After years of chronic transportation woes, Cuba is finally getting some relief. President Raul Castro’s Ministry of Transportation is granting licenses to car owners who want to use their vehicles as taxis. This is big news for lots of Cubans, including city dwellers of Havana, who often have to hitchhike to work every morning. Or stand in lines for buses, then pack in like sardines. People in the countryside or suburbs often wait all day for a bus to pass by.
More Private Cars Can Now be Used as Taxis
The Cuban government stopped issuing taxi licenses in 1999 and car ownership is not common among most citizens of Cuba. To get around, people have to be creative, to say the least. There are taxis, but they don’t cruise around much because that eats up a lot of gas. There are nice taxis, even, but these are for tourists and charge up to $30 for a sweep around Havana. Taxis for Cuban citizens cost about $.50 for a typical common ride.
Buses aren’t even easy to get in Cuba. There just aren’t many. The old buses they use from the Soviet Era. They are hand me downs from East Germany and still have East German cities as their destinations. The government has purchased nice buses from China, but they are used to shuttle tourists around.
Alas, the new taxi licenses allow drivers to ferry Cubans only, not foreigners. But it should help the transportation system in general as Cuba tries to move forward on Raul’s promise to improve daily life for Cuban citizens.
Cuba’s National Ballet Company and the great Alicia Alonso, the 83 year-old General Director, are touring Europe. This company is world-famous for its dancers and performances, and Ms. Alonso was once the hottest ticket on the circuit, in the 1940s. The Company will be performing these ballets, in a tour that ends in Italy on November 15:
Featured dancers are:Viengsay Valdés, Anette Delgado, Sadaise Arencibia, Yolanda Correa, Yanela Piñera, Joel Carreño, Javier Torres, Elier Bourzac, Ernesto Álvarez and Alejandro Virreyes. In 2004, Cuba’s National Ballet Company toured the United States and five dancers defected. It was a painful time for Alicia Alonso, who had trained them for nine years. They ended up with the Cincinnati Ballet, two of them becoming soloists.
Up and coming ballet dancers in Cuba are hand-picked while very young and given free training. Top dancers earn about $50 per month. Stars in the US can earn up to $10,000 for just one gala performance! However, in the US, classic training is extremely expensive, while it’s free in Cuba.
Cuban Pianist Chucho Valdés
July 3, 2009 – Confederation Park, Ottowa. The Chucho Valdés Quintet wowed the crowd at the 2009 Ottowa International Jazz Festival today. The weather had been rainy but miraculously the skies cleared just in time for the pianist and his quartet to wow the crowd with their island rythms. Chucho Valdés is a Grammy winner – five times over.
Vocalist Mayra Caridad Valdez and the rest of the group gained whooping admiration from the crowd as they built the intensity of their music. The played for about an hour and a half, and everyone forgot the rain, the mud, and everything else for that matter. It was all about Valdés, his group, and the fabulous Cuban music they shared with the audience. Encores and standing ovations followed, and the night was capped by a dueling set of gourd shakers. It was a spectacular show and a great night for fans of Cuban music.
Havana, Cuba - $ 29.95
