Plaza de San Francisco, Havana, Cuba

Looking for a cheap place to eat, we venture into

Centro Habana, a rougher version of Old Havana.

 

During my meal I wander off to the ladies and say

hello to the Cuban woman outside, who I assume is the

toilet attendant. I tip her as is normal but she looks

at me quizzically. 'Don't you want it?' I ask thinking

that maybe I've offended her. 'Well, ok' she replies

taking the money and hugging me. I realise my mistake.

She's not the toilet attendant after all and I've

given money to a random person.

 

Mumbling something about a disco down the road, she

tries to drag me out of the restaurant. I tell her I'm

with my friend and she promptly walks over to the

table and sits down. Shortly afterwards her boyfriend

joins us and tries to persuade us to go to a club down

the road. When we decline, she leans over and asks

slightly aggressively if we'll buy them both a drink

but not here as the mojitos are apparently bad.

Feeling I'm getting in deeper into something I don't

feel good about (Al has no clue as to what's going on

and is blissfully unaware of my toilet encounter) I

agree to buy them a drink at the bar we're in. They

insist on going elsewhere but I'm feeling

uncomfortable at this stage and refuse. After a few

minutes of unpleasant wrangling, they order beers and

as soon as they arrive take off into the night.

 

Later I discover from others that this is not such an

unusual situation. Quite often Cubans 'befriend'

tourists. It's difficult to know whether they're just

being friendly or out for the free drinks.

 

(Photo - Plaza de San Fransico, Havana)

Done