Three days later, there is no sign of that work being done, but it doesn’t really matter to us. This is the least expensive marina in Cuba right now, and we have access to three different swimming pools, a beach and several shops and restaurants in the marina complex. These are more expensive than going into town, but convient.
Veradero, the nearest town, was built mainly to support the tourist industry, and offers mostly tourist shopping and a few decent restaurants. Beyond Veradero is Santa Marta, a typically Cuban town. Sunday is market day in Santa Marta, and were in need of some fresh fuits and veggies.
We took the double decker again, through Veradero to the end of the line, then walked across a bridge into the town. We had to ask for directions once, and the man who helped us made sure we were following him as he turned off the main street and through an opening between two buildings. We entered a large open area where there were trucks filled with pineapples, tables and tarps on the ground with produce spread out, and stands with strings of onions and garlic, sacks of rice and beans available by weight. All of the produce is local, and completely organic, not from any conscious choice to produce food without chemicals, but because they simply do not have access all of the chemical fertilizers and insecticides used in North America. So the fruits and veg do not look perfect, but they are fresh, naturally ripened and chemical free. You get what’s in season, and eat accordingly.
There are two currencies used in Cuba. The CUC is tied directly to the US dollar, and roughly 1:1. All tourist pricing is in CUCs. The locals, however, use the peso, or CUP. There are 24 CUPs to 1 CUC. Restaurants, taxis and tourist shops all have their prices in CUCs. The market, however, is all in CUPs, as this is where the locals shop. So when we asked ‘How much for the yams?’ and were told ‘cinco’ he meant 5 CUPs, not 5 CUCs.
We bought a pineapple, 2 papayas (fruta de bomba), 2 plantains, half a squash, 6 yams, a string of shallots (which I thought were just very small red onions until I got them home), a cabbage, a bunch of carrots and a slab of guava jelly, all for 92 CUPs, or $3.80 CUCs, less than $4 US!
And then there were the meat stalls – open air stands with no refrigeration of any sort, and sides of meat (mostly pork, and something that could have been goat) hanging from the roof or laid out on a wooden counter. It’s a far cry from the sterile butcher counter at your local Publix or Loblaws, and most North Americans are completely put off by these conditions, but the Cubans don’t seem any worse for it. We are told that this is some of the best pork you will ever taste, but as we rarely eat meat these days, it was not our shopping list.
Having said that, we stopped for lunch at Atlantida, a restaurant owned by a Canadian who imports Alberta Black Angus beef and makes fabulous burgers…so we indulged, and they were delicious. After lunch, we took a bicycle taxi back to the bridge. They each have their own distinctive horn, and use them frequently to hail one another as they pass.
Kokomo makes his way on and off the boat easily, and is up to his usual tricks, making friends with everyone who comes by on the dock. Cubans seem to really like cats, and he has had his picture taken by more strangers than I can count, and is learning to pose…as if he needs more help to develop his diva personna!!
No comments:
Post a Comment