Black Hair in Cuba: My Thoughts

Disclaimer: I haven't done any research on this topic and so this is only my thoughts based on my encounter with Cubans during my short stay in Cuba two weeks ago.
                                                      
My First Impression

When I first arrived in Cuba, I noticed that the Black women working at the Airport had weaves, braided extensions and straight hair. I was quite surprised because I had read that the average monthly wage of a Cuban is about $20-$25 and a Doctor's salary can go as high as $40 depending on their specialization.

How do they survive?
Cuba is a socialist country where almost every aspect of the peoples life is controlled by the government. The good side of this is that the government makes a lot of things very cheap through the rationing system. With the government also being the landlord, citizens can enjoy a heavily subsidized rent. Also, citizens can enjoy free education (from K-Univ) and health care. So at the end of the day, Cubans only have to spend their salary on food, transportation and other needs and wants, which can also include weaves and relaxers.

Hair Styles in Cuba
Because of the warm climate in Cuba and the low salary received by Cubans, I had expected to see many women with creative hairstyles and may be even proudly rocking their hair in its different textures. What I saw however was the contrary. Most women wore straight hair or weaves while many men had a texturized mohawk hairstyle. There were also a few women with Afros and Rastafarian Men with locs of various lengths. Some of these men even thought I was a Rastafarian when they saw me in my Twists.

                              

Though I didn't get a chance to ask the ladies about the average price of a weave, I however know that they are not cheap and must have cost a good portion of their salary! I guess this shows how much us Black women care so much about our hair (natural or synthetic) that we are willing to spend however much on it, regardless of the economic and political situation in our country of residence.

As a Nigerian, this doesn't surprise me much because even though 70% of Nigerians are living under the poverty line, many women including poor ones still manage to afford to get their hair done somehow.