Is Havana Ready For Americans?
Havana, well Cuba in general, has been closed off to Americans for a while…decades. Year after year countries in Europe, South America, etc. have been able to enjoy Havana as a vacation destination. Tension with Fidel and the U.S. government resulted in Americans not being able to come over, per United States law. As an avid traveler, I say…Havana is not yet ready for an influx of American travelers. I will be fair and say that there is a lot of construction going on, so Cubans know the tourism industry is coming; give it about 5 years.
Airport
The airport is the first thing you encounter when arriving to your destination. This building alone needs upgrades and more staff to handle its clientele. There are 4 lines that get you through the baggage part of customs. It takes hours; it literally took my partner 2 hours to get one checked bag. To give them the benefit of the doubt, there is tons of unloading that has to be done. If you could only see the amount of goods people bring over. I saw everything from food, tires, TVs, A/C units, etc. There should definitely be more baggage claim carousels and more customs checks (yes, you have to go through another line to check your checked bags at customs before you can exit the airport…and it was 2 of those lines available). There are also not enough lines to exchange currency. I counted 4 lines outside of the terminal, none within the terminal (when you exit). USD is the only currency that gets taxed. So even though USD has the same rate as CUC, dollars lose some of its value. For every 100 USD, you get 87 USD, unless you want to chance it on the streets exchanging with the locals. But on a good note, there are plenty of taxis waiting to take you into the city.
Transportation
Yes, there are plenty of the old school Ford’s and Chevy’s that Detroit loved to turn out in the 1950s-1970s, but at what cost? The pollution in this city can easily sit up there with several cities in China. If you have asthma…I ask you to caution the amount of time you spend outside and to keep your pump near. A handkerchief or mask wouldn’t be a bad thing to pack in your carry on. Most of the transportation around here is done via taxis, scooters, bikes or the overly crowded bus. I opted to walk. I stayed near Calle 23, so the walk to old Havana took me about 25-30minutes. Sometimes the negotiations with taxi drivers aren’t worth the hassle. In the order of the most expensive taxis to the least expensive: yellow taxis, old school Detroit manufactured cars, regular cars, scooter taxis, bike taxis, hitchhiking a ride with a local for about 1 CUC (not a certified taxi, no taxi sticker in window). Regardless of how you get around, you cannot escape the pollution.
Housing
I can surely cut Havana some slack here. You can’t judge a book by its cover. The outside of the buildings aren’t always a pretty site, but the insides can be desirable. I opted to stay in an AirBNB. It was a spacious and cozy 2 bedroom, 1 bath, kitchen and living area for $89 a night. Yes there is hot water here and it works. Like most parts of the world, I wouldn’t suggest putting a lot down the toilets; I learned that in South American and African countries. Their drainage systems can’t handle the load that America’s can. I’ve been told that the hotels are fine, but expensive. They can be upgraded to match American standards, but they’re working with what they have. As I mentioned before with the construction, I did see several hotels getting built in Old Havana. They are going as fast as they can.
Food
Dear Havana, I know that you don’t want to be Americanized, but could you allow one fast food chain in? Havana has a lot of café’s and restaurants, but fast food would be lovely for on-the-go times. Breakfast bakeries would be nice too. True, in America we have a go-go-go mentality and tend to eat a lot of our meals on the run. A grab-and-go place would do Americans wonders in Havana. The quality of the food is good though. Of course they have their own way of seasoning things, which is fine. I realistically don’t think they would have enough food if the influx of Americans that I spoke about earlier, did show. The looks you get when you want 2 orders for yourself are hilarious. They double check with you to see if you realize that you want 2 for you. Yes…I do. I understand that everything has to be imported because Cuba is its own island-country, but their port would need more action than it’s getting now. And yes, still drink bottle water please. It’s completely safer than Flint, Michigan’s water, but we’ve been warned not to chance it.
Technology
I am warning you now! American cellar companies do not have any deal with Cubacel. I have T-Mobile and I received a text that said, “Data is $2/MB + tax, Talk $2/min, $.50/text.” That’s utterly ridiculous; considering that I’m someone who has an international plan. The SIM cards you get in Cuba are about the same. If you are always connected to internet and need WiFi…RUN! Never mind that laptops and computers are rare, that the high tech smart phones that we have in America are almost nonexistent. You have to buy a WiFi card, and then visit certain areas in the city to connect to it. It’s like the old school days where you pay by the hour. And even then, the WiFi is slow like DSL. I couldn’t even find a WiFi card because they were always sold out. Netflix, forget it, Spotify/YouTube Red…nope! Facebook…please, not unless you wouldn’t be frustrated by how long it would take the page to load. I wouldn’t even want to know how long it would take a video to upload. You may want to tell your colleagues that you won’t be able to check your email for a few days; at least not efficiently. There are literally WiFi parks where crowds of people are just sitting down on their phones. I foresee this being one of the biggest issues for American travelers. No Snap Chatting here.
Language
Please have a translator ready, with all hopes that you downloaded the offline version. I thoroughly understand why Spanish would be the only language they would need to know how to speak. Americans tend to be proud of only knowing English. Yes, two years of a foreign language is pushed in high school, but to be honest, most of us feel that English rules the world, so why bother. Even I tend to get around the world playing charades. Knowing Spanish in Cuba would help tremendously because English isn’t something you’ll encounter a lot here. Some of the touristy areas are trying, but it leaves a lot of be desired. It’s not right for someone to come in and tell natives that they should try to pick up a foreign language, but it could really be a power play if they did.
Colorism
The people here are beautiful. The mix of Spanish culture with African culture has birth wonderful sounds, delicious food and generations of people who are easy on the eyes. But observations have lead me to believe that a lot of Cubans would be in shock if our melting pot of a country came over to Cuba…specifically speaking of brown skinned Americans. I look like a Cuban, even though I have no Cuban roots. I am brown skinned with wavy hair. The guys tended to shower me with air kisses as they spoke line after line to me in Spanish. The women on the street smiled at me like I was a neighbor they’ve seen every day. The restaurants didn’t offer me a menu as I passed; the taxi drivers didn’t yell “need taxi?” as I walked by. I was being treated like a local. No objection to that, I get it. I would literally have to go up to a host and ask for a menu. The looks on their faces when they realized I didn’t speak Spanish were bewildering, as they then proceeded to ask me where I was from while welcoming me in. I would have to walk up to a taxi driver and show him on my MAPS.ME where I was trying to go. As he couldn’t comprehend what an American, brown skinned American at that was doing over here, how could I afford it? It’s only been about a year that Americans have been able to get a Visa to Cuba…and I’m aware that this isn’t the first destination a lot of brown skinned Americans would think to go. I’m taking an educated guess in saying that brown skin Cubans, don’t offer other brown skinned people touristy things like they do for the pale skinned travelers, because the Cubans think we’re just another Cuban that can’t afford it. Yes, Cuba is still one of the poorer countries of the world, so why waste their time in even asking? But they will have to come with open minds. The population of brown skinned non-Spanish speaking people is vaster than Cubans could possibly imagine. And we’re not all famous by the way.
But I will say this; you must come and support their Cigar industry. I don’t smoke, but nothing says “thank you” to a business partner, or even potential client, than handing them an authentic, straight from Havana, Cuban cigar. I went with the Cohiba brand myself. Just make sure that the proper stickers are attached to the packaging via U.S. customs regulations. You’ve been educated…enjoy!