While in Havana I was on the lookout for the old lady with the cigar picture that I had seen so many times before. What I was looking for was a close up shot of her. By luck, I took a side street near the Plaza de la Catedral and there they were.
For a few Cuban Convertible Pesos you can get just about anything in Cuba, including a picture with these kind ladies. The problem was she wasn’t alone and I was not about to make the others feel unwanted. So I gave my daughter my camera and told her to a take a picture of me as my close up shot was quickly turning into a group shot. My daughter was puzzled and not sure where I was going and then embarrassed as I made my way to the old lady’s and sat between them.
I wasn’t about to hug them or get close but they quickly squeezed me in and I was astonished to see one lady put her leg over mine. My arm had to go around her or or I had to put my hand on her leg and since I wasn’t up for the challenge, I decided to put my hand on her leg. (By the look of my hand position you can tell there was no comfort there. In fact I wasn’t sure what the hell I was touchin’!)
Once the shot was taken, I got up like if I had sat on a thumb tack. I wasn’t about to spark up any conversation, especially with my very limited Spanish vocabulary. With my luck I would have said “beso por favor, damas” instead of “Gracias señoras”. So I turned around and handed the lady in red (I guess Chris de Burgh was in Havana too) a Pesos, thinking that this was plenty for my 1/400 sec stay on the bench. Well I was wrong. The old lady on the right was quick to point out I was 2 Pesos short. Now it wasn’t the Spanish slur she toothlessly yelled out that made me clue in on this but rather the two crooked figures she kept showing me. Once I realized that this was as straight as they got and she wasn’t giving me the peace sign or trying to make different animals on the shadows of the wall, I knew I owed her two more Pesos.
I quickly scrambled looking for money to pay them off and get the hell out of there before one of these old tarts decided that a kiss would be better.
From the brighter side of the darkroom,
Pierre
