OYE!!
MUCHACHAAAAA!
¡LLEGÓ EL POLLOOOOO!
Are all the Cubans you know shouters? And do they always crank the music to 11 à la Nigel Tufnel? In your world, is a Cuban whisper an oxymoron? If so, you know that calling Cubans loud is redundant and the ruckus here is a full volume affair.
Labeling this noise pollution is a misnomer since 80% of the time the noise in question is a product of partying, kids screaming at play, antique Chevy’s honking out the Godfather theme, or the neighborhood knife sharpener making his rounds. Steaming beans, whirring blenders, trumpeters practicing in the park – Cuban noise is a life-affirming refrain, a symphony of love, work, and play that’s cacophonous at times, but more soulful and less discordant than planes droning overhead, panicky sirens, migraine-inducing leaf blowers and lawn mowers, and ubiquitous, petulant car alarms.
Even without this modern white noise, it is damn loud here. Some people aren’t down with this. I get it, but personally, I adore it (except when regguetón is involved) since I’m from a fast talking, high volume NY family; I feel right at home with all this bulla. I love that I don’t have to think twice about cranking Queen or audible climaxes (see note 1). Meanwhile, there are other Cuban habits which are highly annoying and chap my ass…
The farmer hanky: I was at a wedding not long ago (see note 2) and while I was smoking my cigar in the patio, another guest used a farmer hanky from the balcony above. For those unfamiliar with the practice, a farmer hanky is when you close off one nostril with a strategically placed finger, cock your head to the side and let the snot fly. With the wind, hopefully. I understand the Special Period and its aftermath made toilet paper a luxury item, but in public, at a wedding, you need to do this? How about a cloth handkerchief, which are all the rage down here? I do know one thing: that guy and I were both lucky he didn’t peg me with his snot rocket.
Barging in: After a decade here, I still don’t get the compunction to burst through a closed door without knocking. It doesn’t matter if it’s a boudoir, baño, or office: Cubans are loathe to knock. As you may imagine (and if you’ve spent any amount of time here, you don’t need to imagine this indignity, you’ve lived it), this can be compromising if you’re on the can or in the throes with your honey (see note 3). And this cuts both ways: Cubans aren’t used to locking doors or responding to ‘anyone in there?’ raps and I’ve walked in on my share of people after knocking, receiving no answer and sallying forth as a result.
Flushing reluctance: This is another truly puzzling and widespread habit here. Innumerable are the times I’ve walked into a stall to find the toilet filled with a cocktail of piss. My first thought: ‘the toilet is busted’ is followed by my second: ‘there’s no water’ (both very real possibilities here), but both prove to be wrong when I depress the handle and the cocktail whirls down and away. Laziness? Adaptation for the many non-working, waterless toilets we have here? I don’t know, but I end up dealing with lot of other people’s shit.
PZP: Thanks to fellow blogger at Cachando Chile for coining this acronym for public zit popping, something I find so repulsive and popular, I’ve mused on it before. Daughters squeezing their mother’s blackheads; lovers giggling with glee as they lance a good one; friends squirting puss from each other’s face to pass the time. It’s as disturbingly intimate and inappropriate as people worrying their dandruff scabs in public – something people all over the world can’t seem to resist, I’ve noticed.
Phone etiquette: Anyone who knows this place even half-well knows no one can dial a wrong number like a Cuban. If I had a nickel for every time someone dials me instead of the person they intended, I wouldn’t have to bust my ass peddling my Havana app. I’m talking to the tune of several wrong numbers a week. And this isn’t just limited to guys intentionally given the wrong digits by girls who aren’t interested; old ladies, bureaucrats, kids – everyone has a penchant for wrong numbers here. Hey, anyone can make a mistake, I get it.
What really grates, however, is when I pick up a ringing phone and the voice on the other end asks: “Who’s this?” No compadre, it doesn’t work that way; you called me. The question is: who is this? Sometimes these are acquaintances or colleagues giving bad phone, but often, these are men cold calling until they get a female on the line. They continue to call and coo, asking your name (and in my case: where you from?), until you tell them to stick it where the monkey put the shilling. Still, I wonder: was there ever a guy who got lucky with this mecánica? It’s highly absurd and disturbingly pathetic. Recently, a guy was calling me every morning at 7:45 with such patter until I told him I had caller ID (available here, though I’m too thrifty to pay for it) and was going to report him. Never heard from him again.
Spoilers: You sit down to watch a movie with your Cuban friend, lover, or mother-in-law and before the opening scene concludes, they exclaim: “Oh! I’ve seen this one! It’s where the wife really turns out to be the assassin but you don’t know it until the end!” Or along the lines of: “You haven’t seen The Crying Game?! It’s the one where she turns out to be a he!” Incredibly, this spoiling sport is even practiced by professional filmmakers. Don’t believe me? Check out the 30-minute muela that precedes the Friday night movie program Séptima Puerta – the host runs down the entire plot arc, replete with clips, before the opening credits even run.
Got any annoying habits you’ve observed among Cubans? Drop a comment!
Notes
1. Interestingly, the one situation where the Cubans I know aim for quiet is during carnal affairs.
2. I’ve refrained from writing about this event – the kitschiest thing this side of a Hialeah quince – to protect the guilty happy couple.
3. One thing I do love about here, however, is that on the whole, Cubans aren’t modest when it comes to bodily functions: everyone pisses, shits, and fucks. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.
Ja Ja Ja! You had me snort-laughing with this one! One thing I find disconcerting is when people start discussing all of the intimate details of their medical condition, including descriptions of bodily fluids, in public — including at work, on the bus, etc. The annoying part is when everyone within earshot chips in with THEIR advice on what and what not to do, sometimes followed by their own personal experience, fluids, etc.
Somewhat related to the bodily function openness are the unabashed public comments on one’s appearance, which are sometimes out of genuine concern and sometimes just plain chismoso: “Look how fat you are!” “You look so thin — what’s wrong?” “That hair just isn’t right for you!” “Look at those ojeras — what were you up to last night?” I confess I sometimes find myself doing the same thing…
JA! We’ve both gone native it seems!
I remember my first real bodily fluid shock: we went to Playa Giron with some friends – I met everyone on the ride down. One of the teen daughters emerged from the surf as we fired up the BBQ stating: I’ve just had my period (with requisite fluids flowing down her leg); does anyone have a pad? I knew right then that our cultures are more different than I had ever thought! And I marvelled. Nice to be in the puritanical/hypocrytical north.
Leaving the food out and expecting us to eat poison. Condescending Cubanas that judge you for what they are doing themselves or about to do! I want to continue my education, but I got pregnant. I never asked for anyone’s comment and I was told that at my age I was too old to have a baby let alone return to school. That my Cubano is always working hard that I should be working. Several, years later these comments were made because these females backed each other up as I find out as of Oct of 2011 that my Cubano was hard working on trying to keep his stories straight with his Cubanas/alliances since they assumed I did not speak/understand Spanish and revealed more than they should. I respond in Spanish and let just say I was always UNWELCOMED. On the contrary, when much older than I, Cubana became pregnant it was a special occasion, according to those Cubanas that gave me a difficult time and one of them returned to school after she said that I was too, old. Not to mention, they did not like me because they would make comments about how it is difficult to live here in Michigan, because Americans as they would say “like me,” make it difficult for them of their limitations and menial job.
What about “orieta?” I was mad when he showed up in the night, since he said “orieta,” and he did his sly laugh as if he was mischievous before he came to see me, so I was very upset. As time went on, he continued to show up late. I said that I would return to see his “orieta,” and didn’t see or call for a few days. Later, after talking about it to someone I could not help but laugh as I found out Cubans “orieta,” is later However, Mexicans “orieta,” means now. It remind me of when I was younger and my “Rican,” friend said that I was talking about “fucking,” when I was talking about the stove in Spanish.
At first I had NO idea what you’re talking about but reading farther along, I see you mean ahorita, which is truly confusing for people from other spanish speaking latitudes. here it means “soon” (or soon-ish!) but in guatemala for instance, it means right now and in mexico it sometimes means never!
Um, not sure precisely what you’re driving at but it doesn’t sound good! I can say that here the predominant thinking is that a woman is in optimum condition to bear children between ages 20 and 35. I haven’t seen scientific literature to back this up, but as an Americana-Cubana without children by choice living in a land where children are cherished, Ive taken a lot of shade about this over the years.
That spoiler habit is alive and kicking here in Uruguay too. For 20 years I’ve tried to train my mother-in-law not to tell me about a movie, but she can’t seem to resist the compulsion. But it was a gringa who spoiled the Crying Game for me oh so many years ago – the spoiler of all spoilers!
I’m sorry your suegra has the habit SW! And I almost didn’t write about the Crying Game in this post in case some readers hadn’t seen it but hey – you’re reading about spoilers, you gotta spoil a little!
[sorry to anyone that hasn't seen this movie yet, but where ya been?! It's old already.]
Thanks as always Conner- the only thing you mention that does NOT bother me at all is the Yellow River- like many Cubans I was brought up in a place where we could not flush for most of the summer and I always cringe when someone flushes and I KNOW they have only peed. If its yellow let it mellow….. And as a visitor I have to admit that I love the sounds of the street during the evening, the slapping of the dominoes the loud telenovelas, but then again I come home when my trip ends….
I’m glad you brought this up dan bc Im also from a yellow/mellow culture after living with sketchy plumbing and water scarcity. HOWEVER, a public bathroom just seems nasty somehow. And it can smell.
Dominoes get too loud sometimes….I like the wooden sets for this reason.
Thanks for reading.
Conner,
Sometimes you write just plain fun! This one certainly hits all the notes in my Cuba song!!
Glad to hear it Jim! I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop on this post…
A dear, departed elderly aunt and I were talking in her West Miami backyard one day when our conversation was nearly drowned out by some good-natured shouting from her Cuban neighbors. In mid sentence she paused and observed, “That Cuba must be a loud place!”. Thanks for all your insights; I can relate from across the straits. Hope to visit Cuba soon.
C’mon down! Never a dull moment over here…
Hahaha! Where to begin?!? You have hit so many nail heads with this one, Conner!
The first one is what you call the farmers hanky, but which i have always referred to as a Snot Rocket- i had the misery of seeing one launched into a swimming pool just today, so no swimming for at least a month!
There is not much in this World more disgusting than That!
The When to Flush quandry has been with me for a long time, pre dating Cuba and its unique inodoro etiquette- I adhere to the age old Caribbean Sailor dictate ” Here in the Land of Fun and Sun
We never Flush for number One”
but as Neil says- “Comes a Time”.
The noise factor is enough to drive you Nuts at times. Everything has to be played at Top volume, and if two or three noise sources are going at the same time, it becomes a competition. But nobody seems to mind, except me. I Grin and bear it,or escape to the roof when overcome (which is often- I’m a reader, not a watcher or listener)
And i don’t think Cubanos will ever get phone courtesy down, so i stick with your program- “no, Who is This?”
Thanks for a Great laugh!
Ole
Im quoting you on the ‘snot rocket’! What euphony.
[sorry for the terse replies today: terribly slow connection + Im readying for my first Cuban Harley rally today!]
One reason I hesitate to flush in Cuba is because once when I did (in the bathroom off the lobby of the social security building, near the beginning of the Rampa, the water in the bowl literally exploded upward, drenching me! Luckily, one (and only one) of the six sinks worked, and I was able to wash my shirt, wring it out, and put it back on! I shudder to think what would have happened had the bowl contained #2, instead of just #!) Still, after that experience, I’ve always been AFRAID of flushing–at least in a high rise building!
Whoa. Now there’s an indelible travel memory…but way to punt in the washbasin. Very Cubano of you!
To me the most annoying habit Cubans have is TALKING IN THE MOVIES. I’m not bothered by spoilers outside the movies, though not everone feels as I do about that. And, it can be ignored. B TALKING IN THE THEATER while the movie is on, that’s a distinct pain in the butt. If it’s too bad, and if the theater isn’t packed, I can sometimes move to another seat, but it’s a habit all too many Cubans have.
I was reared on a no talking in movies policy and my friends here are of the same mind, They’re the ones going “sssssshhhh” to all the talkers. Ive noticed Cubans – movie buffs that they are – shush as much as they talk.
I do remember being at a Harold Lopez Nussa concert once (phenom piano player/jazz cat) at Amadeo. so these teen girls, just gaga over Harold, were talking throughout his entire jazz repetoire in a formal concert hall. NYO! I turned around and said: hey! if you want to chat away, there’s a nice cafeteria across the street. Why don’t you go visit it?
Cono! You are spot-on…again!
Elevated mega-stereo music has resulted in two generations of hard-of-hearing families with babies being exposed to blasting music on a daily basis. On a recent excursion to Las Bocas in the Oriente I actually paid a guy one CUC to turn down the music for four hours so a companion and I could have an intimate conversation on a deserted beach….a quarter of a kilometre away! The next day I was asked if I was the Yuma who paid for silence and I do not know if his compatriots were happy or upset about only hearing the lap of waves.
I don’t know which is worse..talking in the movies or satisfying oneself in the seat in front of or behind you.
Also bothersome:
-listening to a friend or relative bad mouth someone and tell you that you are to have nothing to do with them for a perceived or real offence, and then acting like nothing is wrong when they meet them on the street. (I understand perfectly the “don’t dump on your neighbor thing when you live beside one another for generations). And when it’s a family member…I say talk about it…instead of stewing for months in a two-faced rage and being angry with you when you talk to them
-indifference to trying to be reasonably on time for anything. One gets used to showing up for an event scheduled for 9 p.m. at quarter to ten. Not really an huge issue except when an important official shows up and leaves because no one is there, or you are paying hard-earned money for something that never transpires because everyone was late.
-letting kids play with flashlights and then having dead batteries when the power goes off. In the same vein, letting kids play with anything of value (DVD players are a biggie) and then asking for another one when they break it.
-asking for a small loan for something they say is life or death, telling you they will pay you back, never attempting to do so (even a centavo would be nice now and then) and then discovering that they have a new t.v./stereo/jeans/perfume etc. And then being indignant when you don’t front them money in the future.
-constant trips to the doctor and the idea that pills (Cubans love taking their pills) will cure you when exercise and cutting back on sugar and salt would suffice
-sharing your myriad of health problems ad nauseum in detail, but never telling family members who have been diagnosed with the big “C” that they have the disease. Tell me. I want to know if I’m going to die.
OK, if anyone ever thought I could make this shit up, Candysita is proof in the pudding: paying for silence!!! I love it and Im sure the jineteros (and all inclusive poolside DJs) will be working this angle soon. love this cuento C, thanks!
On your other points: lots of food for thought. On the chisme/dishing on neighbors and friends, I subscribe to the cuban dicho and use it when someone comes at me w somehting like that: se llava la ropa sucia en casa (something like that – don’t air your dirty laundry).
On being late: I hear you, but Im used to being “fashionably” late from growing up in NY. What I simply HATE though is when people just don’t show/call for meetings. This has happened to me at all levels here…
Very few people ask me for hard currency/to get goods anymore. After so long here, we’re in the same boat! Though close family and friends still need episodic bailouts since they can’t make ends meet. some pay me back, some don’t….
thanks for writing in!
I’ll never forget the day, quite a few years ago in Cienfuegos, when my party and I were the only people in a restaurant, and the live band was so loud we could hardly hear ourselves think. I finally asked the band how much I would have to pay them to STOP playing…
Same problem in some restaurants who insist on loud music or TV. Some people will politely turn the music down or off, others refuse.
The idea that “the customer is always right” simply doesn’t occur to some of these people.
I’m a foreigner and so Cubans assume, correctly, that I have more money than they do. After awhile from experience one learns simply not to lend money to Cubans. Something always comes up which makes it impossible for them to repay. I GIVE money to Cubans, but don’t loan it any more, so as to save both of us the embarassment of having to hear the excuses when the repayment doesn’t come.
A Knife Is Multifunctional
I buy a new knife to cut things like meat and vegetables. Within days it is bent and missing significant chunks. Of course a single blade knife is a
bottle opener, screw driver, can opener and wire cutter. Who needs a swiss army knife?
Expertise is Genetic not Experience Based
He/she: “Of course I know how to operate the new washing machine/put together the new stove/connect the hard drive/replace the toilet cistern”.
Me: “Have you done this before?”
He/she: “No but anyone can do it”
Me: e.g. ” so why are you putting THREE cups of detergent in the washiing machine”
He/she: “Because the more soap the cleaner the clothes”
…2 hrs later soap suds still being mopped up
yeah – the knife thing. Take a look at the tips of knives here and JA’s analysis proves correct: all the tips are broken off since they’ve been used as screwdrivers, levers, etc. I have a friend who hides the good knives for this reason, but really, this doesn’t annoy me. If it did, I would not have lasted 10 years here!!
I want clarify that hardware stores don’t exist in Cuba and that buying a box if nails is a luxury because they are sold in CUC, if you have a screwdriver is an antique one from before ’59
Construction materials are the same.. none or very very expensive, that is why the whole country looks like a war zone.
Marite: war zone? Have you ever been to a war zone? It doesn’t look like here.
no hardware stores? I can list half a dozen in CUC and another six places where people sell tools in pesos cubanos.
construction materials? BOOMING with the new housing sales law.
Besides being way off base, you’re off topic; what, pray tell, does this have to do with snot rockets, popping zits, punctuality, and the rest of our dialogue?
Dear Conner, I liked your article, don’t get me wrong, When I read your stories they makes me feel like if I was still there… (Which I’m glad I’m out)
But Cuba is in an URGENT need of a facelift, in a Social, Moral, Economical way.. Examples as buildings crumbling, families of 10 living in a tiny apartment, Solares unhabited….is the real picture from Centro Havana, Havana Vieja, El Cerro…etc. And let’s not get in the little forgotten towns where tourists don’t go…. Very very sad. I’m not going to get either in the Political aspect.
There are probably the stores you mentioned, but Cubans have to decide if they either buy a needed tool or milk for their children in black market.
Either way, keep entraining us like you do…. Regards
Wow those are some pretty annoying things!
Can’t say I’ve noticed a problem with the ‘bushman’s sneeze’ in Cuba. For skilled experts you need to visit the Indian sub- continent/ South East Asia where they practice it {as well as hawking and spitting} to olypmpic standards.
What leaves me open mouthed with fury in Cuba is the ability of shop assistants to look right through you when trying to get served in a tienda. Manys the time I’ve been left wondering whether to use my new found talent of invisibilty as a force for good or evil.
And then theres the complete inability to avoid a steaming pile of fresh dog shit, which for some reason is always placed dead centre on the pavement and rapidly becomes smeared for yards like one half of a Rorschach test. Nasty in flip flops.
I hear you SST. The tienda thing is annoying but a good ttsssttt-ttssstttt-ttttssssttttt usually does the trick! this habit of hissing to get people’s attention doesn’t bother me (plus it works as well as a dog whistle since Cubans are trained to respond to it) but I have to make sure I don’t start doing it: I would not want to be me when I tsssssttttt’ed at a waitress in NYC on a visit back home. Yikes!
Dog poop on the sidewalk – Ive seen worse (you know who you are Buenos Aires!) but it’s the floating turds at the beach I can’t stomach well still.
Bugger how did I forget the tttssskkking! I could never do that as it drives me absolutely demente. Many’s the time I’ve responded with a collection of the more versatile Anglo Saxon I know.
Of course attached to tssskkking is the nonchalant expectation that you will quite happily cross the road, street, beach, highway etc. in response to this dog call as they cannot actually be bothered to come to you to sell you a cigar/ paladar/ taxi/ girl etc.
I have loved the noises/sounds of Cuba, in particular of Santiago. It reminds me of time spent in my dad’s efficiency in Washington DC and at first being kept awake by the sirens, honks and early morning preparations. I slept great every night while in el Oriente, but here in the suburbs when the trash trucks come beeping by at 5:30 or 6:00 am, the sound wakes me up and pisses me off. The bathroom experience is too similar to what I’ve experienced in other Latin American countries, and at least I’ve been able to bathe in showers in Cuba as opposed to the lakes in Guatemala (it’s not the privacy issue, just the venomous snake/water pollution thing). I can’t wait to return to Cuba and experience some of these other pet peeves (because it will mean I’m back with my friends)! Thanks for sharing your insights, they are always on point.
thanks chica!
Im just back from the first Cuban Harley rally….wow! gives a whole new meaning to CUBAN LOUD (stay tuned for musings on this group/event/subculture).
I love this piece…..it just puts a smile on my face and sends me back to time spent in Cuba……I’m trying hard to find something annoying but I can’t…..for some reason what I find intolerable in other countries, I somehow accept fondly in Cuba…….I just love Cuba!
Hi Rena!
Can’t find anything annoying about Cuba? Are you a Buddhist or something?!;)
Hey!
Just planning my first trip to Cuba with my boyfriend for October from Canada, and was looking at the government website and came across this:
“Technical problems also exist. Calls may be connected to a different number than the one dialled.”
So the misdials may be more of a technical one than an individual/cultural one.
Anyway, your blog is great! Very excited to use your suggestions when we’re down there.
Thanks,
Jordon
Hmmm. the plot thickens!! I do know that due to the US embargo, my family’s calls from NY are re-routed through China, Korea and other exotic locales…
Have a great trip Jordon and dont be shy about downloading my Havana Good Time app for iPhone/Pad and Android. There the most current suggestions lie.
Thanks for writing in.
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Re. the phone mis-dials – when I lived in Havana, I KNOW I dialed a correct number and oftentimes got somebody else. So I think some of this was due to bad/crossed phone lines. But now that things have gone digital, last time we were there (In June) the phones were amazing! Always got through and got the right number. Big improvement! So here are a couple things that drove me nuts:
- Folks dropping in unannounced (though finally got used to it). You could be in the middle of a meal or a shower or “whatever” and folks who just happened to be in the neighborhood would just stop by.
- The “dance” around sharing food when folks pop in and you’re eating. You say, “¿gusta?”, they say “no, no, no,” you insist, go through a few rounds of this until you finally get them eating. I used to freak folks out when they would say to me, ¿gusta? and I would say, sure, thanks!
- Loud TVs! I can hang with most of the noise (I come from an Italian-American family so used to the loudness of everything!) But having the TV at full blast when we’re just a couple feet from it, drives me nuts. But it doesn have an advantage. When you’re walking home during one of your favorite shows, you can still hear it from the homes as you pass cuz the TVs are all so damn loud!
- “y pico” as in I’ll meet you at 10 y pico which means they’ll be there at any time between 10:01 and 10:59…
Hola Chica!
Yeah, the not wanting to eat thing – has to do with pena, I figure, something which I talk about here and sparked an interesting conversation around the topic.
The unannounced visita: Im definitely from a “do NOT just drop in” kind of background, but I adore doing and receiving visitas – catching up with friends and family, keeping abreast of the ‘bola en la calle’, cafecitos galore! – and so have grown to appreciate when folks just drop in. There have been times, however, emotionally-charged, work-overloaded, when I’ve turned people away when they’ve shown up unannounced.
Y pico? that was definitely added for your foreigner benefit: Ive never had anyone say that since here, 10 is understood as between 1030 and 11 – o sea, you always have to add at least 30 minutes on to whatever time is quoted. Ive adapted and was mighty surprised when a friend showed up at 3 on the dot last week: whoa!!
thanks for stopping by.
Lets not forget “horita”, which can mean anything from a little while to a whole days waiting.
OH, but “ahorita” is complicated everywhere in the spanish speaking world. In cuba, it usually means “in a little while”. As in: when will you be by to sell me the black market beef? Ahorita (soon, like 30 minutes).
But if it’s said kind of offhandedly, as in answer to: when will you be by to pay me for the plumbing supplies I resolved for you? (esp when said twice: ahorita, ahortia), this can be interpreted to mean: don’t hold your breath.
I got real caught up in this is Guatemala (a place I adore and dream of and write about) where ahorita means right now.
I visited Cuba for the first time this year, and one of the things that annoyed me at first but ultimately found endearing was the way we would receive half the information we needed when doing something.
Example: Boarding a bus, the driver told us we couldn’t get on yet and had to wait five minutes. We stood confused outside the open door of his bus while he sat in his seat looking straight ahead. Sure enough, five minutes later a woman gets on the bus – She is the ticket taker and the reason we had to wait was for her to return… But he either didn’t know how to say that in English or didn’t feel it necessary to tell us that. There’s always a reason for whatever bewildering thing you’re asked to do… but you probably won’t know it until it happens.
This kind of thing happened in some other instances too… For some reason, I enjoyed it.
At least you got 1/2 information!!! Usually people just give any answer – so as to not lose face. But this sounds like a case of “lost in translation”/language barrier.
How’d you like the guagua (we’re talking local bus, right? not the double decker tour bus?) A trip, right?
I just moved to Florida from midwest, no offense but I live in cheap studio apartment, unfortunately there are Cubans here. They have no manners, they are to loud, I refuse to talk to them, sorry just my choice. They do not speak english, they are loud and rude, and I cannot wait until my lease is up, I will move into another apartment, and yes I will make sure there are no cubans around. I cannot stand them at all. I really could care ;less about their culture, send them back on a boat to cuba, they will not be missed.
Hiya Bill.
Sorry to hear your living situation is such a bummer. This may be a case of “you get what you pay for?”
Also – talking to Cubans usually helps instead of hurts w this kind of problem.
I take offense at your comment about sending them back on a boat to Cuba, however. Regardless of loud, lousy neighbors, you have no idea what these people may have been through. Show a little compassion, eh?
Clearly popping the zits of others is a worldwide obsession: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zit-picker-1-pimple-popper/id417629299?mt=8
connergo i thought you might have been too kind to Bill. I take exception to all of his posting
I hear you SAsky. Smacks of ignorant agoraphobia doesn’t it? Thing is: I’m finding there’s a special kind of ignorance you just can’t fight with logic or compassion. Maddening, but asi es.
Great blog Connergo. You have a new fan. Vamos a Cuba pronto mostly to study the language. Really excited. I have printed off your very interesting advice to take with us. Fantastic discussion forum!
cheers. (Are u an Aussie too? I got that impression somewhere- but perhaps I got it wrong)
Yeah! Nice to hear SAsky. Im a New Yorker, born and bred, but Ive been mistaken for Canadian, Spanish, Puerto Rican….
Is there a name for that loud noise Cubans make at the back of their throat, like they are trying to scratch it or something? I can’t tell you how many times I was in the middle of conversation with someone and they started making that noise! do you know what I’m talking about?? So strange.
re: movies: not sure if it’s the same now but I remember it being almost impossible to watch a movie in the theatre from start to finish. By the time I got through the lineup and into the theatre the movie was already in progress. then the minute one showing ended the next started, so after watching the end you could find out what happened at the beginning. That, and the noise, and the constant streaming of people coming in and out of the theatre….an entirely different moving watching experience.
Funny you mention it…This porcine-type back of the throat clearing is as weird and inexplicable as it is widespread. I was saving that for Annoying Cuban Habits Part 2.
Ive never had that happen to me at the movies here – I’m more concerned with what lone men do in the dark recesses. Maybe you’re used to having many previews and commercials before movies and so are accustomed to arriving a little bit late?
Hi Conner,
About the strange throat noise Cubans sometimes make, this happens when the back of your throat is itching and, rather than sticking your finger there, you scratch it with the back of you tongue. This process does produce a strange noise.
Hi Luis
Makes sense, but damn! Are there a lot of people here with itchy throats (and feet!)
Just read through all of the comments here. Pretty funny to realize somebody else has noticed them.. You really need a sense of humour to cope. Not a lot I can add but I would like to stress the domino game you did mention. It stresses me. We have 2 daily games that go on for hours. One next door and the other directly across our narrow street. The slamming of the pieces and the shouting is the worst noise pollution except for maybe reggaetone.
I can’t complain too much since my wife and father in law are regular participants. For some reason they are much more peaceful when my wife is playing but it does mean “ahorita” for anything we were going to do.
One other thing. When we built our house we created a large terrace overlooking the street. Forget about privacy. We are their favourite novella as they sit across the street with eyes fixed on our activities. Any movement duly noted and discussed. It is very hard to relax there and smoke my cigar in that scenario, which was my original intension in creating it.