Went down to Cuba with my sweetie Kate to catch rays, catch up with friends, and get an up to the minute update on how things are going as well as see how Cubanos were celebrating 50 years of papa Fidel. Last year went to Santiago de Cuba, so it's been two years since my last visit to the place.
The more things change, the more they stay the same and the more they don't.
First off - for the first time in my eight years of travelling to Cuba the food was great - providing you have about $25 pp per meal to spend. Not so good for the local folks. Langosta was available almost everywhere - likely to make the 50th anniversary more celebratory for those who can afford to buy it.
The license fees for paladars (as high as $1500 / mo) have changed the entire dynamic of eating - paladars are getting squeezed out of business and need to charge much higher prices than before - more than gov't restaurants.
They can't make do with $7 pollo, so are selling fixed price meals at around $20, which is costing them customers to their public sector competitors. Quick - call the CFIB.
Police harassment of residents was not being exercised as strongly as two years ago and several buildings along the Malecon are renovated or in the process of being so. The 50th anniversary celebration on Jan 1 wasn't noticeable; a big salsa party was held on the Malecon near the Hotel Nacional, and it was loud and a lot of people attended, but mostly Cubans just went about their business - survival.
Kate and I tracked down a little girl and her mom that I'd met through a friend two years ago - they had shared Christmas Dinner with us. I had taken some delightful pictures and wanted to present them. I did and they were delighted!
Listened to lots of okay music, nothing really great except for a string orchestra concert at St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral. Nacional Ballet was, of course, outstanding - Alicia Alonso was present which made it more special. Went to a friend's birthday party was a buncha interesting characters there. One guy made a point of letting me know he just got out of prison for murder. In Cuba the penalty for murder is 8 years, the penalty for killing a cow is 10 years. I understand that government is still clamping down on unlicensed attempts by Cubans to feed themselves - some have been arrested for catching fish and growing vegetables.
Met Yoani Sanchez who is the famed blogger I link to a lot who is the best source for real news in Cuba. She remains under watch by the government, and plays a dangerous game to get her blog reports posted.
Arrived home at 0400 on Tuesday to find neither kids nor dog present, just a note that the kids were staying with person who was looking after dog. Smelled fishy. Was awoken at 0900 by said dog watching person who advised that instead of looking after our much loved little hairy family member, they let it get killed by a car. We are feeling great pain.
