Cubans are very sociable people

Cubans are very sociable people, do not be surprised by the numerous street compliments (I note, not at all vulgar, but very nice), especially if you are a pretty woman with a friendly attitude. Also for the local it is quite normal to have a non-committal conversation with a stranger on the street, simply because the mood is good or, conversely, sad.
2. Cuba has a very weak education system. In the days of the USSR there was a base of good teachers, who are now completely retired. Schools are taught by former high school students with a low level of knowledge, and many subjects such as biology, geography, chemistry, etc. are united into one subject called “Ciencias naturales”.
3. In Cuba, there is only a free education. To enter any university, you must take three subjects: the history of Cuba, Spanish and mathematics.
4. For citizens of Cuba, any medical care is provided free of charge, this applies to dentistry, which is not at the highest level now, and even services such as abortion.
5. Cuban medicine is considered one of the best in the world. The relatively low cost of treatment attracts numerous foreign patients with severe or rare diseases. Cuba has a reputation not only for the tourist region, but also for a medical hospital with a wide base of specialized hospitals and a huge staff of medical personnel.
6. Cuba regularly supplies its physicians with leasing to the countries of the third world of Africa and Latin America.
7. Cubans are incredibly clean, they try to take a shower in any convenient case, change their clothes at least twice a day and actively use antiperspirant and perfume. To have wet armpits in this hot tropical country is considered indecent and disgusting.
8. I have never seen a more sexual and alluring gait than Cuban girls. This peculiarity is manifested already from about 10 years and continues to 30.
9. Common Cuban brown cane sugar – moist and smells like brag. What does not detract from its merits, but gives even a certain piquancy.
10. Cuba still maintains a system of card purchases, the so-called “Libreta”. The cards allow citizens to purchase essential products in specialized stores, such as rice, beans, butter, milk powder, sugar, etc., at an affordable price. Therefore, nobody suffers from hunger, even with scanty incomes.
11. The average salary of a middle-ranking official is approximately $ 20 per month.
12. Almost all residential Cuban houses, with the exception of a few Havana high-rise buildings, do not have glass. Instead of glazing, wooden or metal blinds are usually used.
13. Cuba does not have a high-speed Internet line. The island enjoys an expensive satellite connection, which delivers Internet to all state institutions, hotels and for private users. Therefore, most Internet connections are modem, and the speed on the dedicated line is not very different from the telephone connection.
14. Access to the Internet for tourists is carried out or in the hotel with public computers, except for a couple of expensive Havana hotels that provide a weak wi-fi connection, or from the post offices, also on the state. computers.
15. In Cuba, private trade in seafood (shrimp, lobster) and beef is prohibited. Although in markets, “from under the floor”, you can buy almost everything and at a normal price.
16. Some products, such as potatoes, beets, carrots, periodically disappear from the shelves for several months in view of the seasonality of their cultivation.
17. Cuba does not have a central hot water supply system. Cubans mostly wash under the cold, although after a day of finding tanks under the sun, it’s hard to call it cold. Some fans of comfort put in houses boilers or speakers.
18. Until quite recently, electric kettles, toasters and grills were officially banned in Cuba in view of the national energy saving.
19. Each Cuban has the right to issue only one SIM card for a mobile phone. And the very cellular communication is very expensive, for a minute of conversation on local sim cards will have to put about a dollar. The mobile operator is one, called Cubacel.
20. The most traditional and favorite Cuban dish is “Congri”, consisting of rice and black beans. Served at the table, as a rule, at least 4-5 times a week with meat, or without it.
21. Also in the Cuban cuisine, a wide application of the banana, various varieties of which are used as dessert, all kinds of variants of chips and just a snack to the main dish, has found wide application.
22. Cuban alcoholism is different from Russian. On the street, it is almost impossible to see a drunken man lying in wet pants, or moving around the wall. Drinking alcohol here goes slowly, and the maximum effect reaches only the level “slightly under the shafa”. There are exceptions to the rules, but they are very rare.
23. Cubans do not like to leave the house during the rain. Often this natural phenomenon becomes an excuse for the absence of work, school, etc.
24. The average cubic on a sunny day does not come out without an umbrella on the street. That in most cases justified, because the umbrella gives at least some kind of shadow and protection in a sultry tropical day.
25. With a rich variety of tropical flora, the land fauna of the largest of the islands of the West Indies is represented by only a few species of winged and all kinds of reptiles and amphibians. From mammals, the species of the insectivorous Cuban splinter, which was recently considered extinct, is known.
26. Cuban central channels broadcast without advertising. The grid is full of educational, popular scientific and musical telecasts, sports broadcasts and novelties of the world cinema, whose copyrights, according to my guesses, simply do not pay attention.
27. Cuba’s favorite sport is baseball. Cuban baseball players are highly valued in the sports world and are often lured by American teams.
28. Cuba has a low crime rate in view of the total non-aggressiveness of the population. But even here it is dangerous to wander at night in poor neighborhoods, lighting the road with an iPhone.
29. The most favorite clothes of Cuban women are denim shorts. On girls you will see short, and on older women – the length to the knee.
30. In Cuba, a rather strange policy regarding contraception. It is believed that condoms should be used only in case of fleeting contacts and only to protect against diseases, and protection with a permanent partner will be perceived as an offensive sign of mistrust. Therefore, the number of abortions reaches an incredible size for such a small country.
31. The Cuban School of Ballet is one of the most respected in the world. People say, “The Russian ballet strikes with skill, the French is emotional and rich in spirit, and the Cuban embodied both.” Alicia Alonso, the world-famous Cuban ballerina, is worth nothing!
32. Cuba is subject to cyclone attacks. There is even such a thing as the “hurricane season”, lasts from September to November and rarely ends tragically, since most funnels pass by or dissolve even in the ocean. The most powerful hurricane of the fifth category of recent years – the “Andrew” of 1992, caused a lot of damage to the western part of the island.
33. During a cyclone (not to be confused with a hurricane, for a cyclone is a torrential and prolonged rain), Cubans sit in a close family circle at home with candles and absorb pre-purchased delicacies in advance. With this approach for most locals, the cyclone is somewhat of an unplanned vacation.
34. The patroness of Cuba is the Virgin Mary, widely depicted sculpture towering above the boat, accommodating three representatives of the island population: conquistadore-Spaniard, Indian and Negro.
35. Cuba’s indigenous population eventually was completely destroyed by the Spanish conquerors.
36. Mixed marriages on the island are not welcome. And the union of a white woman and a black Cuban is condemned to a greater extent than the other way around.
37. Cubans are notorious dog-owners, practically in every house there is one or even several pesikas. Fashion is considered the possession of a thoroughbred dog, preference is given, for unexplained reasons, to the most furry breeds such as Laika and Chau-Chau, as are small chihuahua.
38. Cats here do not particularly indulge and do not keep houses, so feral and unsociable felines live on the street, keep close to dumps and do not fit in with the local appeal of “misu-misu”.
39. Few people know that the main revolutionaries in Cuba were not two, but three. Camilo Cienfuegos, the poet and companion of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, was distinguished for his charisma and love of the people up to his mystical death in a 1959 plane crash that had no confirmed facts of its existence and even the wreckage of the aircraft. After the tragedy Fidel took the reins in his hands, and Che Guevara, according to everyone’s opinion, was forcibly exiled from the country. To date, both dead revolutionaries are revered by the Cubans, and the images of Che Guevara are in great demand among the local population.
40. For the Cuban it’s quite normal after work to conveniently sit on a bench under a tree or on a warm stone of the Havana quay and take a nap. Life goes on here unhurriedly, and it is noticeable in everything.
41. To hammer own cows and bulls on meat here it is forbidden by the law. After the natural death of the animal, it is necessary to declare in the appropriate service, after which the car will arrive and take the carcass. In case of disobedience to the law, the offender waits a criminal penalty, which provides for a long time behind bars.
42. Massive Cubans visit beaches exclusively in the summer, despite the tropical climate and the constant air temperature. Individual individuals bathe in the winter, but this is more likely an exception to the rules.
43. At the age of 15, girls celebrate their birthday with special solemnity, dressing up in the princess’s sumptuous costumes and taking pictures.
44. After the overthrow of the Batista regime, the only officially-owned territory in the United States is part of Guantánamo Province, located on the eastern tip of the island. Guantanamo has a prison for terrorists and international criminals.
45. Several years ago, an epidemic of a deadly disease broke out in Cuba, spread by a normal mosquito. Therefore, local authorities established a special office engaged in fumigation of state institutions and breeding grounds for these insects. Often a person with a smoking pipe in his hand interrupts the work of the whole ministry or movie theater for a couple of hours while the mopping-up takes place.
46. ??Plates with the registration number on the Cuban cars have a different color, depending on the ownership of this or that owner. So state cars are marked in blue, and private cars are marked in yellow.
47. Two national currencies “in Cuba”: the Cuban peso and the convertible peso CUC. The difference is that CUC is used mainly by tourists, easily exchanging dollars or euros for this currency, and the Cuban peso lives in purses of the local population. Almost all shops sell goods for cookies, but there are a number of places, such as public transport or a market where it is better to pay using pesos.
48. Cuba has oil, but due to the unsuccessful location of the deposits, namely in the tourist zone of Varadero beach, it is practically not mined.