Cuba has a dual currency system, something that I had never encountered before nor known existed. The two currencies definitely hurt the economy more than help it, but it\u2019s accepted as yet another daily challenge (desaf\u00edo) and is manageable, just annoying. It certainly alienates us more as foreigners, however.<\/p>\n
The two currencies are the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC) and Cuban Peso (CUP). The convertible peso was introduced in 2004 as essentially a tourist currency. One CUC is almost the equivalent of $1 ($0.94), but the exchange rate is awful (13% fee), so nearly all of us converted US dollars to either Canadian dollars or euros before arriving. To receive Cuban pesos, called moneda nacional, we have to convert first to CUC, then to CUP. 24 moneda nacional is the equivalent of one CUC (we refer to CUC phonetically, \u201cKOOK\u201d). Unless you\u2019re a rich tourist in Cuba for a week or so, having moneda nacional is essential; it allows you to pay for m\u00e1quinas, cheap foods, and at times, small gifts. You will undoubtedly lose money if you stick to CUC. In a m\u00e1quina, for example, if you only have CUC, you\u2019ll pay 50 cents, which is slightly more than the standard 10 MN. On menus that list the price of items in both currencies, you also will definitely save by paying in MN, too.<\/p>\n
In Cuba, there are days where I can spend easily less than a dollar with moneda nacional. For instance, for lunch I can buy a pan con tortilla for 10 MN, a glass of pineapple juice for 5 MN, and a scoop of ice cream for 3 MN. Breakfast and dinner are provided for me, for which I am very grateful. I could be hit by other expenses on occasion, such as buying internet and phone cards (7.50 and 5 CUC, respectively), but those occasions are rare. The bus to the beach, additionally, is 5 CUC, which keeps us from going every day after class.<\/p>\n
Weekends are more expensive \u2013 it\u2019s hard to be less expensive than $1, after all. As mentioned in my previous post, we like to treat ourselves to a fancy Friday lunch, \u201cfancy\u201d being 4-6 CUC. However, there are plenty of places that are even in between that range, offering lunches for 2-3 CUC. In addition to fancy Fridays, many places that we\u2019re interested in visiting have high cover charges. This is where the dual currency becomes frustrating. To get into Submarino Amarillo, for example, a Beatles-themed club, the entry fee is 5 CUC for foreigners \u2013 for Cubans, 2. Similarly, many museums, such as the Revolution Museum, cost 10 CUC for foreigners, while only 10 moneda nacional<\/em> for Cubans. If we were staying in Cuba for six months or more, we would be able to get student identification cards that would allow us to pay Cuban entry fees in cases like these.<\/p>\n As much as I could complain about this disparity, I would just come off as completely under-educated and unaware of my privilege. The average income of a Cuban is 24 CUC. Just that fact alone justifies foreigners needing to pay higher entry fees. Nevertheless, it\u2019s easy to get caught in the wrong mindset when you get in the habit of spending $1-2 dollars a day on lunch. Suddenly a 5 CUC bracelet you think your friend will LOVE seems a little expensive. It\u2019s ridiculous. For that reason, I try my best to maintain some perspective. I leave decent tips for wait staff and bathroom attendants. I try not to indulge in fancy foods and beverages and instead patronize the hardworking Cubans running cafeter\u00edas out of their homes. I feel so privileged and lucky to be here every day and I strive to fight the divisions between myself and Cubans \u2013 right down to the currency we use. But it\u2019s a desaf\u00edo, no less.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cuba has a dual currency system, something that I had never encountered before nor known existed. The two currencies definitely hurt the economy more than help it, but it\u2019s accepted as yet another daily challenge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cuba"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":535,"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534\/revisions\/535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}