How Cuba Works, Part 2

Habana: Habana is the capital of the con. Anyone who stops you to talk will end up asking you for dinero, and that bothers me, because people start by building a friendship while the only thing they want is to relieve you of as much cash as possible. One thing you must never say in Habana is that you landed the day before or three days before, or that it's your first time in Cuba... you're done for, you'll never get rid of them, anyone from a kid to an old man. How long have you been in Cuba? A month. First time in Cuba? No, the third. That's it, they politely say goodbye and go looking for fresh meat elsewhere, because they know you already know how Cuba works and so they don't waste time, time is money!

Casas particulares:

you've just arrived in a new city and you're looking for a casa particular for a few days. You ask a shopkeeper whether there are rooms to rent nearby, and the people passing by in the street at that moment hear you and: -- offer to help you look for one -- say that a relative or a friend of theirs has a casa particular -- offer to walk you there because they live right near one (what a coincidence). All, and I stress ALL, the people who accompany you to a casa particular don't do it out of kindness, they do it because they pocket a percentage of the money you pay for your stay, the famous propina; they walk you right up to the house, greet the owner as if he really were a cousin or a friend, pretend to say goodbye, and then secretly go inside to talk to the owner and agree on the cut they're owed because thanks to them he now has customers... and the price goes up...

and the foreigner pays!! Every city and tourist village has casas particulares in abundance, and every one of us is perfectly capable of finding one on our own and to our own liking. Notice how hard it is to shake off the guy or the girl even after repeating several times that you don't need their help; they just won't leave! Why? Because they smell easy money, that's why. Be careful not to be followed too, because the moment you ring the bell, up they pop beside you, smiling at the owner who has just come to open the door for you...

and he pockets your money! If you're in Cuba in low season most of the houses are empty, so you can negotiate the price without difficulty! In every house except in Habana we asked for and got the room for 10 Convertibles a day, which split with my friend makes 5 each! If you can't reach an agreement on the price you go and look for another house, which is not at all hard to find. Casas particulares are recognisable by a green triangle (not blue or red) attached to the door. It's also possible to meet people who, without a licence, ask you to stay at their home for little money; this is a bit risky because it's forbidden: to host tourists you need a licence and to pay a fixed monthly tax to the government, and anyone without a licence can't put a foreigner up for the night.

But it can be very interesting, you live with people who don't deal with tourists as a job, and usually these houses are very poor, but all the shortcomings fade away thanks to the warm, sincere hospitality and the desire to talk, to get to know you and to make friends that's inherent in provincial Cubans. An unforgettable experience.

Jineteros: they're all the ones who help tourists "in trouble" to get things or services, and who then, without the tourist knowing, take a percentage on the job done, which in the end makes it more expensive. What a Cuban earns honestly in a month of work, a jinetero earns in a day (or an hour?) and without even trying that hard! Who are they? They're mostly young and well dressed, they don't work and they live on the street, but it can also be the old man or the kid. How do you recognise them? At first it can be hard to spot jineteros at a glance, but over time (by getting ripped off) you quickly learn to recognise them and to answer "no thanks", or to send them straight to hell. The most obvious are those who come up and directly propose a deal, which might be a taxi, a paladar, a restaurant, girls, houses, cars, etc.

Or, the craftier ones, under the pretext of a chat, start asking you private questions... In practice they want to know whether you need anything at that moment and how long you've been on the island, in order to gauge your experience in dealing with them.

Food: the cheapest place to eat lunch or dinner is a casa particular, where it costs roughly 5 or 7 convertibles negotiable, breakfast 3. Definitely excessive, thinking in pesos. Using the national currency it's possible to spend less than 1 euro a day on food, since the streets are full of stalls and little eateries priced in pesos. For street food the price is always written on a little board hanging up and they never cheat you, same for the restaurants for Cubans. Cans of fizzy drink that cost 1C in tourist bars cost 10p in the little shops, and fruit can be found in markets at rock-bottom prices. Fruit-juice drinks too, even on the street, at 1peso, but watch out because the water is tap water. You need to fill up at breakfast and lunch because in the evening food is scarce and you risk finding very little.

Some prices: pizza from 3 to 5p, bread with cheese 3p, hamburger from 3 to 7p, rice and beans 2.50 - 3p, soup 1.50 - 2p, water in restaurants is free (it's tap water). Worth trying is the sugar-cane juice called guarapo 1p, and pru, a root that lowers blood pressure, about 3p, coffee from 1p to 20 cents (I found a coffee at 15cv!) Going to the barber costs 2p but make sure he said pesos cubanos and not the other peso. Speaking of hygiene... Hygiene is what it is, the same for everyone: adapt or refuse. Tap water should always be boiled; usually in casas particular they boil it and you can refill your water bottle for the day with it, in other areas they don't boil it and it's a lottery. But seasoned travellers always carry their antibodies with them.

The key to getting yourself out of trouble, to negotiating, to having a say in discussions and to getting into Cuban culture is knowing Spanish. Practise it, learn Cuban slang and imitate the accent they speak with: this too is a way to make it clear you're sharp, and they'll avoid trying it.

Here I leave the address of a casa particular in Habana where I stayed and was extremely well looked after, like family:

Watch out at the airport, it's a den of jineteros! Change your euros straight away at the cadecas and don't trust anyone, not even the taxi driver who takes you into the centre and wants to take you to a certain house "that he knows", he's a jinetero too, looking for easy money... And make sure he's turned the meter on!