These people are going from Miami to Cuba, most to visit relatives. They bring lots of "stuff" because "stuff" is hard to find in Cuba. You can have your bag or bundle wrapped in plastic for $15 at the airport. They use flimsy bags or boxes, I guess so they don't have to bring back an empty suitcase.
This is a museum. The plaster is coming off the walls, but they don't have the money to repair it. This used to be a big, fancy house. The lady in purple is speaking spanish, and the guy on the left is translating.
Museum
A marble stairway in the museum is in good shape, but the walls are deteriorating.
Havana
A Cuban tourist at Simon's statue. Cubans have been allowed to visit Cuban hotels only for about the past 5 years.
The University of Havana. It looks like there is some rennovation going on inside.
School of Pharmacy, Havana
There is a big publicity campaign going on about freeing the "Cuban Five".
This is one of the nicer apartments in Havana. In the past year, there have been changes that allow property owners to rent out more than two rooms, and to hire employees that aren’t family members to help with cooking and housekeeping.
Private "businesses" are allowed sell books in the Plaza de Armas, Havana.
A gun museum -- interesting.
There is very little violent crime in Cuba, but almost all the houses and stores in Havana have bars on the doors and windows, and/or big fences.
This is an aquaduct in Havana, built in the 1500's.
This is an aquaduct in Havana, built in the 1500's.
I like this.
The "Campaña Nacional de Alfabetización" was a campaign in 1961 to abolish illiteracy in Cuba. About 100,000 kids (10-19) and around 40,000 adults taught about 700,000 adults to read and write. Education has been a big deal in Cuba ever since.
The literacy campaign is being used in other South and Central American countries.
The literacy campaign is being used in other South and Central American countries.
The Cuban 5
I bought some piano music.
Cathy is a maniac.
The school playground. These don't seem to be mowed.
There are small private farms now, where the owners can keep about 20% of their production.
This is a little more modern than the private farms. It must be for a state farm, where they have some modern machinery.
People in the countryside don't seem to close their doors much. 98% of the houses have electricity, but not many have telephones (5%?), and cell phones are too expensive for most people..
Most people don't have cars.
Most people don't have cars.
Apparently, not everybody has a TV.
Ice cream truck?
Drugstore. Everybody has access to free medicine and free medical care. Also, clothes, education, and about 1/3 of peoples' food is provided by the state. Average salary for professionals is less than $100 per month. This makes it tough to buy gasoline, a new car, or a laptop.
In the early 1990's, Cuba changed from an atheist state to a secular state, allowing religious freedom. Now there are some new churches.
A bus stop at a tourist town. Notice the lack of traffic. That's because of a lack of cars.
And they're not even Amish!
Looking out of a cave. There are a bunch of big caves in Cuba.
Kids, even the poor ones, have clothes, food, education, and health care. They don't have a lot of the things we take for granted.
This is at a private tobacco farm. They've got a telephone and nice, large house by Cuban standards; lower middle class house by Oklahoma standards.
The royal palms look funny to me in a farm setting.
Waiting for a ride. People in the country wait along side of the road for a ride. Drivers are encouraged to pick them up.
A festival in a small town.
Pork is big in Cuba.
A lot of private farmers don't have tractors (or money for fuel).
They have a project of building houses with PVC walls. It looks like they pour concrete into the walls for strength and insulation.
This is a famous artist, who was also a teacher in the 1961 Literacy Program when he was 14.
Modern apartments in a modern tourist town.
A flower.
Tree rat?
Red Legged Thrush - they act like Robins. Robins are in the thrush family.
Cubans on a Sunday afternoon.
Nice insulators.
A fancy salsa music club.
A Havana street on Sunday night.
I gave Cathy and the regular driver a tour around central Havana.
The sea wall is a popular hangout in Havana. It's safe to walk along here and all over Havana.
The Cuban Capitol is patterned after the U.S. Capitol, but Cuba's is taller.
A hotel band.
This is a mural project.
A dry fountain.
A broken pipe.
An old cathedral.
Fidel Castro supposedly shot the U.S. freighter "Houston" with this tank during the Bay of Pigs invasion. The "Houston" ran aground after being hit by rockets from a T-33, so maybe Castro later shot it with the tank as a photo op?
Havana
Our hotel when we were in Havana.
I took a ride in a 1954 Willy's Overland, along with 8 other people.
