Your favorite intrepid gynecologist recently had an opportunity to travel to Havana, Cuba on an officially sanctioned medical research trip. From the time spent learning about the public health system, to family planning access to medical education to various cultural investigations, it was a highly educational week.
While I have the pictures to substantiate the educational claim, there are 24 hours in a day, and I made sure to use every last one of them.
A girl friend of mine, the lovely Miss B. happened to also be in Cuba at the same time, and we met up for mojitos and debriefing at the end of the week in Havana. Cubans are a highly friendly, chatty, caffeinated sort, so despite limited Spanish vocabulary, Miss B. had an excellent adventure to the eastern part of the country while I explored Havana.
Miss B and I have a habit of meeting up in random places and trading tales, many of which seem to involve public transportation and men. The last time we met for martinis, was in Washington DC, and the stories were in no short supply. We swapped the best lines we'd heard, and while Miss B always wins this competition, I try to keep up,just to keep her stories going.
Here's a brief sampling, just to set the tone. These all originate from the U.S
"Girl, you lookin' tastier than a bucket of some KFC!" High praise indeed, coming from a marginally housed individual.
Hollered from passing car, "I am Cuban! I have car!"
And to be fair, after seeing Cuban men, I can attest, you don't really need to know more than that.
"Don't forget-I'm bi, not gay!" Sure, sure you are.
Anyways, those who know the glamorous Miss B will not be suprised to hear that many of her self appointed Cuban tour guides were male. As we traded tales from the week, we agreed on one thing. Maybe it's the hourly espresso, or the intoxicatingly smooth, carmelly anejo rum, but Cubans are shockingly direct. For those cultural anthropologists among you, here's a comparison.
"Papi wants to take you to love motel." Wow. That skips right past Hello, what's your name, what do you do, and gets right to the point.
In the embarassing but true category, it took Miss B to explain to me that the pssssssssst-seeet-pssst noises, were not men calling for lost kitties in the streets of Havana, but that they were in fact trying to attract another type of "cat" their way. That really works? I guess it must.
Loud, wet, kissing noises also followed both of us through the streets, along with a guttural,but heartfelt "Ruuuuuubiaaaa." (translation- "Blooooondie!") This was almost as integral a part of the Cuban soundtrack as covers of the Buena Vista Social club's hit "Camaguey."
My personal favorite however, was the old men with nose hair, wider than they were tall, who would block our passage in the street, throw their arms open wide, give a big nasally "WOW, WOW, WOW" while undulating their beer bellies and giving the once over. Better than a Hallmark card.
On my last day there, I made a quick run to buy matching guayaberas for my brother and nephew. One of the med students, a cool girl from Philly accompanied me. After four years in Havana she's seen it all. She's sassy, cute and has a slightly sour sense of humor, so I liked her immediately.
As we wandered through the scorching streets, whistles and a particular word kept following in our sweaty, frizzy but apparently still lust inducing wake. "Cabeeellllllooooon!"
Hmm. My Spanish is really good, but I didnt know that one. Sort of sounds like head, horse and hair.
I asked A. who was rolling her eyes to explain.
"Oh, yeah. That's a popular one. It means "broodmare." Just a big ol' horse they want a ride on I guess."
I think I could have lived with that remaining lost in translation- I can't imagine many, if any, Americanas finding that flattering, but it certainly put a swing in the Cubanas walk.
