CUBA: DAY 5, MORE HAVANA

First stop was a visit to a senior center.  A big yawn, I thought, but not so.  In Cuba, extended families live together.  Children are in school all day, from early morning to late afternoon.  (School includes classroom work, lunch, play time, and fun activities – all with the intent of educating and taking care of the children while the parents are at work.)  While the parents are at work and the children are at school, the seniors get lonely rattling around the apartment by themselves, so the senior centers are places to go to and spend the day.  The centers provide lunch, social activities (games, especially dominos, prevail), quiet conversation, organized activities, exercise and other classes, physical therapy, and medical services.  It was quite nice.  Then we went off to an elementary school where I was impressed that the children all seemed engaged in the current activity and were not running around or being disruptive.

Then we hit one of the highlights:  a lesson in cigar rolling and a chance to sit in a cool courtyard, listen to a wonderful band (yes, I bought the CD) and enjoy what the Cubans call “the grand marriage,” which is a cup of Cuban coffee, a shot of Cuban rum, and a good Cuban cigar.  We were all served coffee, rum, and a cigar (a Cuban Romeo and Juliet, which is a mild cigar) and given a lesson in how to light and smoke a cigar.  I don’t smoke, but I definitely enjoyed smelling the wonderful aroma!  Great fun.

We visited a ballet school and watched a short demonstration and then went to a cemetery which was really interesting.  138 acres large, it has the most wonderful collection of sculptural tombstones.  You could probably wander through there for hours and be engrossed.

Dinner was at a paladar named Café Laurent and was fabulous.  What’s a paladar, you ask?  Well, in Cuba the government owns and runs most everything, and hires most of the population.  Relatively recently, in the last few years, the government has allowed a few private businesses to start up.  One of those are paladars, which are privately owned and run restaurants, operated in the owner’s house or apartment.  So we walked into an apartment building and rode up in a little, tiny, somewhat rickety elevator to the 5^th floor, and walked out into an apartment that looked like a European restaurant.  I highly recommend this place. 

After dinner, my sister and I went clubbing again, this time to the original, world renown Tropicana.  First of all, we had to take a cab because it is aboua 20 minute drive from the hotel and we decided to go in style.  So we rode to the Tropicana in a ’56 Buick convertible, red and white exterior with tuck and roll upholstery.  We also arranged for the driver to pick us up after the show -- driving through Havana at 1:00 AM in the balmy night air was sheer heaven.

Now, for the show.  The Tropicana is an outdoor venue, although it is covered with overhanging trees.  Tickets are very expensive (the $95 price is about equal to 3-month’s wages for the average worker) but the show was more than worth it.  Again, it was a revue of all the dance styles in Cuba and the Cuban dance roots.  The show is 2 hours, non-stop, and I would describe it as a Cuban version of a big Las Vegas show – lots of scantily clad dancing girls with big headdresses and thongs (one number even had the girls wearing big chandeliers!), macho men with bare chests and Cuban-sleeved shirts, about 40 dancers in all, 10 singers, and 15 musicians.  The costumes are very elaborate and high quality, the dancing is top notch, and the singing and music were fab.  And the $95 ticket includes a little plate of munchies and a small bottle of Havana Club rum.  All in all, it really was a great night.  And of course, they were selling CDs in the lobby and, you guessed it, I bought some CDs.  By the time we got back to the hotel and fell into bed, we were both exhausted but felt like at least we were trying our best to squeeze in as much of Cuba as possible.