FOOD
After our visit to the cemetery we visited a typical food market. Food in these markets can only be paid for using Cuban pesos. The variety of the food is minimal and the quality is poor but it is cheap. This is the food that most people eat unless they obtain CUCs, the money that can be used to buy better quality items. The shelves are often half empty as you can see from the picture.
People lucky enough to have relatives in other countries that send them money or have ways of getting extra money definitely have a great advantage. One of the reasons there is such a scarcity of food is the lack of incentive. A farmer is paid the same amount of money whether he or she produces a crop of one acre or 10 acres. Why break your back if you get paid the same no matter how much your produce? Can you believe that Cuba, a country that was once the biggest exporter of sugar in the world is now importing sugar? Their production is only one-fifth of their pre-revolution output.
We ate our meals in the country’s better restaurants. We had breakfast each morning at our hotel’s breakfast buffet which could compare with many top buffets in the U.S. The dinners and lunches were, while good to very good, not comparable to the same type of restaurants you would find in the U.S., Canada or Europe. The size of the portions were about one-half to two-thirds of what we are accustomed to (this may be a good thing). Green lettuces for the most part do not exist. A typical salad consists of shredded green cabbage, a few slices of tomato and a few slices of cucumber. The average price of an entrée in the better restaurants is around $15. Something comparable in the U.S. would be at least $25. A bargain for us, yes, but if you are making only $30 a week this is completely out of range. Every lunch and dinner was accompanied by a quartet of musicians playing music that they think tourists would like. If I hear Guantánamo one more time I think I will bust!!! After the musicians finished their set they came around to collect gratuities and sell their CDs. This helps them make the extra money that they really need. One great thing about the Cuban government is their support for the arts. If a child has a passion for any of the arts, fine arts, music, dance theatre etc. they can go to special schools, follow their zeal and be assured that they will not starve.
Everyone in Cuba has a place to live. There are no homeless people there. Is this good or bad? It depends on how you view this.
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