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Wednesday, November 5, 2014 5:00
A place to
make love
Some like to love
each other in the open. (Photo:
Alejandro Ernesto / EFE)
Renting a
room by the hour meets the needs of couples who, for multiple reasons,
seek comfort, hygiene and privacy to make love.
By Yaima
Rodríguez Turiño / CubaSí
A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.
Just like in
the movies: sheets sprinkled with rose petals, a bubble bath surrounded
by scented candles, and a big bunch of sunflowers (it’s not a special
occasion; it’s just that they are her favorites). Such was Juan Carlos’s
request a week earlier, and sure enough, with two glasses and a bottle
of sparkling wine on the side, his bedroom was ready to receive Mariela
so they could celebrate the 20 years they have spent together in good
times and bad, sharing spaces, speaking quietly, holding their breath,
leaving things for tomorrow or whenever possible, dreaming of soap
operas and films that for some time now have come true in their very
city.
Many
couples like Juan Carlos and Mariela find in these rooms they can rent
by the hour a chance to display their sexual desires again or simply
break away with their daily routine and fulfill a fantasy or two,
“kinky” though they may be. Nowadays, there are many private lessors out
there, picking up where the notorious posadas left off, right
after their social object changed, leaving many bad memories in their
wake even if back then they were often visited by a large number of our
adults. Somehow we have become “familiar” with them through classics of
Cuban cinema like Strawberry and Chocolate, in which the gloomy
scene in a posada seems to have been taken from a Hitchcock
movie.
Still, all of that is water under the bridge to Ernesto Rodríguez
Castro, a lessor in the town of Santiago de las Vegas. Comfort, hygiene
and privacy are the mainstay of this nonstop service. He takes calls at
any time of day, but mostly after 6:00 p.m. and even in the wee hours of
the morning. Those are usually the most dangerous ones, since by then
the alcohol has already taken effect and he has to say no to avoid "a
situation", he says. And yet, the customers can order all the booze they
want as long as the sale is recorded on the Register of Lessees issued
by every municipal Housing Division, the entity in charge of regulating
the legal policies on these rentals. For instance, the lessor is
required by law to take down the lessee’s ID card number, as applicable.
Likewise, homeowners must make sure that there is no disorderly conduct,
breach of the peace, or violation of any social norm.
For their part, the municipal housing authority can rescind the leasing
in cases of illegal or antisocial activities involving the homeowner,
any person who lives in the house, the lessees or their partners.
The owners are free to grant or refuse temporary occupancy of their
property to casual, steady or multiple couples, or even sign personal
contracts, provided the above regulations are observed and they take in
no underage customers.
However, the investigation conducted in ten of those places revealed
that most customers are steady couples between the ages of 20 and 55 who
looked for a place to make love. Several possible situations come to
mind: couples like Mariela and Juan Carlos, young people just beginning
to know each other, a first time, anniversaries, etc.
And the homeowners have as many anecdotes of their own to tell: there’s
always someone who gets locked in the bathroom, others in the closet (no
comment), the guy who requested an ambulance because he broke his ankle,
cases of heart attacks, and people who leave toys, video tapes and even
pieces of lingerie.
The more choices there are, the
more the sexual activity…
In any event, although the choice seems to be “inexpensive”—the
price is around 125 Cuban pesos for three hours or less—it’s
to many the only “decent” option. The vast majority of people can’t rely
on a private bedroom or their own house, let alone afford a night at a
hotel. Rooms rented out by the hour, boarding schools, public parks,
dark staircases, the beach, and even Havana’s beachfront avenue are the
only alternative they have left.
Young people are always a great source of worry in this connection,
since most of them are school students and have nowhere to go for a
little privacy, either because the girl’s father is too strict or the
boy’s mother is very jealous. Can they hope to count on safer and more
affordable choices?
In light of the fact that the younger generations are reaching their
sexual maturity at an increasingly early age, finding ways to help them
go through this stage of life successfully, to enjoy a good quality of
life and to protect their health, well-being and development stands as a
big challenge to health authorities and government alike.
And we must attach importance both to young people’s sexuality and the
need to make these options available to them through national policies
aimed at increasing fertility. Having more places to make love
encourages lovemaking, so we must provide for safe reproductive
practices among couples.
According to an article published in 2013 by
Revista Cubana de Salud Pública,
with the title “Fecundidad, anticoncepción, aborto y mortalidad materna
en Cuba” [Fertility, contraception, abortion and maternal mortality in
Cuba], our country boasts one of the world’s lowest fertility rates.
Therefore, seeing to it that couples have more and perfectly affordable
options for lovemaking and reproduction is not a far-fetched plan but a
necessity that concerns all of us.
Some like Benedetti think that “Con sábanas qué bueno / sin sábanas
da igual” (*), but most of us are definitely convinced that the
answer will always be more sheets and more love.
(*)
Literally, “In bed, that’s great/elsewhere, it’s all the same”.
From Benedetti’s poem Ustedes y Nosotros (T.N.)
---ooOoo---
COMMENTS:
#8
Very good. These houses are better than any hotel.
#7
After reading this article, I think I know why we have such a low
birthrate. Our population growth rate will soon have a minus sign (if
it’s not there already), what with the problem of overcrowding in so
many (most?) households for reasons that I’m sure everybody knows only
too well and how expensive it is to rent those places for a few hours—125
pesos for 3 hours—plus
the anything but cheap price of a couple of drinks or beers in those
clean and well-kept “motels”, to say nothing of the abortion facilities
provided by the state.
It’s no secret to many of us who were born 40 or more years ago that the
posadas
(baptized ‘hostels’ by the National Tourist Industry Institute) of those
days were pigsties, even if there were always long lines of people
outside, but they would only charge 3 pesos or so for three hours of
‘boom-boom’ plus a couple of shots of Ronda or Caney rum (as a rule the
only drink they had to serve), so it was pretty affordable. I’m not at
all against those private rent-a-room services or their prices. Let
anyone with some spare or scratched money go to those “privileged”
places that charge as if they were five-star hotels. If in doubt, just
do the math: 125 pesos times 8 (the number of three-hour periods in one
day) is 1,000 (or more, if you want to stay longer). Just as licenses
are granted to run those rentals, so should our municipal governments
take an interest in such a “profitable business” and recondition those
places they shut down long ago (keeping them clean and well-kept too,
but especially with prices to suit every pocket) in order to compete
with those “well-intentioned exploiters” of couples in need of privacy
to devote themselves to producing little Cubans in bulk.
#6
If I catch my husband in one of those places, I don’t know what I’m
capable of.
#5
What I see is that this service is in great demand, and people go
there without showing as much embarrassment or discretion as they did
when the state-run posadas were open. We have broader minds
today, and that’s a good thing. Making love should not be a luxury any
more than a sin.
#3
Truth be told, those people who rent out bedrooms at their houses are
fulfilling people’s needs. When we start dating someone, after a few
conversations and going out a couple of times, we all need to taste the
meringue of the cake and see how it goes. If everything’s fine, the
relation will turn serious and go steady. If one of us lives alone or
has a bedroom, so much the better, for we won’t have to spend money to
make love. Otherwise, we will have to keep spending, and then one starts
wondering what to do about the money, since it’s not always there, and
you have to eat as well, and pay for transportation, etc., etc., and
then love might become just another real odyssey for any Cuban. However,
it’s also true that these places are a solution. They’re clean, cozy and
not that expensive. Note that I say ‘not that expensive’, because cheap
they are not.
#2
These private businesses are a good choice. After all, it keeps us
from running into a nasty scene when we’re walking down the street,
namely those couples making up right there without giving a damn where
they are or who can see them.
#1
Good job, journalist. I liked the way you addressed this topic, with
a nice touch of realism and romanticism. It’s a fact these days that
those places where couples can have some privacy are in short supply,
because as you rightly put it the prices they charge are not always
within everyone’s reach.
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Algunos prefieren amarse al aire libre
Foto: Alejandro Ernesto / EFE
Los hospedajes por horas satisfacen hoy las
necesidades de parejas que por múltiples razones buscan confort,
higiene y privacidad para hacer el amor.
Fotos: CubaSí
Como en las películas: pétalos de rosas en las sábanas,
velas aromáticas en una bañera llena de espuma y un ramo grande
de girasoles, que no vienen al caso, pero son sus preferidas,
así lo pidió Juan Carlos una semana atrás y su habitación, con
dos copas y una botella efervescente, ya está lista para recibir
a Mariela y celebrar los veinte años que los han unido en las
buenas y en las malas. Veinte años de compartir espacios, de
hablar bajo, de no respirar, de dejarlo para mañana o para
cuando se pueda, de soñar con la idea de novelas y películas que
desde hace un tiempo es una realidad en su misma ciudad.
Son muchas las parejas que como Juan Carlos y Mariela encuentran
en los hospedajes por horas un espacio para retomar su
sexualidad o simplemente para cambiar la rutina y complacer
algunas fantasías, aunque sean las más
«retorcidas».
Hoy día, una gran parte de los arrendadores particulares
garantizan el espacio perdido con el cambio de objeto social de
las famosas posadas, tétricas en el recuerdo de muchos, pero
visitadas en sus tiempos por gran parte de la población adulta
de nuestro país. De alguna manera, las hemos
«conocido»
a través de clásicos de la cinematografía nacional como
Fresa y Chocolate, donde la lúgubre escena en la posada se
confunde con una película de Alfred Hitchcock.
Sin embargo, para el arrendador Ernesto Rodríguez Castro, de
Santiago de las Vegas, todo aquello es agua pasada y hoy día el
confort, la higiene y la privacidad son pilares fundamentales en
este negocio que nunca descansa. Las llamadas pueden ocurrir a
cualquier hora del día, pero principalmente a partir de las seis
de la tarde, y en la madrugada lo mismo a las dos que a las
cinco. Por lo general, esas suelen ser las más peligrosas, pues
a dichas horas el alcohol ha hecho efecto y tengo que
rechazarlos para evitar
«una situación»,
asegura el propietario. No obstante, en las habitaciones se les
permite ofertar cualquier bebida que soliciten los clientes,
siempre y cuando se registre la venta en el Libro Registro de
Arrendatarios que suscribe la Dirección Municipal de la Vivienda
de cada municipio.
Esta entidad regula las políticas legales para concertar cada
arrendamiento, por ejemplo, es de obligatorio cumplimiento por
el arrendador anotar los datos según corresponda al carnet de
identidad de los arrendatarios.
Asimismo, el propietario debe velar porque los clientes no
perturben el orden, las normas de convivencia y la tranquilidad
ciudadana.
Por su parte, los directores municipales de la vivienda pueden
cancelar el permiso de arrendamiento siempre que se realicen en
el lugar actividades ilícitas o antisociales por parte del
propietario, sus convivientes, los arrendatarios o sus
acompañantes.
Siempre y cuando estas regulaciones se cumplan y ninguno de los
clientes sea menor de edad, los propietarios tienen la libertad
de permitir o no el arrendamiento a parejas ocasionales,
estables, múltiples, e incluso establecer contratos personales.
Pero la investigación en diez hospedajes visitados reveló que la
mayoría de los clientes son parejas estables, entre 20 y 55 años
de edad, que buscan un lugar para hacer el amor. Se me ocurre un
montón de situaciones: parejas como Mariela y Juan Carlos,
jóvenes que empiezan a conocerse, la primera vez, aniversarios,
etcétera.
De todos ellos, no son menos las anécdotas
que guardan los propietarios: siempre hay algunos que se
quedaron encerrados en el baño, y en el closet (sin comentarios),
el que pidió una ambulancia por un tobillo fracturado, los
infartados, los que dejan juguetes, videos y hasta lencería.
Más opciones, más amor…
Sin embargo, aunque parezca una opción
«económica»,
con precios como 125 pesos cubanos por tres horas o menos, es
para muchos la única opción
«decente».
Amén del que tiene cuarto privado, casa propia, y del que puede
pagar una noche en un hotel… para el resto, que es bastante
grande, solo queda el hospedaje por horas, las becas, los
parques, las escaleras oscuras, la playa y hasta el malecón.
En este aspecto preocupan siempre los jóvenes, los que aún
estudian y no tienen donde intimar, ya sea porque el padre de
ella es demasiado serio o porque la madre de él es demasiado
celosa. ¿Pueden los jóvenes aspirar a opciones más asequibles y
seguras?
Teniendo en cuenta que en las últimas generaciones se manifiesta
la aparición cada vez más temprana de la maduración sexual,
representa un desafío importante no solo para los sistemas de
salud, sino también para los gobiernos, contribuir a que esta
etapa transcurra exitosamente, con satisfacción de la calidad de
vida y de sus necesidades de salud, bienestar y desarrollo.
Y no solo la sexualidad de los más jóvenes es importante, la
necesidad de estas opciones también clasifica en el
establecimiento de políticas nacionales para aumentar la
fertilidad entre las parejas. Las opciones para hacer el amor
también incitan al acto y velar, por ello, a una reproducción
segura.
Según un estudio publicado en 2013 por la Revista Cubana de
Salud Pública sobre
«Fecundidad, anticoncepción, aborto y
mortalidad materna en Cuba»,
la Isla figura entre los países con la tasa global más baja de
fecundidad.
Por tanto, pensar en diversificar las opciones para el amor y la
reproducción no es algo traído por los pelos: es una realidad
que atañe a todos y que no puede convertirse en un lujo.
Algunos, como Benedetti, piensan que
«Con sábanas qué bueno / sin sábanas
da igual».
Pero con certeza, la mayoría pensamos que la respuesta siempre
será más sábanas y más amor.
http://www.cubasi.cu/cubasi-noticias-cuba-mundo-ultima-hora/item/33319-un-lugar-para-hacer-el-amor |
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La mente se ha liberado. Menos mal.
Amarse no debe ser un lujo ni tampoco un pecado.
Pero, no es menos cierto que estos espacios resuelven. Son limpios, acogedores y no tan caros, fijense que dijo que no tan caros porque barato no es.
Es una realidad de hoy, la necesidad de un espacio para que una pareja encuentre su privacidad es algo que escasea en nuestro entorno ya que como bien usted refiere, no siempre los precios se encuentran a la mano de todos los bolsillos.