Letters from Cuba, June 2009 (8) Bayamo

Letter from Bayamo, June 2009

Our 10-hour journey from Trinidad to Bayamo was in a VIAZUL air-conditioned coach. As with the Havana to Cuenfuego leg, there were two drivers – and we were offered a wrapped toffee immediately the coach departed – but this time, DVDs were shown, and also a Denzel Washington movie. There were five-minute stops at provincial capitals to pick up and set down passengers; and also a 40-minute lunch stop at a roadside rest area/restaurant.

Bill and I chatted to a Swiss family who had planned to return to Havana by train, but the train broke down some weeks ago, and a part needed to be found. There was also a young Dutch couple who had stayed at casas familiares and told us owners pay 160 CUC per month for each of their two rentable rooms, whether they're filled or not;  also, rural families may own a cow for milk, but not kill it for meat (there is a penalty of 20? years in prison).

We observed that petrol is dearer than in New Zealand: 83 octane costs 1.1 CUC per litre; 90 octane and diesel are both 1 CUC; and 94 octane 1.1 CUC. There is obviously a lot of 83 octane used – petrol fumes in Havana are heavy.

Bayamo is a proud and dignified rural capital with a population of 144,000. It is in a pasture and cattle breeding area. The local hero is lawyer turned revolutionary Cespedes. On 10 October 1868, he wrested control of Bayamo from the Spanish. The inscription on this bas relief in Parque Cespedes reads, 'Nosotros creemos que todos los hombres somos iguales':

Bas relief portraying Bayamo lawyer turned revolutionary Cespedes. Photo: Ann Barrie, 2009

In 1869 the townspeople, rather than see the Spanish retake their town, burned it to the ground; and so the buildings are all post-1869.

We arrived at Bayamo at 6.00 pm and were met by Lionel, an Artex-Paradiso representative on a very nice bicycle. He followed our taxi to the Casa de la Trova where we were served a local fruit punch which Lionel topped up with as much rum as we cared to drink. We were serenaded by a group of aging troubadours who had stayed back late to greet us – so naturally, we bought their DVD for 10 CUC. (I saw them slip Lionel a coin.)

Troubadours at Casa de la Trova, Bayamo, 2009   Photo: Ann Barrie

Lionel said he would like to take us on a walking tour of the historic centre of Bayamo even though we had not booked or paid for one. He showed us the lovely Parque Cespedes and surrounding buildings. We noticed a masonic lodge: freemasons played an important role in the construction of both this city and Santiago de Cuba. 
Being Sunday evening, the light and airy Baptist church on the square was packed with worshippers. That reminds me – on Saturday evening, in Trinidad, I slipped into the back of the Catholic cathedral where mass was being celebrated. Approximately 50% Cubans are Catholics; 2% are Santeria, although some of these are Catholics, too; and 4% are Protestant.

The light was fading, but I managed to take some photographs. Being Sunday, there were rides on goat carts for children:

Children riding on goat cart, Bayamo, 2009. Photo: Ann Barrie

Bayamo is the birthplace of Perucho Figueredo, composer of Cuba’s national anthem. His statue stands in the Parque Cespedes, and its base is inscribed with not just with the heroic words but also the music score:

Parque Céspedes, Bayamo, bas relief showing Cuban national hymn. Photo: Ann Barrie, 2009

We had a long conversation with Lionel. He is Bayamo born and bred, and is tall and strong with features reminiscent of the Mayan Indians whom Bill and I met in Guatemala thirty years ago. Lionel spent four years at a tourism school where he trained as a guide and learned to speak English, French and German. He has travelled to Europe several times. This travel was easy for him: it simply required people he had guided to invite him to their country. Lionel is currently building a house for himself and his wife, who is a nurse. He will do the plumbing and electrical work himself: there is no such thing as building inspectors in Cuba.

Our tour guide, Lionel, Bayamo, 2009.  Photo: Ann Barrie

Lionel is very ‘straight up and down’, but in any event I don’t think he would need to resort to bribery to get sufficient money to put a roof over his head. No doubt he gets generous tips from his work which sometimes involves taking people on 3-day hikes into the Sierra Maestra Mountains where Fidel and his commandoes made their hideout.

Lionel and has wife plan to start a family once they have their house. We gave him a 2 CUC tip, plus a tennis ball for his yet-to-be-born child. (Cuban guides have obviously been instructed not to solicit gratuities: they accept them in an uninterested way. In Trinidad, Denis was disappointed at how offhand his guide of several days was, when he gave her a large tip.)

The hotel where Bill and I had hoped to stay, the famous Royalton in the Parque Crespedes, was closed for renovations; the substitute was Sierra Maestra, a few km from the city centre. We went by horse and cart; Lionel accompanied us and settled us in. The hotel was large and grand with a Soviet Russia feel, and it was devoid of imagination in both décor and food. Most of the guests seemed to be well-to-do Cubans.

Swimming pool at Sierra Maestra hotel, Bayamo, 2009. Photo: Ann Barrie

In the morning I had a swim in the large concrete pool, which no one else was using; and then, after breakfast, Bill and I strolled round the neighbourhood. We enjoyed watching the town come to life: parents escorting their children to school; office workers snatching a snack or cycling to work; gardeners tending the local parks.

Park in Bayamo, July 2009   Photo: Ann Barrie

We did not find the mercado agropcuario (vegetable market), but we did come across an organopónico (nursery/food market). 

Nursery in Bayamo, July 2009. Photo: Ann Barrie

Lionel met us at the bus station and helped us negotiate the crush of people so we could change our vouchers for tickets. (It was the Astro bus station, but it also served Viazul coaches.)

Bayamo, like Cienfuegos, is a town where I would like to have spent more time (had the Hotel Royalton been open).

During our two-hour journey to Santiago, we passed through one of the garden areas of Cuba. As on our previous trips, the drivers stopped to buy pineapples and plantains when we passed roadside stalls.


Blog by Ann Barrie

Letters from Cuba, June 2009 (7) Trinidad encounters

Trinidad de Cuba, Hostel Vivien y Pablo

Our most interesting walks in Trinidad de Cuba were away from the historic centre. On our first day, we were lingering outside a peso stall when a young man wearing a crisp white shirt, and accompanied by his small son on a bicycle, offered to give me 20 pesos in national currency for one of my CUCs. We accepted his offer, and spent the next hour walking slowly back to the centre of town, chatting all the way. 
Giuseppe is a Jehovah’s Witness, and he taught himself to read English by comparing English and Spanish versions of the Bible, and reading Watchtower and Wake magazines sent to him by American Jehovah’s Witnesses. He then learned to speak English by chatting to tourists.

Giuseppe said the American Jehovah’s Witnesses taught him not to beg tourists for money, and so he doesn’t do this any more. He forgot himself briefly when I asked permission to photograph him and his son, and I was so startled – we had been chatting as friends – that I abandoned all thought of doing so.

Giuseppe applied to emigrate to America and has been waiting four years to get approval. To raise money, he will need to sell his house, which he has not yet finished building; but he will need to keep this transaction hidden, as he did not get permission to build the house in the first place. The only way to get building materials is through bribery. Cuba runs on bribery, and Giuseppe's sister lost her job to someone who bribed her employer. 

Giuseppe is a baker by trade. He lost his job, but in any event he earns more when not officially employed, as he sells baking from his home – except that he can’t get flour at present. The New Zealand minimum wage is riches beyond imagination to him.

We gave Guiseppe soap for his family, and a tennis ball for his little boy. We hope he achieves his dreams.

Later we walked down Simon Bolivar. The houses all open onto the street, and people sell crafts, embroidery, new plastic bags and other small items. They are not licensed (unlike Trinidad's stallholders, who are licensed).  We got chatting to a young woman called Lara Yamicet Trocones, and I photographed the Santeria religious shines in the room. Lara asked if I would give her my cotton lawn shirt in return for some embroidery. I said I needed the shirt for myself, but I gave her some soaps. She showed me the scar on her abdomen from a recent operation, and wrote out her address so I could send her some items from New Zealand. (I later did so, and I hope she received them.)

Young woman in Trinidad de Cuba with Santeria shines in her living room. Photo: Ann Barrie, 2009

We saw houses under construction on the outskirts of town. These were brick or concrete, with shutters and no glass. We also saw a few raised gardens. 

Ann Barrie exploring in Trinidad de Cuba, June 2009.

On our second day in Trinidad, we walked in a different direction and saw many interesting sights in rooms opening off the street:

·      a ‘school of chess’ – older men teaching youngsters the rules of chess

·      small enterprises such as shoe repairers

·      a public library with a card catalogue, old book stock arranged by the Dewey system, and people studying at small tables.

Shoe repairer with song bird in his doorway, Trinidad de Cuba, 2009. Photo: Ann Barrie

Public library in Trinidad de Cuba, 2009. Photo: Ann Barrie

On a more modern note, we came across:

·      a smart shopping arcade, Galeria Comercial Universo, with a well-stocked (for Cuba) grocery store. We saw wine from Chile, Europe and California – this was much dearer than rum

·      a beautiful boutique hotel on the Parque Central (also called the Parque Céspides)

Pablo, host of our casa particulara in Trinidad de Cuba, 2009. Photo: Ann Barrie

Blog by Ann Barrie