3 Small (but Not-To-Miss) Experiences for US Americans visiting Havana for the 1st time
By Mike Mongo
In two years, as an educator, I have so far been to Cuba three times. Combined I have spent nearly an entire month in Havana. And I’m from Key West. So: I love Cuba. Here are three really good (but oh-so simple) experience recommendations I have for people from the US. You can’t miss by seeking them out.
Buy a pastry on the street.
No, buy two.* They are handmade fresh everyday and they are 5 Cuban pesos. Which is less than .10¢ US. Yes, you read that right, ten cents US. *
Fresh made daily. All fresh ingredients. And actual handmade butter creme.
Ok. Just thinking about these [tiny exquisite delectable] dessert treats is making me want to go back. Now.
- Sidenote: Karmically, I cannot encourage anyone’s buying (and eating) more than two of these at any one time. Many Cuban people have only limited access to real food. Be a considerate US American. Sample, appreciate, give thanks. Don’t gorge. Plus, there’s always tomorrow!
Hire a Cuban local as your translator and personal tour guide.
We hired local school teacher Lienko Veranes. He is also a rapper.
Lienko struck up a conversation while we were all waiting for lunch–yes, it’s true, everyone is genuinely friendly–and one thing leads to another and suddenly he’s with us for the next five days until we left. We even met his students, his school’s directora, and everywhere we went people came over to smile and joke. And we’re still in contact.
See, we didn’t just hire a guide, we made a new friend…who we asked to show us around. And that’s the way to do it. If you meet someone who you think is cool and who thinks you’re cool, ask them if they are interested in showing you around.* It is literally that simple. Price is negotiable but think $20 US a day for a local. Plus beers and meals.
Though Cuba is now part of my regular travels, it took me three trips to realize how much better life is with a native translator (and Spanish teacher, and master of money exchange, and knower of the best-priced food hotspots in Havana, etc). Ay ya, what was I thinking? Trust me, I am glad to have discovered this experience.
Get your hair cut (and maybe take a rumba lesson) by a Cuban barber.
There are few experiences as satisfying to the heart, mind and spirit as a good haircut. Cubans it seems are vitally aware of this. Subsequently, el barbero and la barbería are Cuban staples: they are as important in some ways as doctors and groceries, and for this reason alone I actively imagine living in Cuba.
In Cuba, I literally had The Haircut of My Entire Life. And then, as I was there a week, I had it again. And, as I have returned to Havana several times now, I have had that haircut at least six times.
What makes getting a haircut in Cuba so great? For one, it’s the atmosphere. Remember how barbershops used to be? They were places where people met, sat, talked, gossiped, told jokes, laughed, sang, shared, cried, politic’d, argued, laughed, argued some more and so on. Then you got your hair cut.
For another, straight razors. I need not say more.
Getting your haircut in Cuba is a reminder not of how life was but of how life can be. And should be. And now for me how life actually is.
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