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Culture Smart / Cultuur Bewust
Cultuur bewust cuba
Cultuur bewust! gidsen bieden meer dan de gebruikelijke informatie over waar men goed kan overnachten, wat men moet zien en hoe men het beste kan reizen. De gidsen worden geschreven voor de reizigers die de waarden en opvattingen willen begrijpen van de mensen die ze ontmoeten. Zij geven de noodzakelijke achtergrondinformatie om uit het verblijf, of het nu voor zaken of plezier is, het beste te halen.
- GenresTravelNonfiction
168 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2006
2 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 16, 2019
This is a pretty good guide. Most of it is pretty accurate, but it kind of emphasizes the good and minimizes the bad. Both sides are presented, which is good. It's just that I feel the authors somewhat skated over the bad.
A few examples. Health care in Cuba is generally described as excellent. Not true. We know of two women recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The doctors said that there was nothing that they could do. It's not just a shortage of medicine, it's a darn near complete absence of medicine. Certainly zero chemotherapy medicines were available to these women.
Another woman was diagnosed with an H. pylori ulcer in her stomach. The standard treatment is two different antibiotics and an acid reducing medicine for two weeks. This woman was given one antibiotic (ampicillin). Her daughter had to go to several pharmacies to obtain the other expensive antibiotic (and pay for it on their Cuban salaries). The acid reducing medicine was not available, period.
Although education is free at all levels, it is very hard to come by at any higher level. We met a young woman that was studying architecture. They had 18 students. Over 4000 had applied. Her dormitory bathroom had rough cement walls and rough cement floor. The toilet had no toilet seat.
The grocery stores for the general public are quite pathetic. They have almost nothing in them. We saw one meat counter total in the several grocery stores we visited. That meat counter had one small block of cheese in it. Nothing else! No meat of any kind! At all! And the prices are just about the same as American prices! On a $400 per year salary! Yes, per YEAR! Not per week. If you love rice and beans, you will be in heaven in Cuba.
The housing buildings have beautiful architecture on the outside, but it is falling apart. The govt is responsible for the upkeep of the outsides of the buildings, and it's clear that they do almost no work in that department.
However, the govt people have very nice housing, good food (including meat), and access to medicines. That's really the rub and it's not described in this book.
Don't get me wrong. I am not criticizing the general populace of Cuba. They are people much like anywhere else. They are friendly and helpful. They are generally very good people. It's the govt that I am criticizing. Seeing govt people live very well and the general populace living quite poorly was difficult for me. I will not go back unless Cuba changes substantially.
If you go to Cuba, I would suggest trying to find a private tour guide who will show you the real Cuba. They are currently (April 2019) in the process of cracking down on them, so they may not be available for much longer. Our guide had to be careful about where she said many things to us. Some of her colleagues had been hauled off to the police station to be interrogated, one overnight. The govt tours show you only the good stuff they want you to see and try to make you believe Cuba is heaven. Having seen the real Cuba, I can safely say it is not heaven. It is not hell either, but it is tough to see the huge gulf between the few haves and the many, many have-nots. You will say that gulf exists everywhere, which is true. But it is a much, much larger difference in Cuba and there are a lot more have-nots.
A few examples. Health care in Cuba is generally described as excellent. Not true. We know of two women recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The doctors said that there was nothing that they could do. It's not just a shortage of medicine, it's a darn near complete absence of medicine. Certainly zero chemotherapy medicines were available to these women.
Another woman was diagnosed with an H. pylori ulcer in her stomach. The standard treatment is two different antibiotics and an acid reducing medicine for two weeks. This woman was given one antibiotic (ampicillin). Her daughter had to go to several pharmacies to obtain the other expensive antibiotic (and pay for it on their Cuban salaries). The acid reducing medicine was not available, period.
Although education is free at all levels, it is very hard to come by at any higher level. We met a young woman that was studying architecture. They had 18 students. Over 4000 had applied. Her dormitory bathroom had rough cement walls and rough cement floor. The toilet had no toilet seat.
The grocery stores for the general public are quite pathetic. They have almost nothing in them. We saw one meat counter total in the several grocery stores we visited. That meat counter had one small block of cheese in it. Nothing else! No meat of any kind! At all! And the prices are just about the same as American prices! On a $400 per year salary! Yes, per YEAR! Not per week. If you love rice and beans, you will be in heaven in Cuba.
The housing buildings have beautiful architecture on the outside, but it is falling apart. The govt is responsible for the upkeep of the outsides of the buildings, and it's clear that they do almost no work in that department.
However, the govt people have very nice housing, good food (including meat), and access to medicines. That's really the rub and it's not described in this book.
Don't get me wrong. I am not criticizing the general populace of Cuba. They are people much like anywhere else. They are friendly and helpful. They are generally very good people. It's the govt that I am criticizing. Seeing govt people live very well and the general populace living quite poorly was difficult for me. I will not go back unless Cuba changes substantially.
If you go to Cuba, I would suggest trying to find a private tour guide who will show you the real Cuba. They are currently (April 2019) in the process of cracking down on them, so they may not be available for much longer. Our guide had to be careful about where she said many things to us. Some of her colleagues had been hauled off to the police station to be interrogated, one overnight. The govt tours show you only the good stuff they want you to see and try to make you believe Cuba is heaven. Having seen the real Cuba, I can safely say it is not heaven. It is not hell either, but it is tough to see the huge gulf between the few haves and the many, many have-nots. You will say that gulf exists everywhere, which is true. But it is a much, much larger difference in Cuba and there are a lot more have-nots.
May 28, 2019
Great resource for all things Cuban
September 1, 2019
Good history of Cuba and information on its culture. Since its copyright is 2006, I am concerned it is not accurate on technology or even some cultural information. An update would be great.
January 27, 2013
This is one of several books I've gotten to prepare for our trip to Cuba next month. It was a quick read with lots of good information covering Cuba history, climate, values, customs, culture, finance/economy and communication. It is a bit dated but still a good, general, easy to read resource.
May 23, 2012
Gets to the point, handy info, a great starting point.
December 1, 2016
Nice summary level review of the history, culture and people of Cuba. Very brief but insightful.
April 6, 2017
This was excellent, excellent, excellent. I never heard of the "Culture Smart!" series before, I am going to read them before every trip from now on.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews