5 lessons about life, I learnt in Cuba.

by Sudeep Rao (Australia)

Making a local connection Cuba

I recently travelled to Cuba for lessons in Afro-Cuban/Salsa piano. However, what I got was so much more. Here are my top 5 lessons from the magical Caribbean island 1. We don’t like Salsa…we LOVE it! To say Cubans love their music and dance is an understatement. I have never experienced a culture where music is so entrenched in every facet of life. Music is everywhere. It seems like every Cuban has some innate ability to sing, dance and play a musical instrument, or sometimes all three at the same time. You can’t walk 10 meters in Havana without your visual or auditory senses being stimulated. I happened in Cuba during the recent tragic plane accident that claimed 100 lives. For 3 days, there was no live music or dancing in Havana. It felt like the city lost its soul. Then on the evening of the 3rd day, I heard the wonderful sound of congas break the fast, and Havana was alive again. 2. The best thing about Cuba, is the Cubans. The only way to do Cuba is to stay at family owned and run Casa Particulares. I stayed with a lovely young family, basically renting their spare bedroom, living and discovering the city like a local. Breakfast was a time for chatting and sharing. They are surprisingly open about their views the on the pros and cons of living in Cuba. I learnt how to use the local buses and “collectivos” taxi system to get to my daily piano lessons! Living and traveling this way really does give you an authentic taste of how the locals live. Doing this allowed me to have many interesting encounters with locals. Often they thought I was Cuban, unfortunately my lack of Spanish and think Australian accent gave it away. Yes there were times I was a little bit on edge as I was carrying more cash on this trip than I usually do (ATMs can be dodgy) but I never once felt unsafe or threatened in Havana despite walking through some pretty dark dusty streets retreating from salsa clubs at 3am! 3. Its kinda like India. In a way, Havana reminds me of Mumbai. It has some parts that are really dirty, and other parts that are really stunning. The Malecon is like Marine Drive, along the ocean where all the locals come out to get away from the hustle and bustle, to chill. There is definitely a lot of poverty in Cuba in general, and some areas in Havana which would classify as “slums”. And like India, while nothing seems to work, it all comes together in the end. I am under no illusions that Cuba is a tough place to live. Despite the free health, education and subsidised food, the average Cuban can really struggle to live, and hustles like hell to stay afloat. The black market is thriving and nearly everyone on the island is in on it. Out of necessity not choice. It’s humbling and sobering to see, coming from a country that has so much. 4. Rice and beans OR beans and rice! That’s what I was told would be my options for food as a vegetarian. But I was pleasantly surprised, Cuban food isn’t half as bad as I expected it to be. And there was a pretty decent selection of vegetarian dishes to choose from, including pastas, veg paellas, fried plantains and I even found a vegan burger to satisfy my palette. Oh and of course there’s rice and beans, and it was tasty! 5. Would you like some rum with your rum? I now realise that the only way to drink a mojito is with the rum on the side. When bartenders prepare your cocktail, they often leave the bottle of rum on the table for you to free pour to your hearts content. It’s actually not as easy as it looks. I ruined many cocktails by overestimating my tolerance for Havana Club. Needless to say I loved it. Go and learn music. Go and learn dance. Go and learn Spanish. Most of all, go there and learn how to be Cuban. It will change the way you look at life.