Letters from Cuba, June 2009 (9) Santiago: Jésus & Marisol

Letter from Santiago de Cuba, no. 208 Rastro:

We had an unpromising arrival in Santiago de Cuba. There was a huge crush at the bus station, and the ‘taxi’ we managed to secure had all windows replaced with ordinary glass, not the safety glass usual in cars. The instrument panel was devoid of instruments, and the car stalled at every traffic light. Bill, my loyal 78-year old husband, was sitting in front with the driver and he must have wondered why I had led him into such danger.

We drove ever deeper into rundown streets of the old residential part of Santiago until we stopped at a bright blue house at no. 208 Rastro. This was the casa particulara I had found by asking the proprietor of a Havana casa particulara for a recommendation.

Our hosts here are Jésus, a high school history teacher of Canary Islands background, with a smattering of English; and Marisol, of French-Spanish background, without a word of English. They have proved to be kindness itself.

Ann & Bill Barrie with Jésus & Marisol, their hosts in Santiago de Cuba  2009

*

Business card for casa particulara in Santiago de Cuba, 2009. Photo: Ann Barrie

Our room is up a caracol, a steel spiral staircase onto the roof of the house. We can choose between a noisy air conditioner and a quiet ceiling fan. The bathroom has a huge shower head, supported by a steel pipe which also supplies the water; plus three uninsulated electrical wires running to the shower head to heat the water. My goodness! The electrics in Cuba.

Caricol leading to our room in Santiago de Cuba   Ann Barrie 2009

 Shower head in Santiago de Cuba    Ann Barrie 2009

From our bedroom and terrace, we can see the spire of the Santiago de Cuba Cathedral and the Ayuntamiento (town hall) from the balcony of which Fidel made his speech in 1959 proclaiming the success of the revolution.

View from our bedroom across rooftops to Santiago de Cuba cathedral & town hall  Photo: Ann Barrie 2009

All around, we hear the happy sounds of people going about their daily lives. On the street below, men and youths play chess and dominos; and penny football which Bill played as a boy in Strathclyde. 

Santiago de Cuba, men & youths playing dominoes and penny football on Rastro.  Photo: Ann Barrie 2009

Santiago de Cuba, ancient generator for building work on Rastro.  Photo: Ann Barrie 2009

First thing each morning, we hear steel wheels rumbling down the street and a whistle blown to signal bread deliveries in a handcart. At night, young people, gathered in a nearby park, practise their music for the Santiago festival – there are trompeta china, and drums of all kinds, and the air throbs with the sounds of Africa.

Santiago, Cuba’s second largest city with a population of 450,000, is wedged between the Sierra Maestra mountains and the Caribbean. It is HOT, in more ways than one. A bastion of Cuban nationalism, it is Cuba’s only official ‘hero city’. Santiago is known for its music and is the home of son (sound). People are proud of their city – there are more revolutionary posters and slogans than elsewhere in Cuba, and small homemade flags or nationalist symbols adorn many house doors.

Workers' transport, Santiago de Cuba   Ann Barrie 2009

Jésus and Marisol are happy people and do their best with our meals. These are served with a flourish by Jésus – he is small and smiling and always has a twinkle in his eye. Breakfast always includes a huge platter of fruit, a different fruit drink each day, café au lait, and eggs cooked the way we want them.

Breakfast in casa particulara, Santiago de Cuba. Ann Barrie 2009

For cena (dinner) we have twice had dry-fleshed fish, fried; the first night it was a small fish, and the third night a large fish steak. I ate most of Bill’s fish steak, as well as my own, as he did not enjoy it, and this made me ill with severe vomiting. The second night, ‘lamb stew’ was served (we were certain it was, in fact, gravy beef.) Meals always include potato soup – I have an abiding memory of Marisol, standing in her hot little kitchen in shorts and jandals, and patiently digging eyes from potatoes that are stacked high on her bench. Meals also include sliced cucumber salad, rice and fried plantains. Cuban cuisine is not great. I have already mentioned the tough lobster tails we were served in Trinidad – the ruination of such good food almost made Bill weep; he reckons all the skilled chefs fled Cuba with Batista.

Blog by Ann Barrie