“19 and B” as this market is known as is one of the best and most expensive farmers' markets in Havana, Cuba. It is located at the corner of 19th and B streets in the neighborhood of Havana known as Vedado. I and some other foreigners shop here as well as many Cubans Tuesday through Sunday.
On the weekends it is packed. You can buy foods here not sold at
some other markets in Havana as well. I also shop at smaller fresh
markets in my neighborhood which are less expensive, but do not
have the selection of 19 and B!!!!
All the markets sell smaller portions of large items like watermelons
and squashes so everyone can afford to buy them. Everything is
fresh and very delicious. Its difficult to find such fresh food in the
USA except for farmer's markets themselves and even then to me
the food tastes more delicious in Cuba!!!!!! It might be the sunshine
and blue skies and more relaxed pace of life that allows me to
enjoy the taste of food and even life more in Cuba!
They do have some smaller stores and occasional large stores in
Cuba where people can buy largely imported, packaged, and
canned goods such as tuna fish, oils, beans, noodles, and
other such food products!!!! I shop very very little at these stores
and prefer these fresh farmer's markets. Besides this bigger and
very nice farmer's market, there are many other large and even
more small farmer's markets in Vedado and throughout Havana.
As well, there are also carts that travel through parts of town
selling fresh fruits and vegetables!!!!
Vedado is the neighborhood I usually stay in when I am in Havana. It
has the reputation of being one of Cuba’s better neighborhoods.
However, while it is nice, it is not elite, and I can still enjoy living
in this wonderful Cuban community I have come to be a part of
since about 2003.
I know everyone now and they all know me also. I have become
part of the community which is a real privilege!!!!! Children, parents,
grandparents, families.
Little Sandra, about 9 now who plays jacks with her friends on their
front porch, thinks I am the best thing since sliced bread!!!! She
apparently likes my foreignness, my differences! Jose Manuel and
his cousin from St. Miguel de Padron are about 8 years old and I
give them money to buy a slice of pizza so they adore me.
Maria Isabel, now about 91 years old, is my and the community guru.
She is highly respected by everyone in the neighborhood
and well known. If I need advice, I can count on Maria Isabel and all
the neighbors! She and I and other community members often
gather at about 6 pm everyday at a certain spot on a wall on 18th
street between 19th and 17th streets to talk and share and even
sometimes sing. Neighbors join us as they walk by.
Ampara, a retired Doctor of animal science, feeds the stray cats and
speaks with them lovingly. I love it! It reminds me exactly of the
neighborhood I grew up in Columbus, Ohio called “the Bottoms.”
I was born in Columbus, Ohio, USA, on July 27, 1958 right when Cuba
was in the midst of a successful revolution to rid itself of a brutal,
sadly, US backed dictator, Pinochet, who was responsible for many
murders in the country and other repressive and brutal actions. Under such conditions, perhaps a revolution, very much akin to our USA War of Independence from Britan was inevitable.
Today, Cuban people lovingly like to complain that nothing has
changed in Cuba since this revolution in July 1958. And in fact,
"my neighborhood" in Cuba, Vedado, between 19th and 17th and 22 and
18th is an almost an exact replica of theneighborhood in which I grew up in “the Bottoms” in Columbus, Ohio
with my parents and my father’s family: his mother, his brothers and
sisters, my aunts and uncles, their children, my cousins, and all the
same neighbors with whom my father himself had grown up: three generations
of families!!!!!! We lived there from approximately 1958 to 1962! When I
was about 6 or a little before before I believe we moved.
Cuban people live together, at least 3 generations under one roof usually.
Grandparents, parents and children. Everyone knows their neighbors and
all their families as well. And just like in the Bottoms where I grew up in
a multi-generational community, Cuban communities are very safe and
provide extended support for community members. How is someone going to rob or harm his neighbors who are very much like extended family itself to him? If one needs more support than family can give, one meets regularly with neighbors who again are very much like extended family!!!!!
This neighborhood stability and constellation really worked for me as a child. I have no memories of any suffering at all from when my family lived at my grandmother’s house. Even the neighborhood merchants were part of the community and supportive and kind to everyone including we children to whom they would give candy!!! As a child, what could be better? Everyone was kind. And they had no choice, social norms and the same families, community, had been in place for at least three generations!And this is exactly how life still is in all communities in Cuba. People
have been living together for at least three generations and just like in
the community in which my father and I and my brother grew up, this
offers all a great deal of emotional and all forms of support and a very
strong refuge.
This is one of the reasons why I love Cuba! It is almost an exact replica
of the happiest days of my childhood when I lived in the third generation
of our strong 3 generations community in the Bottoms in Columbus, Ohio!
Even the old cars in Cuba are the same! And so many of the men in Cuba
remind me of my father when he was in early 30’s at that time as well, i.e.,
muscular, handsome, and fit, a little on the short side and square build,
wearing white t-shirts and hair slicked back with some type of suave. My dad also had cigarettes rolled up in the short sleeves of his T-shirt.
Also, I believe my father had indigenous American ancestry
just like many of the men in Cuba. And like my dad did, the Cuban men
all take great pride in souping-up their cars. They also personalize their
cars with pictures of their family, the Cuban flag and other things that
are important to them. And best of all most have souped up sound
systems that blast the best most rapturous Cuban music as they
drive through the neighborhoods and all over Cuba!!!
In this background of strong community, most if not all communities in
Cuba have a farmer's market as well as many smaller sources of fresh
foods. As well merchants and others go door to door selling food even
more inexpensively, usually fruits and vegetables that are in season or
any foods as well as fish. They sing out what they are selling through the streets as they walk and buyers meet them at the door with money!!!!! The also sell other items this way as well, sponges, buckets, and other household items. And again, these very same activities took place in my beloved childhood neighborhood where I was so happy!!! Consequently, I have found my beloved, happiest childhood home again and am very very very happy when I am in Cuba!
Photos from My Cuban Community in La Hababa
Maria Isabel, the neighborhood guru and her immediate neighbor who grew up with Maria and has known
her all his life!!!!
My Neighbors on 18th Street between 21 and 19. Father and daughter. He repairs cars for a living.
I miss them so much!!!!!!!/Mis vecinos a Calle 18 entre 21 y 19. Papa y hija. Les extrano mucho!! El es
mecánico del los caros!!!
Impromptu kiss when I clicked the shutter!!!
My favorite neighbors in Vedado, La Habana: Maria Isabel on the right and Ampara, retired animal
sciences professor. She feeds the stray cats every evening at about 6 and loves them.
This is Jorge, one of my many lovely neighbors who would regularly saludarme (greet me). It was these moments of everyday tenderness that are so comforting and reassuring.
A little child lost their shoe, yellow and plastic, with holes, so touching and simple. I was on the way
home from the market, Saturday , late morning , in Vedado. This photo is so Cuba, simple and sweet
and about children.
Photo of and by neighbor, Roberto Garaycoa MartÃnez. Local residents fish for thier family consumption all evening and inot the wee hours of the morning.
Sometimes they catch giant fish!!!!!
Me with children visiting my hairdresser. The little girl in the top row on the far right is his niece and all
the rest are neighbors!
My neighbors Iris and her husband Barbar who recently passed away to the sadness of all the
community.She often cooks these beautiful and splendid meals for me below when I am in the neighborhood. She
lowers them down from her third floor apartment building by a homemade pulley!
One of Iris’s dishes. Delicious and fresh!!!!
Now onto the photo essay below of The Mercado Agropecuario 19 and B in Vedado!!!!!
Photo Essay: Farmers Market 19 & B Vedado,
La Habana,
Cuba
Agromercado de 19 y B - Havana City Guide
Vedado, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba ...
Agromercado de 19 y B - Havana City Guide
On the Grid : Mercado Agropecuario 19 y ...
On the Grid : Mercado Agropecuario 19 y ...
onthegrid.city
Agromercado de 19 y B - Havana City Guide
5 places to buy fresh produce in Havana ...
Agromercado de 19 y B - Havana City Guide
On the Grid : Mercado Agropecuario 19 y ...
Agromercado de 19 y B - Havana City Guide
On the Grid : Mercado Agropecuario 19 y ...
Agromercado de 19 y B - Havana City Guide
livestock markets; meat at 35 pesos ...
Vedado, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba ...
State Control to Unregulated Markets ...
On the Grid : Mercado Agropecuario 19 y ...
5 places to buy fresh produce in Havana ...
Little boy in his school uniform at the market.
Agromercado de 19 y B - Havana City Guide
lahabana.com
Best markets in La Habana • My Vegan Trips
5 places to buy fresh produce in Havana ...
Different market than 19 y B. Food Market - Havana, Cuba Stock Photo ...
Photo of Agro Mercado de 19 y B, Vedado ...
Best Cuba And Havana Casas Particulares
Cuba's Produce Markets at Year End ...
On the Grid : Mercado Agropecuario 19 y ...onthegrid.city
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