2018 CUBA: My son and I stayed in a 2-bedroom apartment that was in this alley. As we would make our way back each evening, we would navigate the dimly lit walkway to the small concrete opening and then carefully shake the skeleton key until it opened the water damaged wooden door. After opening the door, we made our way to the second floor where we had to wiggle the apartment key just enough to jar the pins in the lock mechanism to open the door.
The apartment was filled with hardworking families, laughing children, crying babies and the elderly. It was the honey hole of life because it represented all categories of residents in Cuba. You had doctors, shop owners, taxi drivers, teachers, the retired and more who called the apartments pictured home.
While the building may be reminiscent to an apartment in the Bronx, it held within its walls a much more diverse group of residents with a multitude of educational levels. College graduates, high school drop outs, those with their PhD and more called this neighborhood theirs.
In America you recognize the fact that most doctors have a beautifully manicured lawn with a masterpiece of a house that includes 4,000 square feet of perfect tranquility.
In Cuba, income levels are not determined by your education and profession, but instead by your relationship with the government.