chronology
the story - residence
psychographs
Saturday, March 12, 2011

01.To escape Toronto's looooooooong winter we decided to fly to Cuba and spent a week in the resort approximately 50 km south of Santiago de Cuba. This southern part of Cuba, cradle of authentic Cuban music, is much more modest [poor] and different that area around Havana and Varadero that we visited previously.

02.Change is in the air, imminent. In few conversation with the locals it was obvious that it is coming and it is coming soon. Past is present too, visible everywhere from large billboards reminding us that Fidel brothers are still alive and well, monuments to the revolution everywhere along the roads and relics like the one you'll see here.

03.Just across the not so large fence and quite close to the resort there were two large mysterious buildings. It was second day of our stay so it was perfect time for drift over there to see what is this all about. [ psychograph 01]

04.From the distance it looked as abandoned structure but what kind of structure. Cow is gracing almost non existent grass, it is dry season in Cuba now. I knew that just across the road leading to the resort there is a little village on the hill overlooking the bay, few scattered houses are visible among the trees, dog barking is heard occasionally, but around here no people are visible except one lonely horse rider.

05.Sala de juggos [game room] [ psychograph 02] is the only inscription that was visible and inside chess pieces are decorating the room. They were not in a bad condition, this building was not abandoned long time ago. I walked inside and it was noticeable that anything that is usable, all the installations, electric wires, plumbing, doors, windows, light fixtures, anything of any value is missing.

06.Structuraly buildings are in good shape, paint is of course peeling exposed to the elements but it is standing an it will stand even under this conditions for a long time. Two saddled horses are parked outside, ready for tourists willing to take a ride in the nearby Sierra Mestre mountains. We heard before that this service is offered outside of the resort gate but no people, where are they, maybe resting in some other part of the building? [ psychograph 03]

07.After this walk around both buildings the only thing that was clear was that these were in not so distant past residential buildings. Nobody to ask about why they were deserted. It is very surprising to see any empty buildings in Cuba, even the oldest ones are restored and used in one way or another. I was also disappointed that this will stay a mystery, main reason to explore this site was so find an explanation.

08.Several days later we took a tour to Santiago De Cuba and on our way there we were passing the Santiago suburb with a group of several exactly the same buildings. Look at that! They were in much better shape, inhabited, lot of people walking around, peeking true the windows, enjoying the shade of the trees in the little park in front.

09."Are those building from the same time period as those two near our resort, and why are those abandoned?", we jumped to the opportunity to solve our mystery.

10.Yes, they are built several years ago for the victims of the hurricane, as a gift from the Yugoslav government, prefabricated in the factory and just assembled on several locations all over Santiago. But why are ours deserted? Well, they were to close to the resort, and as we all know by now, Cuban government doesn't like locals mingling with the foreigners. Sad, sad story!


a.j. [psychographs@urbansquares.com]








:: select new psychograph ::
















:: created by urbansquares.com 2010 :: last time updated 21.03.2011 at 13:10:17 ::

psychograph 02
psychograph 01
psychograph 03