A Week!

I’ve been here a week! So many things have happened, and there are so many more things yet to come. I still can’t connect to the idea that adjusting to my environment goes beyond just getting used to my surroundings, and needs to become an acceptance of Havana as home for the next 3 months. There will come a time when I know where the best places are to do work, what the guagua and almendrón (classic cars that serve as gypsy cabs) routes are, what to do on a Friday night, and what my research is going to consist of. Unfortunately Magda couldn’t make it to last night’s tutor and student cocktail party, so we have yet to figure out when our regular meeting times will be. I’m very hesitant to start conducting interviews on my own, because even though I have a few leads, I don’t even know where to start, so I’m very anxious to begin meeting with her regularly. By leads I mean I have offers from various people- photographers, professors- to introduce me to jineteros and help me out with my research, and I’m also getting a better idea of the kinds of jobs being created by tourism. I’m realizing that as part of my research I want to get a better idea of what exactly Havana was like before the major economic reforms of two years ago, and especially since the more recent ones in November. This is the only Havana I’ve met, so for all I know what I see around me is how this city has always been. Just as an example, I had no idea that the vendedores selling fruit on their bike carts, something totally common in the rest of Latin America, have only started to be seen around the city in the past few months.

Generally I’m feeling pretty unfocused. Informal tourist economies is such a broad topic, and like I said, my work totally depends on who is willing to talk to me and about what and in how much detail. This is the first week of our regular schedule- free mornings and early afternoons and then class in the evenings- and it’s been raining, so I haven’t been able to just walk around and talk to the kinds of people I would want to talk to. I’m also nervous about walking around Havana with a tape recorder, let alone a video camera. Magda did say she’d come with me on such ventures, but like I said, I still have to figure out when we’re meeting. I’ve taken it upon myself to record ambient sounds in the meantime, like waves breaking on the malecón and almendrones revving their engines.