| Wednesday, April 13, 2005 | | | | wife and daughter (who together have one |
| | | | bedroom), his wife´s sister (who has the |
| Hello from Cuba (11) - Inside A Cuban Home | | | | other bedroom) and the father of the 2 ladies |
| | | | sleeps in the living room. |
| Etecsa Telecommunications Building, Downtown | | | | |
| Havana | | | | Furniture and decor are very basic and |
| | | | instead of upholstered sofas the furniture |
| Wednesday, April 13, 2005, 3:06 pm | | | | consists of traditional wooden chairs that |
| | | | have a colonial appearance. One of the |
| So I am sitting here in a new place and I | | | | cousins who was in from out of town got |
| gotta hurry since I bought a $6 CUC Internet | | | | married last year to a friend of mine in |
| access card and I only have 53 minutes left. | | | | Toronto, so she came to Havana to go to the |
| | | | Canadian Consulate to get her visa to finally |
| At any rate, the dinner at Pedro´s family | | | | go to Canada. Getting to go to Canada is not |
| on Sunday was amazing. We took the GuaGua | | | | an easy thing at all for Cubans, since it is |
| (Public Transit System) and after about 1 | | | | very difficult to obtain a Cuban passport. |
| hour we arrived in the area of Marinao. From | | | | |
| there we had to walk another 30 minutes or so | | | | We talked a lot about Canada and about the |
| to get to his house. | | | | fact that life is very different, the |
| | | | climate, the environment, the concept of |
| There I was received by an entire Cuban | | | | family. This discussion was particularly |
| family, Pedro´s wife and daughter, his | | | | relevant since Pedro´s wife´s female |
| sister in law and their two female cousins | | | | cousin is hoping to come to Canada in the |
| who had come in from out of town. It was | | | | next 6 weeks as she is currently pregnant. |
| amazing being in a Cuban home, after having | | | | |
| spent a whole week in an impersonal hotel. It | | | | At any rate, the hospitality was great. I was |
| was immediately obvious that the Cuban | | | | received like a long-lost friend and the |
| concept of family is very different from what | | | | ladies had really taken great care to prepare |
| I have experienced in Austria or Canada. | | | | an outstanding dinner. The table was full of |
| Family members live in very tight living | | | | dishes: fried chicken, white rice with bean |
| quarters since housing is scarce in Havana | | | | sauce, fried sweet plaintains (one of my |
| and often 2 or 3 generations live under one | | | | favourite foods) and a tasty bean salad. We |
| roof. | | | | had flan for dessert and it was one of the |
| | | | best meals I have had in Cuba so far. |
| My friend told me that in his father´s | | | | |
| house 3 of his brothers live in one bedroom | | | | I had brought a little souvenir for the |
| (and they sometimes receive visits from their | | | | family: 2 sets of coloured pens for the |
| girlfriends who end up sleeping in the same | | | | little girl which she absolutely loved and |
| room), his sister and mother sleep in one | | | | some beautiful flowers for the ladies of the |
| room (as his mother is divorced), and the | | | | house. The atmosphere was a little shy at |
| father and another sibling sleep in another | | | | first, but after a while we started chatting, |
| room. It´s very difficult to imagine this | | | | asking each other questions about our |
| type of crammed living environment, there is | | | | respective lives in these 2 very different |
| definitely not much privacy.... | | | | countries. All the while I was there I felt |
| | | | very special and I felt truly honoured to |
| By Canadian standards, the home is very | | | | have had an opportunity to be introduced to a |
| basic, located in a complex with about 6 | | | | Cuban family and to experience Cuban |
| apartments, this apartment contains 2 | | | | hospitality first hand. |
| bedrooms which are shared by my friend, his | | | | |