Going to Cuba

I am going to Cuba on a Canada World Youth program in December- what
should I expect to encounter on my arrivals?

tessier@ualberta.ca (Tessier) wrote in message news:<ff322495.0307191039.1804f020@ com>...
> I am going to Cuba on a Canada World Youth program in December- what
> should I expect to encounter on my arrivals?


Friendly people, vibrant culture, music everywhere, lots of florescent
lycra on women, people trying to make a living in a society that has 2
apparent financial systems, some beautiful landscapes, quite a bit of
disrepair... basically, very different from Canada.

What should you expect as you enter the country in terms of
immigration and customs? A very somber lounge where people seem to
speak in hushed tones, and the official sit in high-placed "offices"
with windows so high that you cannot see what they are doing to your
passport. As you exit that lounge you will be faced with a barrage of
taxi drivers (some official, others unofficial) trying to get your
business.

Enjoy your trip.

Simone

PS. the above email address is not currently maintained.

how about hotels? Any reasonable ones up to the US standards?
I hear there is a big gay community there now .
"Simone" <comments@myglamorouslife.com> wrote in message
news:113f3f70.0307191954.3d121f71@c om...
> tessier@ualberta.ca (Tessier) wrote in message
news:<ff322495.0307191039.1804f020@ com>...
> > I am going to Cuba on a Canada World Youth program in December- what
> > should I expect to encounter on my arrivals?
>
>
> Friendly people, vibrant culture, music everywhere, lots of florescent
> lycra on women, people trying to make a living in a society that has 2
> apparent financial systems, some beautiful landscapes, quite a bit of
> disrepair... basically, very different from Canada.
>
> What should you expect as you enter the country in terms of
> immigration and customs? A very somber lounge where people seem to
> speak in hushed tones, and the official sit in high-placed "offices"
> with windows so high that you cannot see what they are doing to your
> passport. As you exit that lounge you will be faced with a barrage of
> taxi drivers (some official, others unofficial) trying to get your
> business.
>
> Enjoy your trip.
>
> Simone
>
> PS. the above email address is not currently maintained.

"cme2" <tcc-1@> wrote in message news:<J5ySa.105912$ye4.78044@sccrnsc01>...
> how about hotels? Any reasonable ones up to the US standards?
> I hear there is a big gay community there now .
>

There are a lot of nice hotels that are up to the US Standards.
However, they may not be staffed with English speaking employees (but
maybe that is starting to change).

I can't give you an answer about the gay community. All the clubs and
bars I went to seemed to cater mostly to the straight crowd.

"Simone" <comments@myglamorouslife.com> wrote

> Friendly people

Only because they think of tourist as a way to solve their problems!

"Marc W" <MarcXXX1917@zonnet.nl> wrote

> > Friendly people

> Only because they think of tourist as a way to solve their problems!

Before I get flamed again about this, let me explain!

Cubans gain a salary and have a life supporting distribution system in the
form of a little libreta. Their salary and the distribution is enough to
survive, but with the rest of their salary they cannot do nothing, since the
shops are empty. To get luxury goods, you need dollars. Hence you can try to
swap your pesos for dollars, or you can try to become friends with a
tourist. Cuban people direct their life to get in contact with tourists. My
nephew in law for example was an engineer. But he started a barber shop,
because like this he could meet tourists and get dollars and perhaps a visa
out of the country. They cannot get anywhere with the work in the communist
system, it is only logical that they effort to meet foreigners. Hence, yes
they are very very very very friendly. Being friendly to tourists is their
way to get some extra. But remember a lot of this friendliness is just fake
and forced by the system and their situation.

"Raf" <rkampel@m> wrote


> I agree with you. Whenever people approached me on the streets I
> already knew they wanted something from me. And once denied, that
> spontaneous friendship vanished almost as quickly as it came.

Thanks Raf, normally I get flamed when I say this. But it is the truth like
I experienced it!

> I found that really very saddening and disgusting
> because many filthy europeans come to Cuba for exactly this reason
> which makes it a vicious circle.

The worst I think are the 50/60 plus man who have a 20 y.o. girlfriend, that
stays with them because the social pressure of the family. And then....say
that they are the good Samaritan. (Yes, Urban Domeij if you should ever read
this, I am talking about you.)

> I hope I haven't discouraged you from visiting Cuba, but I've noticed
> from talking to other people who have been there that those who can
> speak Spanish (and thus can better understand their way of thinking)
> are often disappointed with what they see.

Exactly! It is incredible how some tourists fall for this act. And about
discouraging me. I went to Cuba about a dozen times. My wife was from
Santiago de Cuba. We got married when we both were very young, we met as
students. The fake friendship the Cubans have for the tourist....I can tell
you, they also have it for the Cubans that immigrate and come back, the way
they treated their own kin, the way they treated her. This should also be
dependent of the family, but still. You can see more in the question I
reased in this forum. I am now trying to find out, what country differs the
most from Cuba, but has Spanish as official language, to visit that.