Dale's Questions

Once again I have to thank Dale for the questions he asks that I would otherwise forget to talk about. Notes on a few topics:

-On Taxis
Much like the currency, there are two different types of taxis here as well. Some taxis you see appear to be on the newer side, say from the 90s or so, and might even have air conditioning. These are sure to be CUC taxis, where for instance it might cost you about 4CUC to get to Old Havana (about a 4 mile drive). Then there are the old American cars. These are not strictly taxis in the sense that they won't generally take you exactly where you want to go, but they'll leave you at a main intersection near where you are going (for instance, the other day we took one to the Capitolio, and then walked a few blocks to Chinatown to eat lunch). The insides of the cars are almost completely stripped down (definitely no AC!-here's a picture) and it's an interesting contrast to the gorgeous exterior. So these are the moneda nacional "taxis" that Cubans will take (and us as well). So the ride down to the Capitolio, which was about 3 miles, cost me 10 moneda nacional, or about 0.5 CUC. Granted, with the moneda nacional taxis, it's not private- when you hail one on the side of the road, there might already be people inside, so you have to ask if the taxi is going in the right direction that you want to go, etc. But it's fun and a lot cheaper. In addition to these types of taxis, you can also arrange a ride in a private car (OK, basically you pay to hitchhike)- people driving along a road that see you looking for a taxi will stop. The price of this is generally somewhere in between the other two types of taxis- a 3 mile ride back from Chinatown cost 2 CUC.

-On Cars in General
In terms of owning the cars, it basically seems like a lot of other things in Cuba- you need to know someone. My boyfriend's dad was a taxi driver but for the past 6 months he wasn't able to work; he had water in his lungs, had a tough surgery, and was recovering. He had to sell his car during that period. Now that he's able to work again, he needs a car, but it's nearly impossible to find one that you can afford. Even worse, the people that can sell cars ( I don't know how they can) often take advantage of the situation and squeeze people for every penny that they are worth. That doesn't really answer the question about how Cubans can afford to have one of those cars, but it's what I've been able to find out so far.

-Class Structure
Your choice of career can help you a good deal- although since pretty much everyone is at some level of poor, it won't help that much. It is interesting, though- tourism is one of the best industries to go into, because of the access to foreign currency or CUC, and there are doctors here who have to get side jobs because they aren't paid enough to save lives. And by interesting, I mostly mean sad and frustrating.

-Cuban Press
I also don't read the papers here that often. Pretty much every Cuban says they aren't worth the paper they are written on because it's all propaganda, and from the few articles that I've read, it seems to be true. It's so frustrating for me to see that, so I tend to stay away from reading them or I get too upset.