Daisy Valera’s Diary

The government sells each Cuban citizen one bread roll a day for 5 cents of a Cuban peso, but the cost of production is really 7 or 8 cents. As an alternative to cut losses while pleasing the population, the accountant proposed to sell bread for 10 cents, and allow people to acquire two rolls.

This is my fourth year in this university science faculty where people from all the provinces of Cuba come to study. Before beginning classes, they informed us that each one of us would be assigned a job related to our specialty when we graduate.

My idea was that belonging to the Young Communist League (UJC) was nothing more than recognition for having done well on exams and participated in all of the activities sponsored by the school. Almost all of us felt flattered.Several days later, though, I asked the teacher not to include me in the entrance process.

When Cubans see a Latino in the street or at a hospital, we see only a student for whom Cuba is doing a favor. In reality, they are people who come from countries with cultures thousands of years old, which could dwarf the little that Cubans have in comparison.

Without having even begun my work life, I already feel the fear that Cubans have due to the circulation of two currencies in my country. My salary as a university graduate in nuclear chemistry will not be over 450 Cuban pesos, equal to 18 CUC (US $22.00), our hard currency.

From the time that we enter elementary school at approximately six or seven years of age, Cuban students encounter two interesting words: “solidarity” and “internationalism.” Nonetheless, our youth still haven’t managed to comprehend the concepts behind them.

All Cuban Universities require students to take philosophy, political economy and civil defense whether you are studying for degrees in the arts or the sciences. The names of the classes would have us suppose that students would receive some very useful knowledge for the world they will be entering as future workers in a socialist society.

It’s very common for Cubans to receive poor service at most stores or eating establishments. To receive halfway decent attention a Cuban must go to places originally designed for tourists, where you must pay in the island’s other currency, the CUCworth a little more than the US dollar and equal to 25 regular pesos known as Moneda Nacional (MN).Considering that the minimum wage in Cuba is 225 pesos MN and the average wage is around 400, there is a large portion of the population that must make do with poor treatment and deteriorated locales.

I’m a Cuban and this means that even without the least interest in joining you arrive at the age of twenty already belonging to a series of mass organizations. You become a member of these organizations without even knowing you’ve become one.

Havana and many of its residents make me feel that I am living in an immense Reggaeton video clip, although I truly have no idea who the singer is; it could be Daddy Yankee, Sean Paul or perhaps a local vocalist like Baby Loren or El Chacal.