The Quest

Trinidad is a charming colonial town. We had arranged for a room in a casa particular, which was about 10 short blocks from the town square. We arrived there in time to find the casa before dinner, and after dinner we took a short nap. Then we walked back to the town square, which they called "Casa de Musica". At first they were playing vague salsa music from disc and people were dancing, and we did too. Later they had a live band playing salsa and we danced. When the band stopped they started playing salsa from disc again. Most people were tourists, about 2/3rds, but locals were dancing also, some with each other and some with tourists.

I saw one guy dressed in all white dancing with two girls at once, and doing it well. Later, after we were tired and most people were done dancing, I went up to him and asked "hay algo personas aqui que bailar rueda?" (Are there any people here who dance rueda?).

This had been our major Quest for this trip. We had many minor quests: renting a moto (Yes), renting a motorcycle with sidecar (failed), eating the local food (Yes), talking with locals (Yes). But the major Quest for this trip was to find local salsa, and engage with locals in a salsa rueda.

To my query about rueda He said yes, but seemed a little confused by the question. The girl next to him said (I think) that I was asking if we could do a rueda. I said that my girlfriend and I liked to dance rueda, and he seemed surprised that we knew how. The girl got one other couple, and the six of us started dancing rueda. At first it was very simple, just dame and enchufa. Two other couples saw us dancing rueda and eagerly joined in, although one girl bowed out because she was tired.

Here is a video of the guy dancing with two girls at once. Try it: It's surprisingly hard!


(The rest of this journal entry is primarily only for people who dance salsa rueda. You probably won't understand what I'm saying unless you do. If you don't understand, then you need to learn to dance salsa rueda and then re-read this post.)

The guy in all white, who was from Trinidad I think, danced very well but had his own way to do all the moves. Or maybe those were the way they did it in Trinidad? One move was called vecino ("neighbor"?) which was patty-cake to the beat, alternating with the person on your right and the person on your left. He also called things repeatedly so you could hear better: "ahora-ahora-ahora! dame-dame-dame!". Also "uno con uno" (single dame with single clap), "dos con dos" (dame dos with two claps).

The Trinidaderos did pelota as a right-handed enchufa. They did setenta as a setenta miami with a enchufa-ronde-dame.

A couple from Vancouver that joined in danced things similar to us. (They are the tall couple on the right in the picture.)

A guy from Marseilles, France had joined, he wanted to dance everything on-two, which created difficulties. (He's the guy in red, on the back towards the left.) Tiina talked to him later. He said he's come to the Island many times for dancing, and Trinidad has the best salsa on the island.

A girl from Guadalupe island in the Caribbean joined too, she seemed to do it more our style. (She's the girl in the black shirt & jeans.)

There were relatively few moves that everyone knew, even the people from Trinidad. They didn't know Candado (people from Vancouver did), nor adios con su hermana.

The girl in the red dress was also from Trinidad. She was the one who gathered the six people to start the rueda, and was good at trying to get everyone from different backgrounds to work together.

The Capital

We take the taxi to the casa particular. Here, a "particular house" means a house that has rooms for rent, similar to a bed-and-breakfast in the states. They are authorized by the government, and are usually in older colonial-style houses.

The first few days we see the usual tourist stuff: nice architecture, churches, plazas where people congregate. It is nice to be able to walk around a city. America has almost no cities where you can walk around, and the few that we have (New York, San Francisco) have a very different feel than walking areas in Europe, Asia or other parts of the Americas.

After a few days we rent a motor scooter (here called a moto) and ride that around the city. Much more fun! A moto is the best way to get around this city if you have a nice girlfriend. At night we try to find salsa dancing. We go to several places that have music, shows & dancing, but they are rather disappointing.

One day on the moto we purposefully eat from a street vendor, where locals would eat. Tiina writes:
"During lunch I talked to some locals who appeared to be interested in conversation. I asked what tended to be the preferred pets in Cuba, this after he showed us two live rabbits sitting docilely in a bag and which he indicated would soon be someone's dinner once he sold them. He replied that most pets in Havana are dogs and cats, but that his favorite was a pig because they are smart and cute, and that best of all, once it was fat enough you could eat it!

Eat it, I replied, you can't eat your pets. Sure you can he said. Not a long time ago we would eat dogs if we had to. The street dog begging for scraps near us smiled at him."

During the tip a question came up: What is the best known brand name in the world? Is it "The United States"? I used to say Coca Cola, but certainly anywhere where someone has had a coke, they would have heard of the United States. For if they had never had a Coke before, and they had one for the first time, they would ask "Where does this magical drink come from?", and the person would say "The United States" (or "America", or some other functional synonym).

I do mean this as an honest question: Can anyone suggest any brand name that is better known than The United States (frequently known as America)? I won't accept something like "god" or "food", since that is a concept not controlled or defined by any one person or group.

Is there any human in the world today, over the age of 15 who is not retarded or deaf, who has not heard of the United States? It's almost impossible for us to answer, for any researcher who could answer that question is most likely from the US or western Europe. In the most remote tribe in the Amazon, or New Guinea, or Africa, if they've made contact with the outside world, would they not ask about the rest of the world, and would they not be told about this magical place called "America"?

Are there any tribes left in the world that don't have communication with the outside world? There was one set of uncontacted tribes in the New Guinea highlands discovered about 20 years ago (I think this was discussed in "Guns, Germs & Steel", or one of Jared Diamond's other books). Where would a non-communicative tribe be in the world today, if they did exist? Amazon? Possibly, although several recent "undiscovered tribes" have been revealed as fakes. Africa? They may be a few levels removed from direct contact with "the outside world", but my guess is that they do have contact with the other tribes who have contact with the outside world. New Guinea? It's been pretty directly explored for a while now.

(For more information on this topic, including some where my guesses are a little wrong, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncontacted_peoples)

Purification in Mexico City

Fly into Mexico City on March 16, and have a 6 hour layover. Tiina and I check our luggage for the next flight and catch the subway to the center of the city. The main square has some colonial (Renaissance style? or Gothic style?) architecture in the old palace and the cathedral, and some ruins of Aztec temples which they have excavated.

They also have many people, locals, milling about, enjoying themselves, listening to music being played by people in the square. Several groups of indigenous people dressed in classical garb, and non-indigenous people dressed similarly, are dancing and singing, and performing "purification" ceremonies for 10 pesos. Do I need to be purified? I do, for many reasons. Physically, from the flight. Emotionally, from recession and divorce. Spiritually, for my sins. Mentally, for the concerns of life.

They purify you with copious amounts of frankincense, and with a local basil-like herb. Anointing your head, arms, hands and face with basil is oddly refreshing.

Subway back to the airport, for a flight from Mexico City to Cancun, then on to the Island. A small gaggle of young adults from China on the flight from Mexico City. Presumably children of party members in China, if they have the means and freedom to travel. Are they going to visit the Island? No, they get off in Cancun.

Arrive in the Island much too late, around midnight. They seem suspicious of us in immigration and at the airport. Maybe we're spies? Or maybe we're just tourists with money to be swindled? The taxi attendant looks mean and officious. He waves for a taxi to come forward for us, then makes a specific show of putting our bags in the trunk and being important, looking for a tip. I'm tired and don't particularly like his method, so I don't offer him any tip and start to get in the taxi. He looks at me annoyed, then asks to see the address where we are going. I think I know his game now, but I'm too tired, and powerless to stop it. I show him the address, he reads it aloud to me, looks over at the taxi driver, repeats the address again to him. He nods at the taxi driver, who nods back at him. He turns to me and says "It will be 25 pesos for the taxi ride, pay the driver when you arrive." As we get in the taxi I notice the driver paying him his share of the inflated price. What would the price have been if I had offered him a tip up front?