checked e-mail and was able to text my daughter back home. I jokingly told her about our experience at the airport and said we were glad my husband wasn’t arrested or deported. After the exchange we realized maybe I shouldn’t have sent that. The next time I got on wifi I was completely unable to access my text messaging. When I tried in the United States everything magically worked again. I recalled one of our friends saying that he watched someone entering his wifi code and password on his computer. Maybe someone was watching me too.
We had a small step in our closet. On several occasions I walked into that dang step. I was struggling with the safe and my husband rushed to my aid. Unfortunately he ran right into that step and broke his toe. We really did not want to experience the Cuban health care system. I was concerned he would not be able to walk on our tour the next day. We made it down to dinner and at that point felt pretty good about our decision to skip the Tropicana; not sure he would have had a very good time. When we got back to the room I insisted on icing his now very swollen and black toe. The question became, “where are you going to get ice?” I headed to the bar downstairs. I managed to explain to a waitress my need for ice but she didn’t know how to send it with me. She finally offered to wrap it in a bar towel but she seemed very nervous about letting me borrow it and stressed the importance of me bringing it back. I rushed the ice upstairs and transferred it to another towel and tried to hurry back down to return her towel to keep her out of any trouble. The foot was sore but my husband made it through with Ibuprofen and a little Tramadol and no one knew of his injury.
Dinner that night was at a lovely paladar on the water, Rio Mar. 
Shortly after being seated some loud music started on the balcony next door. The owner apologized and said we would have some dinner entertainment for a while. His neighbor was filming a music video. Apparently he was a local pop star. He had on acid wash jeans, a flowing black cape over a white t-shirt and spiked hair. It was fun to watch the lights and wind effects and fortunately did not last the whole meal. We were offered lobster again and I really debated if I should have lobster twice in one day. I opted for the red snapper and my husband opted for the lamb. Everything was tasty. On the bus back to the hotel we were comparing meals with our seat mates. One gentleman said he had ordered the lobster. I said it looked wonderful but wasn’t sure I could justify lobster at two meals in one day. He looked at me and replied, “I haven’t known any other time in my life when I could have lobster twice in one day so I did it.” I love his attitude. I should have been that bold. Next time I will be. 
Tomorrow we will head to the western most point of the island.
