W/NW Everyday life



In-between monsoon showers everyone rushes-out to have a late afternoon snack. Binh Thanh District, Saigon. November 2020. Fuji X-H1 - XF 1.2/56 R.
 
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Havana, Cuba 2010 - Pepe, a bicycle taxi driver, shows me the contents of his refrigerator, only a bottle of water. I always hesitate to show this photo without context as he is not the model Cuban citizen. In 1980 Pepe was offered the option to remain in jail in Cuba or be put on a boat to the US as part of the Mariel boatlift. But in 1990, Pepe was offered the option to remain in jail in Miami or be deported back to Cuba. He did not want to take me home in his bicycle taxi because it was too hot to work but did ask me for a dollar.

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A series of everyday life in my other hometown of Cueto, Cuba. All photos shot in the month of December 2015. (this is part 1 of 2 parts)

Our local shoe repair man

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Buying bread at our local bakery. Those big loaves cost 7 pesos, equivalent 28 cents

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Unloading rice. Our municipality of 35,000 people goes through 100 boxcars full of rice every year

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Our local barbershop where a haircut is equivalent of 40 cents plus 40 more if you want a shave.

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Our local pharmacy. Prescriptions cost pennies. Everyone goes Thursday morning when they are resupplied but still about half the prescriptions are out stock

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Doctor hitch hiking home after her shift at the local hospital


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The Cuban "peso pizza" which cost 10 pesos or 40 cents (actually not very tasty)


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Our local ice cream parlor. This is a one peso (4 cents) cone

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Buying beans at the local tienda where everything is sold in bulk. You bring your own container. Even though Cuba went metric in 1960, all scales register in pounds as they are older than that.

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Local shoe factory which employs as many as 100 workers when it is open. But it seems to close and then reopen every few years.


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Local train station with people boarding a carahata, a bus / train combination that serves as transportation to communities only served by RR tracks. Cuba has RR tracks everywhere as they are used to transport sugar cane from the fields to the sugar mill.

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One of Cuba's new economic incentives, a private shoe store on a front porch

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thanks for looking at part 1 of 2 parts
 
A series of everyday life in my other hometown of Cueto, Cuba. All photos shot in the month of December 2015. (this is part 2 of 2 parts)

Public poetry reading. The guitar player on the left is Sanchez, a military hero. The woman on the right who is reading the poetry is my wife, Yordanka. She is a published writer and poet.

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I knew Sanchez for years before anyone mentioned he was a real big time military hero. But he showed up at the library in uniform to give a talk.One of the pins on his right vest is a member of the First Order, Cuba's highest military honor. I asked my wife if he probably had Raul Castro's personal phone number. She said yes, but he would never bother him. Besides if Sanchez ever needed anything, word would quickly get to Raul and it would appear.

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Our local gym. Open air and free.

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Buying onions from a street vendor. A bunch cost 5 pesos, equivalent to 20 cents.

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Local farmers market on every Saturday

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Lady with Planchao, the little juice box size of rum. It is made with a little spout to drink from.

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Local dance school exhibition as part of the "day of culture" which is held one Saturday every month

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A local family who saw my camera and asked if I would take their photo

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Our local 21 member band giving a concert one night. Being a band member is a full time job paying the equivalent of $16 a month.

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Our local senior citizens day care center. They love trouncing the American photographer playing dominoes. Really no fair as they play at least weekly for their entire life.


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Young lady who lived with us for several months when she had no where else to go. She's using my wife's 30+ year old Russian washing machine. It's simple, just a watertight tub with a electric motor driven agitator. Like so many Russian things, built simple to last forever.

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Local racing pigeon club preparing for a out of town release to see who gets home first.

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Just a local horseman who stopped by. Saddles and bridles are normally too expensive for most Cubans. So they do without.

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December 24 is my stepdaughters birthday. So she and my stepson couldn't be left out.

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Thanks for looking at part 2 of 2 parts
 
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