Excitement in Havana: Year’s First Rationed Potatoes Arrive

Most of those who got up early today to line up in front of the kiosks under the blue tents in Central Havana’s Trillo Park are elderly.

By Natalia Lopez Moya (14ymedio)

HAVANA TIMES – They crane their necks and look, calculating how long before they reach the counter. The streets are damp after the weekend’s heavy downpours and the water seeps through the soles of their shoes. Most of those who got up early today to line up in front of the kiosks under the blue tents in Central Havana’s Trillo Park are elderly. Their mission: to buy the potatoes that the ration stores are putting on the Cuban capital’s shelves for the first time this year.

In the long line that takes up both sides of the street alongside the park, the topic of conversation is the quality of the product. “I’ve heard they’re rotten,” says a 70-year-old woman who has just gotten in line, “ready for a fight.” She carries a small shopping cart that converts into a chair in case her wait turns out to be a long one. “My daughter sent it to me from the U.S. because she knows that my legs hurt a lot when I stand for a long time.”

On this cool Monday morning, some buyers are wearing jackets, others wear coats. Almost all have bags slung over their shoulders. “They’re selling five pounds per person for 11 pesos and there are two of us in my house,” says a man sporting a Real Madrid shirt. “But it’s been very humid lately and the quality doesn’t look good. This is where you see the effects of the rotten potato plague.”

In spite of complaints about the product’s condition, the overriding feeling among the peope here is one of excitement at seeing the spuds for the first time this year. They know that, once they get them home, they will be able to stretch the daily rice ration and make dishes that have long been absent from Cuban tables such as stuffed potatoes or, to please the grandmother of the family, mashed potatoes topped with a fried egg. Anything beyond that would be dreaming because the quantities available on the rationed market do not allow for much else.

My grandchildren have been waiting days for this moment so I can make them some fries but that would be wasteful,” says another woman waiting in line at Trillo Park. “Today, I’m going to make them what they want but I’m saving the rest for soups and stews because we’ll get more meals out of them that way.”

Local officials have released a district-based distribution schedule and, in turn, each local governing body has its own program based on whose turn it is to buy potatoes on any given day. Customers must check to see if the number of their local ration store matches the number that appears on the kiosk boards. Even if they do, there is no guarantee that the buying process will be easy.

“I got up before dawn because I knew it was going to be wild,” explained Dayron, a young resident of San Rafael Street. He managed to get a spot in line for himself and two neighbors whom he says could not leave their house because, he said, “They are very old.” This morning there is also no shortage of coleros,* street vendors and arguments. In Cuba, the potato has the ability to fill empty plates and encite passions.

Some distance away, in the doorways of Galiano Street, private vendors sell everything from diapers to Bluetooth speakers. Customers can also buy potatoes here without having to wait in line and without all the pushing and shoving. “They’re 150 pesos a pound,” an unlicensed vendor tells an elderly woman who has approached him, drawn by the vision of clean, dry and almost shiny tubers. “If you buy from me, I’ll throw in the bag for free,” the man adds. But the price scares off the woman, who continues on towards nearby Zanja Street.

A young man in extremely white tennis shoes, who is trying to avoid the muddy puddles on the sidewalk caused by the earlier downpour, approaches the vendor and hands him a 1,000-peso bill, then a 500-peso bill. Ten pounds of potatoes are loaded into a transparent nylon bag, its contents clearly visible. As he leaves, heads turn to look, their faces grimacing with envy.

*People others pay to wait in line for them.

Translated by Translating Cuba

Read more from Cuba here on Havana Times.