Slow dial-up access is $4.50 an hour at government-sanctioned locations, but you can’t use your laptop. It goes up to $10 an hour for high speed in five-star hotels where there is no actual workspace and people have to balance their computers precariously on their knees. But you can submit documents for printed materials for 50 cents per page.
So getting my escape ticket to Medellin, Columbia, where they have free wi-fi everywhere, rivaled a Charlie Chaplin movie. It took two days to find a site to book the ticket. The reservation was confirmed, but for some reason they couldn’t process the credit card details. Very good, too, since I had managed to book another ticket. I didn’t confirm the first one within 24 hours, so it was cancelled.
The confirmation was sent to my email address and I had to go to the hotel to get it printed out. Good. The address was the longest I had ever seen and I made a mistake so I had to ask the woman who worked there to write it down for me.
With my confirmed ticket in my warm little hand I felt more secure and protected. But this was Cuba and one can never take anything for granted.
For example, when I arrived at Cubana de AviaciĆ³n (CDA), after a 24-hour delay in Madrid, none of my bags appeared on the conveyor belt. There was a group of about 25 people all yelling and shoving and shoving some poor official huddled behind a glass wall trying to settle claims. I wonder if he got hazard pay since Latinos don’t mince words.
A European who spoke Spanish told me that since the flight had doubled, they had arranged another plane that would go via Caracas. Since it was a longer flight, the CDA people had convinced several passengers, including her and her partner, to take that route because it was “safer.” The suitcases did not make the connection flight so they were in Venezuela.
Late the next morning, the private house where I was staying received a call saying that my bags were at the airport. They were dirty and covered in some kind of white powder. But at least they were in Havana. It took three hours and a $30 cab fare to get them back.
The next task was to find an Air B&B type of accommodation in Medellin. After waiting for an hour, there are only four computers available and one has to wait, I gave up because it was so slow. I decided to look for a hotel near the airport to spend the first night and organize something in the city center via wi-fi.
Cuba is a charming country, oozing old world charm. In 1978 I was there on vacation, with my Canadian passport, and many things have remained the same. The villas, however, are in need of even more repairs, the old cars are still running, they are held together with wire and a bit of gum.
The contradiction of introducing 21st century technology will definitely change that. The best or the worst is yet to be decided. And with the Americans at the helm, I have my reservations about how the situation will play out.