Here’s to a great AtoZ!
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This year I traveled to Cuba. You know, it’s that little island that’s spitting distance from Florida and should not be visited without special dispensation. I wanted to see it before MacDonald’s arrived. I’m so glad I did. I learned a lot and I met some wonderful people. It seems they like us. Now there’s a change!
I’ll add a short T/F quiz to each post the same as I did last year about Burma, and I’ll post the answers to the questions the following day.
Answers to your T/F Quiz for A
TRUE 2.Columbus discovered Cuba in 1492. There are different villages that claim he landed at their doorstep, so it’s not clear exactly where he first stepped onto the island.
B is for Bar-b-que and Bici-Taxies:
Don’t let your mouth water at the thought of Bar-b-ques on the sandy beaches of Cuba because that’s not what this word means. The angle doesn’t show you inside the windows of this once elegant early 1900s building, but if it had, you’d see tall ceilinged rooms divided by a floor separating them into upper and lower living quarters. That’s a Bar-b-que Cuban style. It allows two families to live in a single space. Of course, if they don’t have air conditioning, those lower-ceilinged rooms are stifling in summer.
Bici-taxies are everywhere and only a few CUCs (Cuban pesos) gets you around town. On them you see so much and you cover a lot of territory. Passengers sit behind a guy on a bike and he pumps like no gym denizen I ever saw.
Your T/F Questions for B:
1. The period of “modern architecture” in Cuba started in the 1950s.
2. The bici-taxi is unique to Cuba.
Answers tomorrow.
Pat Garcia says
I truly hope that the atmosphere does not change greatly through modernization. There is so much history in Cuba and it should be preserved for coming generations and for the world to see.
Shalom,
Patricia @ EverythingMustChange
Robin says
That building is cool. I love the colors. Are there a lot of buildings painted that way??? Kinda reminds (in a very vague sort of way) of Charleston and their uniquely colored buildings.
I think I'd be able to bike someone about half a block. That looks rough.
Nilanjana Bose says
Hi, Had no idea of what Bar-b-que meant in the Cuban context.
My guess on the architecture would be 'likely' and the bici taxi is not unique to Cuba, it exists in my home country as well, though the versions we have (have multiple types) look a bit different.
Best wishes,
Nilanjana
Madly-in-Verse
Medeia Sharif says
I'll go with B. Those taxi drivers must be in amazing shape. I never heard of dividing high-ceilinged homes like that before.
Birgit says
The architecture is so cool and I hope it stays after the U.S. Gets their hands into Cuba. It would be so hot in those buildings so I feel for the people who need a/c. As for the answers…I will say true to the first and false to the second
Sati Chock says
What an interesting blog! I've wanted to visit Cuba since I was a child in the 80s visiting Key West and standing at the southernmost point in the U.S., gazing off toward a forbidden Cuba. Glad you got there before McDonalds. 😉 Thanks for sharing with us.
-Sati
http://atozwriting.blogspot.com/
Juneta Key says
I am enjoying your question and answer, but on this one I have no idea.
Juneta @ Writer's Gambit
Nicole says
I imagine that the workers on Bici-taxies in Cuba are in good physical shape. Dividing the floors between upper and lower sections sounds like an interesting and efficient use of space given how hard it can be for families to find accommodations in towns with large populations. I can't help but wonder if Cubans call them Bar-b-ques because of the stifling summer heat, as in, you feel like you're cooking in an oven, so it's best to get outdoors for some fresh air. Ha!
Oh how it would be nice to visit Cuba. I want to try the cuisine there. My guess is it's delicious! 🙂
~Nicole
The Madlab Post
Donna L Martin says
Hi there!
I’m stopping by from the #AtoZChallenge. I really enjoy learning about faraway (from my little town) places and I enjoyed your post!
I have two blogs in this challenge…my author blog at THE STORY CATCHER (www.donnalmartin.com) and my KICKS Kids Club blog (www.kickskidsclub.blogspot.com) . If you get a chance, check them out and good luck with the challenge!
Donna L Martin
Nas says
Awesome. To me a Barbecue is something completely different hehe…
Bish Denham says
Probably call it a bar-b-que BECAUSE it gets so hot! I'm going with false on #1 (because I think it probably began earlier than the 50s) and true on #2.
Donna McDine says
I'm always interested in the different meanings for words. While it's a beautiful picture of the building I'd have a hard time living in such tight quarters.
Annalisa Crawford says
What a shame that people have to live in such cramped conditions.
Natasha Duncan-Drake says
Wow, I can imagine that those rooms are unbearable in high summer without some modern intervention. I do not get on with heat so the very idea makes me shudder.
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings (72) | Wittegen Press (74) | FB3X (AC) (75)
Sharon Himsl says
I guessed the right answer 🙂 Love the bici-taxi. False-1, True-2
Pioneer Women in Aviation A-Z
Elizabeth says
I rode in a bicycle-taxi at Universal Studios. The driver was really nice and chatty the whole ride, he didn't sound out of breath like I probably would be 🙂
Roland D. Yeomans says
Like Yolanda, I cringe thinking of those poor people living on the second floor in stifling heat. I lived my first summer in Louisiana without air conditioning. It was no fun!!!
MarieDogwalker says
Interesting architecture…and name!
Samantha Redstreake Geary says
I bet those cyclists could use some real bbq at the end to the day. Here in Asheville, there's a bicycle bar, where folks participate in the pedaling while brewing.
The AtoZ of EOS
#TeamDamyanti
Yvonne Ventresca says
I've seen bicycle taxis before, so False. They always amaze me.
Yvonne
Sarah Foster says
Ha, I thought of food when I read bar-b-que, too. Those bici-taxis look like fun!
Beverly Stowe McClure says
What a unique way to travel.
Those living arrangements sound horrible. I like my space. Thankful I live where I can have it.
I think the questions are true.
Have a great weekend. Rest.
J.H. Moncrieff says
I'm going to go with true again.
I've never been able to ride in any type of those human-propelled vehicles. I'd feel too guilty just sitting there while the driver works his butt off. Talk about feeling like a lazy Westerner!
Michelle Wallace says
When I saw bar-b-queue, I thought of food.
Bici-taxies look quite nifty.
Writer In Transit
Courtney Turner says
Oh, it's a communal apartment like in the USSR but Cuban style and more colorful. Visiting from http://www.mauijungalow.com
Sunday Visitor says
Cuba seems like a wonderful idea. I would definitely like to try the Bici -taxi.
Kelly Hashway says
Bici-taxis look fun!
DEZMOND says
Such fun! I know Cuba has great doctors and medical treatments because their hospitals aren't under influenced by pharmaceutical companies like in USA and the West where they probably have many cures but won't give them to us because they want to keep up the sales of their medicines. Lots of people cured themselves at Cuba from so many different illnesses
A Tarkabarka Hölgy says
I don't think the bici-taxi is unique, but it is certainly interesting 🙂 My mother traveled to Cuba back in the 80s (from Hungary, which was easier back then), she tells stories about it 🙂
@TarkabarkaHolgy from
The Multicolored Diary
MopDog
Mary Burris says
A bici-taxi sounds like a huge workout for the 'driver'. Do they have a weight limit? I can only imagine the driver saying. Nope. You should walk.
Mary
Twitter: @KnottyMarie
Literary Gold
Jingle Jangle Jungle
AJ Lauer says
1: t, 2: f.
I'm jealous you've been to Cuba! I lived in Miami for 4 years so grew to appreciate the Cuban culture. I'd love to see it in its natural habitat.
Hope you are well, friend.
L. Diane Wolfe says
We rode a bici-taxi not long ago in Florida. Those guys can really move fast.
Pat Hatt says
They sure have to be fit to run one of those. #2 is false indeed.
J.L. Campbell says
Lee, you visit the most interesting places and write the most interesting blog posts. I'm guessing that that bici-taxi is not unique to cuba.
sage says
Well, I was one for one yesterday. I would say no to both of these–I know I've ridden in bicycle-taxis in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand and they even have them here in Savannah. I enjoy your insight in visiting Cuba–guess where my letter C will take me?
Jen Chandler says
Cuba sounds so interesting! And so many people I know are going there now. I'd love to see it, as you said, before McDonald's or any other annoying chain gets there.
I'm going to say #1 T and #2 F. I've ridden a bicycle taxi in India and you're right, it's the only way to travel and see a new place from the ground up!
Cheers!
Jen
Jen Chandler was Here
Megan Morgan says
What interesting information! Hmmm, I'm gonna say 1. is true and 2. is false.
nashvillecats2 says
I would love to go on a bike taxi, sounds great fun.
Great insight of Cuba. Have a good week-end..
Yvonne.
Yolanda Renee says
How awful to live on the second floor, it looks so squashed and yes, hot. Love this idea of a bicycle taxi but only as a passenger. Feel sorry for the driver. lol
Guessing false! Happy 2nd A to Z day!
Nicola says
I saw the word bar-b-ques and my mouth watered. But now I feel more educated 🙂 I've learned something. YAY! Thank you for the great post. Hmm…just tried to search for the answer to no.1 but can't find it so I'm going to guess that it is false. Thank you for a great post.
Mary Aalgaard says
I've been on bike taxis, too. Those guys must be in great shape! How cool that you got to visit Cuba. I'd like to go.
Mary at Play off the Page
Alex J. Cavanaugh says
I know the second one is false as many countries have bicycle taxis. I've ridden one here in the states for that matter.