18 March 2015,
In Santiago today — I’m gorged off an entire roasted pig, which the group consumed at a local finca. We spent the day dancing to an array of music and soaking in the sun in the hot Santiago swelter. Last night I had the opportunity to observe a side of Cuba that we had seldom seen in Havana. I spent the small hours of the morning in the land of tan shorts and sandals; the land of hot son music; the land of romanticization and commoditization; the land of jinaterismo. After going to a truly engaging performance of traditional Haitian/Creole drumming and dance, I went to a concert of traditional son music in attempt to get better insight on my research project, which in part focuses on the communization of son music by the tourist market. The concert did not disappoint. As I arrived I saw a sea of pseudo lust and drunken debauchery. Although I’ve been taught not to jump to conclusions, it was hard not to see in stereotypes; the floor was filled with older white foreigners dancing with younger Afrocuban men and women. I stood at the bar and observed, writing field notes on my phone. A long table of German tourists shouted at each other. As I slowly sipped on my Cubata I was approached five times by various jinateras. “Where you from?” they would ask. “You don’t like to dance?”, etc. I tried to be polite, fending them off with statements like “Estoy esperando para mi novia.” The band itself was quite good. However it was typical “Cuban” music. By that I mean that this was the type of music that tourists expect to hear in Cuba. In reality, this music is antiquated and is not listened to by Cubans today. Overall, the experience was extremely useful and enlightening for my research. After becoming tired of being approached, I left the concert and returned to the casa.