TWO
YOUNG MEDICAL DOCTORS FROM MOA IN EASTERN CUBA COME TO VISIT
Unless
I know someone well, I do not encourage him or her to visit me in La Habana. I
would love to show off my city and that means that consumes all the time. This
is not an easy city to get around: transportation, food and not to mention the
unrelenting heat of August.
I
have been nurturing them, giving them a broader view of the world of Medicine,
since they were in their second year of medical school. They begin their
internship year on August 20, 2018. I invited them to come to Havana so that
they can have a distraction before they bolt down on their Internships.
Easier
said than done. Since a recent aerial tragedy the ageing fleet of domestic
flights have been grounded and currently Cuba is virtually without a domestic
flight opportunity for tourists and Cubans alike and of course it does take
courage to fly Cubana de Aviacion, an airline, much like its soviet cousins,
not boasting a reasonable safety operation! Even twenty years ago one could see
sidelined along the runways, cannibalized planes, used for parts. That leaves
bus as the only alternative, even though there is railways in name, the people
who have ridden it, warn of the dire consequences of a railroad journey in
Cuba.
Travel
within Cuba, for Cubans is ridiculously cheap. A comfortable journey in an air-conditioned
bus from one end to another, over 1000 km will not set you back more than four
dollars. But. Can you get a ticket?
Cubans
are super survivors (perhaps that mentality leads them to commit so much fraud
in Miami when they emigrate there?) and they have found various ways of
traveling from one end to the other.
Both
young doctors are 23, with limited exposure to the world. I thought by letting
them make the arrangements and get on with the journey would be life experience
for them.
They
put their name on the waiting list for the buses leaving Moa to La Habana.
Their hearts were down when they were given numbers in the low three hundreds!
They
arrived at the bus station one hour before the 2 pm departure, few got on; they
were told to wait for the 8 pm bus where no one got on. They were told to go
home and come back expectantly for a bus that was leaving at 4 am, a tourist
bus that was going back empty after downloading its foreign consignment.
Fortunately they got on the 4 am bus to La Habana and spent the next 15 hours
on roads built by Dictator Machado in the 1920s or 30s, wide and comfortable
with very little traffic.
I
have been impressed with these two friends from medical school in Moa, both
have finished their final examinations and now beginning their internships.
Both from humble beginnings, now entering the profession of healing and perhaps
to help not only Cubans but also others in other continents as well.
They
deserve our congratulations!
They
would be spending less than two days here in La Habana when they would repeat
the trip back to Moa.
But
do they have tickets?
No?
Are
they on a waiting list?
No?
My
adopted Cuban sister seems to have certain necessary contacts and she promised
she would make sure, with a bit of additional help, you know what I mean, that
they get on one of the bus departures tomorrow!
My
neighbours would cook a nice Chicken dinner tonight (my sister somehow managed
to get some chicken at some store or another) and I have already bought two
bottles of wine.
There
would be eight of us for dinner tonight..
A
Cuban get together with Cuban meal .
The
bottles of wine would be the only foreign substance at todays meal table.
PS
The
medical students got on safely on board the bus that would take them safely to
the other end of the island.
I
am grateful that two students would take time out and travel 15 hours on buses,
to reach the Capital City so that they can spend 30 hours renewing our
friendships. They wont be able to travel during their Internship year but we
promised to meet next year here in my city of San Cristobal de La Habana when
they finish their Internship.
