The old city of Havana is the UNICEF protected historic monument, but the heat and humidity has ruined it. In Havana, you can see the beautiful buildings, but when you walk through narrow streets, every twentieth building is falling apart (I’m not exaggerating) and it is impossible to live in it because there is no roof. While going through these streets it is best not to take out your camera and show that you are tourist. Forget about the cuban hospitality that you can see in commercials. Hospitality is when you are kind and do not seek anything in return. I took off my ID bracelet from the hotel they put on your arm as proof that you are on "all inclusive".. I had to do it, because the bracelet is a sure sign for aggressive Cuban crooks that we are their target. My wife (my girlfriend then, but at the end of that day in Havana became my fiancée) looks like a Cuban, so when we corrected a few things we could move more easily. If some annoying guy approached us and tried to speak with us in English, I started to talk in Serbian, and then he give up. No communication - no money. In Havana, the Serbian language is much more useful than English. I thought that I will have more photos from Havana, but in some places it was really too big of a risk to have the camera, because we walked down some streets where tourists rarely went. We ran into a small parade with music. The locals were relaxed and played drums as the procession moved slowly. The people watched from the balcony and girls were shaking in the Caribbean way. On the highways, we could see people lining the road hitchiking. Cuba even has a law for people who are working in some "important" places. They are dressed in a khaki colored suit and you are obliged to stop and give them a lift. There are so many, I do not know how the others get a ride.
By Nenad Ciric, 2010
Stari grad Havana je Unicefom zasticen istorijski spomenik, ali ga Kubanci slabo stite od propadanja ... godine, vrucina i vlaga rade svoje. U Havani se stvarno mogu videti predivne gradjevine, ali kada hodas uskim ulicama sa lepim zgradama u nizu, svaka dvadeseta je polusrusena (ne preterujem) i ne moze se u njoj ziveti jer nema ni krova. Dok prolazis tim ulicama ne dao ti bog da izvadis fotoaparat i slikas jer ce poceti zicanje, neprirodna ljubaznost uz ocekivanje tipa, ili jos gore, neprijatni, negostoljubivi pogledi. Zaboravi na onu cubansku gostoprimljivost koju vidis na TV-u. Prava ljubaznost i gostoprimljivost je kada ne trazis nista zauzvrat. Ja sam skinuo svoju narukvicu koju ti prilikom cekiranja u hotelu stave kao dokaz da si na "all inclusive". Mogao sam to da uradim jer mogu tako da iskrivim palceve i provucem narukvicu. Hudini je morao da polomi svoje palceve da bi mogao da izvodi trikove sa okovima, a ja sam rodjen takav falican. Morao sam to da uradim, jer je narukvica siguran znak za nasrtljive, preljubazne kubanske prevarante da pocnu sa svojim trikovima za izmamljivanje para. Moja zena (tada jos uvek verenica, mada do kraja dana u Havani postala je zarucnica) inace lici na Kubanku, tako da kad smo te neke stvari korigovali, mogli smo lakse da se krecemo. Kad bi nam neko uporan prisao i poceo na engleskom, ja mu ga lepo smirenim tonom iznakrshim majke na srpskom, tako da on shvati da ne moze nista i odustane. Nema komunikacije - nema para. Stvarno, u Havani, srpski jezik je mnogo korisniji od engleskog. Mislio sam da cu vise fotografija da imam iz Havane, ali na nekom mestima je stvarno bio preveliki rizik izvaditi fotoaparat, posto smo se setali i ulicama gde turisti slabo zalaze. Tako smo naleteli na jednu malu paradu sa muzikom. Lokalci su opusteno igrali uz bubnjeve i povorka se polako kretala, ljudi gledali sa balkona a zenske mesale na karipski nacin. Kada smo se vracali iz Havane, svuda usput, kao i kao i u dolasku, mogli smo da vidimo nacickane ljude pored puta kako autostopiraju. Cuba cak ima zakon da za neke ljude koji rade na nekim “vaznim” mestima, kada su obuceni u odelo kaki boje, duzan si da stanes i povezes ih. Takvih ima dosta, ne znam kako ostali uopste dodju na red.
Zapisao Nenad Ciric godine 2010.
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