Enjoying Cuba

Neuva Gerona

In many ways, as I soon discover, this turns out to be a blessing in disguise. I arrive in Neuva Gerona the first week of November, weave my way up the Rio Las Casas, pass the dry docked Soviet-built hydrofoils, and tie up to the commercial ferry dock. I undergo the most formal clearance procedures since arriving at Marina Hemingway. Fortunately, once away from the heavily guarded dock, I find the townspeople very informal and friendly. 


The next day I locate the central telephone office in order to place a call to Seattle. Over the past three years I have had various degrees of success phoning Cuba. The first problem is there are not many phones in Cuba. The second problem is that Cuba stopped most direct phone service to the United States in February 1999. This came about after a Brothers to the Rescue plane was shot down by Cuban Migs in 1996. In a US Court, families of three of the men have won a $188 million judgment against the Castro government. Now these families want to seize Cuban assets frozen in the United States by the US Trade Embargo. 


While waiting in line, I strike up a conversation with Migdalhia, a thirty-something-year-old dancer, and her cousin, Louisa, who are waiting in line to make a call to relatives on the Cuban mainland. My phone call cost $4 a minute and has to be paid in US dollars; their call will cost about a quarter in Cuban pesos. My Key West credentials are meaningful even here, the underbelly of Cuba, and I soon have an invitation for dinner at the family home. 

Migdalia Migdalia and Louisa


Dinner is a typical Cuban fare of fish, rice, beans, bread and fresh cucumbers. Soon, I am told, there will be a greater variety of vegetables as the seasonal crops ripen. 


The table only seats four, so dinner is served in shifts. The ladies and their guest (me) eat first, the younger children next, and the parents last. 


Migdalia, her sister and her cousin, invite me to attend the open air disco. They proceed to ready themselves. Each in turn takes a bucket of warm water into the bathroom, which has no running water but does have drainage for a shower. When they are finished, I am handed a wash cloth and towel and invited to bathe. Rather than try to explain that I will shower when I return to the boat, I accept their hospitality. 


There appears to be almost an equal number of tourists and Cubans at the disco. Everyone is friendly and Cuban rum flows freely. There isn't much dancing but the live music is much applauded. At the conclusion the ladies walk me back to the boat. They try flirting with the guard to let them in the marina. It doesn't work. They flag down a horse and cart taxi and return home. 


The next morning, Migdalia and Louisa are at the marina by 10:00. They insist on helping me with my shopping. They guide me to the one bank in town that will give me US dollars, charged to my American credit card. When Migdalia has to go to a "closed" dancing rehearsal, Louisa entertains me. I learn that she is a nurse. She works seven 12 hour shifts, then has seven days off. She later borrows my bicycle and disappears for the rest of the day. I must admit that I wondered if I would ever see my bicycle again. I did. As before, I was invited to dinner with the family. 

Mama appears to have a domestic job that she reports to every afternoon. I never did figure out what papa does, but did learn that he rolls cigars as a second job. I have yet to open the package that he sold to me. 

The third day, Migdalia comes to me with two propositions. I, reluctantly, turned down the first one (marriage), but accept the second one. As this is to be my last night here, the ladies would like to prepare a nice dinner for the occasion. Would I please buy the food? And the Rum? I agree and enjoy a very delectable chicken dinner with the extended family that seems to have multiplied for this particular meal. 

I leave with many promises to write. In fact, upon my return to Key West weeks later, I find not one but two letters waiting. It is evident that Migdalia still sees me as her way out of Cuba. 

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