No es facil - Cuba Vol.1

"You think this photo is nice?" he asks pointing at the picture on my lonely planet guide book. "Yes in a different way as it's showing how..." but he doesn't let me finish.  "This is my reality, every day, and you people think it is nice. Wow!"

My Cuban amigo Antonio is 28 years old and has an 18 month old son. His partner and he broke up even before she found out she was pregnant. "It's normal in Cuba" he says. He sees his son every other day for a few hours. Antonio's mum is a nurse earning 40 CUC a month. His dad who is a doctor left them, and Cuba, for England a while ago providing no support to him or his sister. Familiar story, huh? Antonio said he was studying medicine but had to drop out on the third year. "Was it difficult" I asked. "Nah" he said "Easy, not difficult - but I had to work and earn money.” When I asked his dream he thinks for a second before responding "a good job".

Antonio, his friends, and I go to the beach near Havana. They tell me not to say anything on the queue for the bus. As I look Cuban I can get away with paying the fare for nationals. Cheeky I know. The beach is beautiful. It is surrounded by palm trees and green floral. The sea is green, blue, turquoise and other shades of blue. Waves are continuously hitting the shore one after another creating a haze. The breeze is gently stroking my skin and I'm having a good time. Cubans in general prefer not to speak about politics much but I'm curious so I apprehensively ask their views about the state of affairs in their country. They avoid getting into much detail but say "What was done 60 years or so ago was great, given the conditions, but now at this age we can't live the same way...That's the mistake this government is making."

Then three police officers appear out of the blue. They check Antonio's ID, report it on their walkie talkie and I late find out that they tell him that he should be nice to foreigners: so in this case, to me. Same thing happens to Antonio's amigos after they come back from a dip. “Routine check” as another amigo told me, another day, in a different city when we sat at the same table as he was on.

..

Antonio works at a LGBT friendly bar in Vedado Havana which is owned by a Dutch man. When I go by to say hi and have a drink at the bar he looks a bit distressed. He says "That man is my boss" pointing at the guy who's staring at us. I know from our previous conversations he's not fond of him. I greet the boss gently but he ignores me and just continues staring at Antonio. I feel uneasy and leave shortly after. Later I found out that the boss saw Antonio having food in the kitchen and cut 3 CUC (aka $3) from his daily wage. 3 CUC for a tourist isn’t much - but for a local, in a country where the average wage is 40 CUC, it really is a big deal. Obviously it isn't only about the money - this reaction upset Antonio the most. I secretly tip him that day although I know that will hardly make any difference.

Ps: I used a different name and changed some details for privacy.