Staying in Placetas

After several hours of driving through central Cuba dropping off our Cuban friends at their homes around the region, we finally arrived in Placetas, where we were hosted by the pastor (and camp director).  He spoke good English and shared a lot about his community.  I was most excited about this part of the visit because we would not be isolated at a camp, but in a town where I could get some idea of what life was like for the people of Cuba. 

Our hosts lived in this building.  They explained that it was once a residence for a single family (before the Revolution).  The father has been a pharmacist (I think) and had a shop on the side of the residence.  After the revolution, the building was subdivided into multiple residences including the apartment of our hosts (I'm guessing maybe 7 or 8, but it was hard to tell).  The daughter of this family (now an old lady) lived in one section still and we got to briefly visit her and see what remained of a very elegant old house. 

The entry to our host's apartment was in the aqua section of the building with a very narrow staircase and the flat on the second floor.  The apartment was larger than I expected, stretching across 5 of the 7 windows on the second floor.  The front porches were deep and very standard in all the houses.  I expect these are pretty nice places to sit out and catch a breeze in the shade during the hot summers. 

Kitchen and dining area.  We were talking with our hosts at one point about holiday traditions and I mentioned cookie baking.  I asked if people liked cookies in Cuba.  He noted that most kitchens did not have ovens, so they didn't do a lot of baking.  I looked more closely at the kitchen, and sure enough, no oven.  Just a 2 burner electric hot plate, a rice steamer, and a microwave. I'd have to rethink a lot of my cooking without a stove.  They had a large, modern fridge and freezer though.  I didn't look to see how much food they had in the freezer, but I know with the power outages, they worried about losing food if the power was out too long.  

Day room and utility room.  There was a new washing machine with a clothes line that was out the back window.  This also include a utility sink.

The bathroom was very nice and they had an electric hot water heater, so the shower was hot! I note that most toilets did not have seat covers.  While this might be for cost reasons in public places, it might have been for personal preferences in homes.  This was not something I wanted to ask about (lol).

The living room had a very nice couch set and beautiful Christmas tree.  This was the home of the camp director whose wife had serious decorating skills. Behind the lovely curtains are the common metal shutters without any glass windows.  While the street was not super busy or noisy, there were times you were very aware that there were not glass windows.  In the morning, their neighbor across the street started up his old motorcycle and ran it for a while before heading off for work.  It ran very rough and was loud! You could also hear the horse carts going by (clip-clop).

This was the room where Darcy and I got to stay.  It had a modern air conditioner that worked well.  We were asked to keep the door shut if it was on since the rest of the house was not air conditioned (except for our host's bedroom). We were very comfortable. 

On the balcony outside the living room, they had a solar panel that powered an emergency light in the living room. They also had one off the back utility room that lit the kitchen. 

This is the lady whose family used to own the entire building.  I didn't want to be super obvious in taking pictures of it, but I got a few.  The ceilings were double high (so the second floor of the building had been added in some places to create a whole new level for apartments). In this space, it was just high ceilings. Our neighbor described the place as "Buckingham Palace".  It was like stepping back 60 years in history.  The painted walls, beautiful tile and antique furniture were lovely, but felt very different from our host's apartment just on the other side of the wall. 

She played a few songs for us including How Great Thou Art.  The piano was terribly out of tune, but she played well and from memory. 

This was a peek into one of two bedrooms.  Very fancy.

Pretty Christmas tree.  

Note large picture on the back wall  (see below).

Her father had commissioned this painting for the fire station in town.  After the revolution, the govn't wanted it taken down and moved to a museum in another city.  The fire chief asked her father what he wanted since it was his painting.  He asked for it to be in his house, so the chief gave it to him instead. 

That evening for dinner, our hosts took us out to a nearby restaurant.  During the dinner, it was very evident that the pastor's wife had worked in hospitality.  When we first arrived (we were almost the only diners) she asked if they could turn the blaring music down so we could talk.  The waitress said no.  Then before our food came out, the waitress and chef got in a rather public tiff.  The pastor put his hand on hers to keep her from getting up and telling them how unprofessional that behavior was.  She was all about the professional service (at the camp) and obviously elsewhere too.