PEACEFUL
DAYS IN HAVANA
It
so happens I am in Havana, perhaps I would have felt the same peace elsewhere?
Fort Cochin? Malacca? Siem Reap? I am not sure. Havana has a very special place
in my heart.
In
Cuba, especially for a foreigner, regardless of how long you have been resident
here, one has to watch your steps since there is special treatment of
foreigners or lets say a vision by certain people in the community towards the
foreigners.
It
is what a tuk tuk driver told me, if you have money to buy an airline ticket to
come to Cochin, we could charge you double the rate we charge Indians, it is
not much to you.
It
was Fiona, one of the earliest writers of Rough Guide to Cuba who said to me
all that years ago in Baracoa: at the end of the day we are just a dollar sign
for the Cubans.
This
applies to the tourists or the people who are here for a short period of time.
Veterans like me who do not have much contact with people who deal with
tourists still have to be careful. After all this is a country there are so
much shortage of everything especially hard cold cash.
Even
people who become good friends fall into the trap of trying to extract a dollar
or two from you. One has to forgive them and move on. Most of my good friends
are professionals: specialist physicians, Psychologists so there is never a
commercial aspect to our relationships.
The
lady who prepares your breakfast may want a dollar or two extra or put a price
on anything that transpires, which would not involve money among friends.
Fortunately in my world, this commercialization of friendships is few and far
between.
In
one of his books, the currently popular Cuban writer, Leonardo Padura Fuentes
writes about his protagonist retired Inspector of Police, detective Mario
Conde: He knew that his love for these books, to which he owed his living now
and from which over the years he had derived a singular happiness, was one of
the most important things in his life, a life in which there remained ever
fewer important things. He began to count them: FRIEDSHIPS, COFFEE, CIGARETTES,
RUM, and MAKING LOVE FROM TIME TO TIME… AND OF COURSE BOOKS.
I
am in Havana, reading one of his books, Adios Hemingway, feeling very content.
The same coffee, which is brewed here, has a better taste than in Miami? Why?
Who knows? My landlady brewed me a cup this morning; the Spanish word is beautiful
colar café.. Have already spoken to a couple of good friends, sent and received
emails, too early for wine (unfortunately a bad country for wine)… making love,
we will talk about it later.
The
only characteristic about the Cubans (for that matter anyone else including
Zimbabweans) is when they appear not to be grateful. In this country every
little thing count and when they appear to be less grateful, I have a desire to
be away from them. All ancient philosophies would stress Be Grateful.. Listen
to Dalai Lama or read Patanjali.
I
give gifts without expecting anything in return to many many Cuban friends but
now and then I would feel that they are not grateful for the effort you have to
put into bringing stuff into the country with anxiety piled on you by Customs
officials, not to mention the cost plus the most valuable is the time and
patience necessary to look for these things in various shops in Miami.. Please
bring me some OXY for my Acne or how about the Chanca Piedra for Kidney stones?
Cubans do not understand that it takes effort to find these things.
Most
Cuban friends are extraordinarily grateful for the gifts you bring them (I come
each month with two suitcase full of stuff, each weighing the allowed 50 lbs.
or 24 kg with nary an underwear of mine as I keep a complement of clothes here
I Havana)
I
recharged for cellular phones this morning, at the cost of 25 dollars each, one
of which was mine. I received grateful acknowledgements from two of the
recipients and waiting for the two medical students whose telephones I had
recharged.
In
Cuba, there is a form of recharge in which you pay 20 CUC and they receive 20
cuc worth of recharge plus a bonus of 40 cuc, which they have to use within
three weeks. The 20 cuc on their phone they are able to transfer it to others.
I recharged the phones of two medical students and then requested that they
transfer 10 cuc each to two friends of their friends, thus for 75 dollars of
recharge, I am able to give presents of 10 cuc recharge to 6 persons as well as
40 cuc of bonus to three others.. An incredibly good deal!
Let
us see of the 9 people how many of them would send me a message of thanks .by
the end of the day. ( PS BY 3 PM ALL HAD SENT MESSAGES OF GRATITUDE!)
That
brings me to the question? Why am I so happy? So content and so at peace?
Obviously despite what I had written about Cuba above, I have no conflict here.
I love the chance to spend time alone and with friends when I want to ..
There
is always good coffee… and Rum, cheapest rum in the world, a good bottle
costing no more than 5 dollars!
I
consulted my good friend who is a professor of psychology, and I said to her:
it seems so incongruent that there is commotion in the country and I feel so
much at peace. I try to think that I am watching the sunset each evening and
thus synchronizing my life to that of nature? She said: you have put things in
your life in their proper places, in Cuba, you have distanced yourself from
people who are only interested in what they can get out of you and that you are
meeting good quality people, professionals and possibly meet the writer for a
dinner on my next visit.
Tiene
Razon, we say, you have reason as if to say you are right in English.
My
daily routine includes two conversations on line with friends who live in the
Far East and in the West with occasional chats with Europe or Israel or India,
thus they also contribute to this tranquility.
Talking
about gratitude I have to be very grateful to a person from ancient Annam whose
presence is felt and her contribution to this peaceful feeling is acknowledged.
In
a few days time, I go back to the other reality: Miami, American Indians and
then my journey of unexpected pleasures begins: Bruselas, Haifa, Fort Cochin,
Kuala Lumpur and terminating in Siem Reap in Cambodia!
This
is the moveable feast that is Havana.
