By Lorenzo Martin
HAVANA TIMES – “January’s rice is here!!” Marta shouted at the top of her lungs, while she climbed up the stairs in our apartment building.
The welcome news roused the whole building into commotion, and soon all us neighbors began pouring out, bags in hand, alone or accompanied, heading for the neighborhood ration store. It was barely 9 am, but already the line was impressive. At least one representative from each household that buys their provisions from this store were there – from the old man who lives alone to the young guy they sent out to do the errands.
The fact is, although our glorious president says that lemon is the base for everything, in reality rice is the staple of Cuban food.
I wonder what most of these people had been eating during all these days, since it was now January 22 and the only thing that had arrived at the shop was the monthly sugar quota – minus a few pounds that should have arrived last month and never did. They also dispatched a pound of chicken, just over a half-pound of mystery mincemeat, and a bottle of cooking oil to each family nucleus. When they assign the provisions by family nucleus, I’m happy that I live alone, because the family fights must be tremendous when there are numerous family members and some of the cohabitants cook separately, as is common in our homes when several generations and married couples live together.
Waiting in line at the shop here is an event in itself. While standing there, you can get in on some gossip, hear people’s opinions on how “things” are coming along, and run into neighbors you never see. The buying process can also turn into a tedious argument with the shopkeeper, who always tries to keep a few ounces for himself out of every pound he sells – I imagine that me and my portable digital scale aren’t very much to his liking for that reason.
Believe me when I tell you that the enthusiasm there was greater than that displayed by Cubadebate [Cuban government website] for the 65th anniversary of our revolution’s triumph. It was like a party: all of us filled with joy at not having to worry about rice for the little time left in the month, and the hope that next month the miserable five pounds allotted us wouldn’t come so late.
When I find myself standing in these lines, when I look at the bare shelves in the shop, I can’t help but remember my grandfather’s stories about the store he used to work in. Or think about all those images that can be found on the internet of Cuban shops before the revolution. They seem like photos from another world, with their dozens of products all for sale with no restrictions on what you can buy.
So, today, more than one household in my neighborhood will be celebrating, where shortly before they had no idea what they’d be eating in the afternoon. As for me, I’ll have my own little party of rice with an egg, a hot dog and fried ripe plantains… Every so often you have to allow yourself some food luxury.
Tomorrow? The beginning of February? We’ll invent something to eat when February begins. We’re already so accustomed to this daily struggle to obtain something to put on the table that it really doesn’t matter to me what I’ll eat next week, as long as I can fill my belly today.
Read more from the diary of Lorenzo Martin here.
