This morning's shower was much more "refreshing" than yesterday's. Morning runs make the cool shower temperatures more bearable. I plugged my converter into the radio in the room and found a wonderful channel of 1950's Cuban instrumental music. The first song was "It's a heart break."
The first stop of the day was Jaimanitas on the West side of Havana where the mosaic artist Jose Fuster began covering his home with pieces of tiles. His neighbors enjoyed his art so much that most of the neighboring street and homes have been covered with his mosaics.
On the way to Old Havana we passed where some Cubans think Fidel lives. Their only information comes from stories passed down from families that now live in Miami. They call it Zero. He lives in hiding due to death threats. No one knows for sure how many children he has or what his wife looks like.
A walking tour of old Havana was next on the menu. I was skeptical as usual, but our guide was an architect helping to rebuild structures. It truly was an interesting and informative. Like Zarely, he was open for any questions. The tour was less fluffy and more practical. He described the situation perfectly, "It's complicated." The city of Havana has a population of 2 million. Old Havana was made to house 20,000 people, but currently 70,000 live there. During the revolution, there was no money available to maintain or build additional housing for the increase in population. Similar to other parts of the world, it is normal to have 3 generations of families living together. As families grew without space to live, they created what's called BBQ in their homes. Most places have tall ceilings so they added lofts. Because heat rises, the loft were extremely hot, hence the name. Most of these buildings were 3 stories originally, but now have 4 floors from individuals adding on. Traditionally the first floor was for retail, the second had bars on the windows where the slaves were housed, and the top floor would be the owners.
The complicated part is that the Cuban government owns the land, the structures are common space, and the families own the rooms. As the buildings began to decay families improvised. Now with money coming from tourism since the 1990's, restoration is beginning to take place. The problem is that the buildings made to hold 15 families, now hold 25 or more. So how do you restore a building without kicking families out of there home? As of now all the owners must come together and agree on who will be displaced to the out skirts of town and who will stay. Until that happens, the building will not be restored. Some of course want to stay in the city due to location. They also want to stay in hopes that an American company will one day be able to buy their building and they will be rich. Newly remodeled buildings include codes and restrictions. Because the building is a common space, no one is in charge of the upkeep. So for example if the roof leaks, the person that is affected must fix it. See, it's complicated. On top of that, supplies for restoration are hard to come by due to the US embargo. If a ship from any country delivers supplies to Cuba, that ship is not allowed to come to the US for 6 months. This obliviously discourages other countries from doing business with Cuba.
After lunch the tour disbursed and we walked the street of Old Havana. The food here is better than expected. Grilled shrimp with thinly sliced and grilled charred beets and okra with banana chips. The Plaza de Arms was one of my favorites. Vendors lined the square selling vintage Cuban items. Old books, lapel pins, stamps, jewelry, coins. One of the most interesting pieces we found were a stack of 1950's receipts from the Bacardi Rum company before they left Cuba. The plaza is along the water front with a 16th century castle and a mote that guards the oldest military construction in Havana. There's a large tree in front of El Templete that is now dead. Slaves were drawn there because of its similarity to a tree in Africa. They would make a wish and circle the trunk 3 times before leaving a coin. A ceremony took place last night where people wait in long lines to commemorate the ritual.
Our meeting place for the evening was at the Cathedral Square. Our plan was to wait for the 9pm cannon ceremony, but it was rained out. The firing of a single cannon used to be a sign that the city gates were closing for safety. It began to rain and we took shelter in the cathedral. A choir began for the start of Sunday Mass.
Due to the weather Zarelys took us to FAC, a contemporary art museum/bar. It's the place to be for the younger generation. The building was an old oil factory converted to 3 levels for art, bars, and music. It was refreshing to see art without restrictions.
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| Jose Fustier |
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| Construction issues |
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| Cathedral |
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| El Templete Tree |
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