What is the same and what is different?

We arrived and cleared customs with little fanfare. The drive in showed a fewer billboards and fewer old cars than I remember- I think that some of those cars from the 1950s are finally giving up the ghost despite the tender loving care that they have received over all of these years. Billboards have been replaced by murals- slogans and pictures painted onto the walls, extolling the revolution and all of its works, exhorting the people to work harder and conserve. The buildings on the outside of town are in disrepair; the quality and upkeep increased dramatically as we got closer to the center of the city. Our hotel is gorgeous; the Nacional is an old hotel, with lots of wood and a gorgeous back yard with a view of the Malecon. Not shabby at all. More to follow
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So Sunday was arrival day. We got to the hotel at about 10:30 in the morning. I was sort of exhausted when I wrote the above, since I spent the night in Miami airport awaiting the 4 AM wake up call at the airport and hadn’t slept in 24 hours on arrival. My room was not yet available, so I registered for the conference, and sat out on the “backyard”, an enormous greensward with comfy chairs overlooking the ocean. Changed money: they had suggested that we bring Canadian Dollars or Euros as the Cuban government extracts an extra tax on the conversion of US Dollars to Convertible Pesos (the currency of the tourist), which in the Communist tradition, is different than the money of the locals. So, figuring in fees and stuff, 1 CUC is worth about $1.26 at present, the way I did it. Chatted with a couple from North Carolina who had found the secret to online access at 8 CUC / hr via the business office. I resolved to do that daily, and hopefully I will continue to do so. Wrote the above paragraph and then got tired and hungry, The folks from NC had been here doing research for the last 4 days, and they recommended a pizza place in Vedado, so off I went in pursuit of pizza.
Things appeared to be in better repair, to some extant, than they were last time I was here. I have yet to spot a wooden park bench. Coppellia (the ice cream place) still has a huge line of locals waiting in front of it. I am told that foreigners get to cut to the front of the line, which is probably enough “privilege” that I won’t do it. The architecture is still gorgeous, whether in ruin or newly repaired. Many of the homes are still divided into multiple apartments. Laundry still hangs on otherwise classy looking balconies. Old cars have now become the byword of Havana, and it was unusual to see a car with fewer than 6 riders- people here share rides. I haven’t spotted a “camel” bus yet, and the Metrobus fleet has a bunch of relatively modern looking “double” buses. People were out walking on Sunday afternoon. Nancy, an epidemiologist from NEOUCOM with who we shared a ride on the way in, noticed few children on the road on the way in; I found them all wandering around down the Malecon, laughing and playing clapping games and flirting (the 13 and 14 y/o kids in particular) and making fun of each other. Cubans seem to be very upbeat folk, at least on a Sunday afternoon when the sun is shining. Many pedicabs- all trying to get me to take a ride to a house somewhere where I could get “comida typica”, a typical Cuban meal. Apparently many Cubans have converted their homes into restaurants, as a way of augmenting income.
I found the restaurant (but didn’t write down the name), a well lit house on a street corner and went in for a 4 cheese pizza (OK) and mango juice (excellent), while reading the NY Times. Cost CUC 8 (About $10) Fed, I went back the hotel, where my room was ready. Nice digs, on the 4th floor, looking inward on the Courtyard with a view of the ocean. Air conditioned, a bit must smelling, with a Television and electrical outlets just like home. I put a bit of Chant on my computer, and took a nap, which proved to be a really good idea. When I woke, Valerie called from her third floor room, and we met in the lobby to go to the opening ceremonies over at the Havana Libre (a more modern hotel about 7 blocks away) I think that I will write about the opening in the other blog, but there were a lot of people there, and we did have a lovely flute interlude by Nunca Gonzales Nunez, an audio clip of which may embedded here, if I can figure out how to do it. Afterward, we wandered to a Restaurant called El Conejito, which really did had a lot of rabbit on the menu. We ate with two intensivists from Pennsylvania, who were here because a friend from Swaziland invited them to come, (and then couldn’t make it themselves). I had a pork dish with ice cream for dessert , beer and Café Cubano, for about CUC 12 ($15), which was good but not great, and went home happy and sleep. Took lots of pictures today. Not sure how that will go tomorrow.