We kinda empathised with her because we found the system here so restrictive when it came to how much money one can make or how many businesses you can have. I don't know if I'd do the same thing if I was in Maria's shoes, but i certainly understand why she'd try to take advantages of loopholes in the system.
Anyways it was a pretty tense morning, because the government official was making his way from apartment to apartment to make sure people were not renting out more rooms than they were allowed to . We were stuck in the apartment at the moment for fear of bumping into him in the elevator or on the stairs and anytime the bell rung, everyone would jump up in a panic. The plan was that Louisa would answer the door and lie that Maria was out....apparently he'd have to come back at another time when she was in and couldn't inspect the apartment till then. In the meantime we had to move my stuff into the other rooms and we had to be absolutely quiet when he was at the door.
We had to go out eventually....he seemed to be taking his sweet time making his rounds, because we had been waiting for a while wondering what to do next. One casa particular owner in the building had to rush her mum to the hospital because the mum had a panic attack. That's how scared they are of the government official. The latest update of what was happening and the whereabouts of the official was being relayed by phone from other tenants in the building to each other.
They even had to hide their antennas because they illegally get channels from Florida.
At one point we had to hide in a room and under the beds. Because they heard he was making his way towards their apartment. It was a false alarm. Louisa came to get us and laughed when she saw us hiding. No, no she told us...Vero and Barry dont have to hide, because we have their records its Yinka alone that has to hide next time...great! When she saw the look on my face she was like: its because you look Cuban thats why....i still dont get that...if i looked Cuban it makes more sense that I sit in the living room when the official arrives and act like a friend of the family or something instead of hiding under a bed.
We were rushed out when we had an update again on his whereabouts....Vero and I took the elevator whilst Barry took the stairs. It would look bad if he ran into all 3 of us, because we'd have to explain where we were staying. Me looking like a Cuban would not save us then, because my inability to speak Spanish would be a dead give-away.
We actually had to walk separately for several blocks as per our instructions...in case we were being followed. It seems it happens a lot in this communist style country. There were also inconspicuous cameras all over Habana and i imagine the authorities would see that we've been travelling together if they really wanted to check up on us or Maria's establishment.
We eventually got together and continued doing our touristy stuff. We went to the capitolio building to take pictures with the swarms of tourist there. We skipped going to the art museum after walking all day in the sweltering sun...i think we get the idea when it comes to Cuban art....its all over the place.
Copyright S.Baran
Copyright S.Baran
Jose works part time as a lorry driver and left early this morning on an 8 hour drive to Centifuegos, another province. So far still no sign of the inspector. Maria had to take an anxiety attack pill. I hope we leave before he returns later this week.
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