Cashless in Cuba

All of us have (or need to have) a bucket list.  It doesn’t have to be all that long and it doesn’t even have to be exotic or impossible.  But it needs to be things that make you happy.  I’ll bet that no two people on earth share the same bucket list.  For Myrtle, it is foreign cities and countries.  For many years Tokyo was at the top of her bucket list and she knew she would be so disappointed if she died without being there (as if she’d know or care, the day she swaps the temporary for the eternal).  Tokyo was wonderful and lived up to all of Myrtle’s expectations.  It may come as a surprise then, that Havana was second on the list as there are probably no two cities so far removed, not only geographically.  Tony was less excited about the upcoming “striking out of Myrtle’s top bucket list item” but, good husband that he is, indulged Myrtle while at the same time gently convincing her that four days in Havana is more than enough – no need for a whole week.

Tony is a clever Turtle and he was absolutely right.  Not that Havana did not live up to Myrtle’s expectations – she is finding it uncharacteristically difficult to describe.  Until she is able to arrange her impressions into understandable sentences, she will jot down words that came to mind as the Turtles were walking down the streets, alleyways, squares and parks:

·         Lively

·         Smelly

·         Unashamedly free of hang-ups

·         Loud

·         Tight clothes

·         Loads of muffin-tops, exhibited without a trace of embarrassment (in Afrikaans: die spul peul uit hulle klere uit, skaamteloos!)

·         Unimaginative food: pork (dry), rice (often hard), corn (the canned version).  More pork, rice and corn.  Sometimes a piece of chicken and if you are really lucky, cooked, previously frozen beans and, yep, corn.  Vegetarians, beware!

·         Energy

·         Openness

·         Poor

·         Hot

·         Cigars – many different kinds, and somewhat like the women here: some are tall and skinny, others are short and stout, but always hot and smokin’!  (This was Tony’s contribution to the blog entry…)

·         Rum – brown, slow and sweet, like the men…but it’s got a quick roundhouse kick that can take you off your feet in an instant

·         Old-world charm with a strange Spanish-Communist vibe

However, the Turtles should still have come to Cuba a little better prepared.  Flying by the seat of your pants can get you into serious trouble.  And so the Turtles are cashless in Havana…  Tony’s credit card is useless – first of all because the hotel is the only establishment in this fine city that accepts credit cards. Also, the three ATMs in Havana, where you have to stand in line for the privilege of drawing your own money, don’t accept US banks’ credit cards.  Tony’s bank accounts are with the esteemed Citibank – absolutely no use to the Turtles here in Cuba.  Myrtle, on the other hand, has no links to US banks.  Excitedly she produced her red and yellow DBS savings account card (the card with which she has drawn small amounts of cash in countless countries…) and falls in line.  In the meantime Tiny fell asleep on Tony’s shoulder and Tony set off to a café to sit down with her.  After twenty minutes of waiting Myrtle’s turn to draw money finally arrived.  She inserted her card with confidence, punched her secret code in and stared at the screen.  After inputting the amount required, the ATM suddenly lost all desire to assist and a message flicked on the screen: “Transaction denied”.  No sign of the card. Luckily there is a security guard managing the traffic to and from the ATM machines and Myrtle explained to him, with many signs and grunts, that the machine swallowed her card.  She then turned around and stood, with arms folded across her chest, in front of the ATM. No fraudster is going to leave with her card, at least not without a fight!

Ten minutes passed and no card.  Another five minutes passed and still no card.  Myrtle knew that Tony would be worried but he wouldn’t move with a Tiny Turtle sleeping on his shoulder.  There was no way to let him know what happened as Myrtle did not have her phone with her.  So she hoped he would stay calm and not search the streets for her.  At last Myrtle’s card was handed back to her and she was told that only Mastercard and Visa are accepted. Provided they are not linked to a US bank. Unfortunately Myrtle’s credit card, which is a Mastercard and not linked to a US bank, was never used for drawing cash from an ATM, so Myrtle has no idea what the pin number is.  Sigh! The Turtles exchanged their remaining US dollars for cash, at a 10% penalty because it is US currency!  Cashless in Cuba – hold thumbs that our existing money lasts for the next three days!