Summary of findings

Dear Mr. Manager: Below are some of the important discoveries I made concerning people that I and a couple of others in the company will be familiarizing myself with in the coming days. I believe that these details will minimize difficulties in communicating with Cuban locale. Cuba is known as a country both by its cigar and the fact that it is ruled by Fidel Castro. After the collapse of Soviet communism, Cuba still remains to be a Socialist state. What is the people like and how should one conduct him/herself when in Cuba especially doing business in the country? It’s a predominantly Catholic country, with traditions intermingling with culture, sprinkled with African Animist beliefs. The family is all-important; the hub of Cuban life. There is very little gender bias, hence women can hold government positions and can compete. Machismo is not an issue here unlike many of its counterparts in Latin America. Cubans are said to be cordial and convivial hence tourism has exceeded since the 1980s. In fact, it is the only Cuban source for the necessary foreign exchange. Tourism’s increase is quite due to its people; they are affable, very hospitable and generous. In terms of Cuban’s apparel, they are used to casual clothes but short pants in the thoroughfare are generally not their custom. Unless there is a need to attend a formal occasion where it would be typical for men to wear a jacket and a tie, men are otherwise not too formal in their day-to-day interactions, though Cubans love to dress up during their evening socializing events. Even in the cities it’s important that tourists should wear closed shoes since the streets are dirty. Observing time consciousness, Cubans usually have a lot of time to do for all the things that needed to be pursued; hence, that being late is more fashionable than arriving earlier. Meetings allotted for the business nature of the work, Cubans are said to think of the same. They tend to accept being late as part of their natural pride. Since they are relational types of people, they have the understanding that these are all preparations. Though one may arrive in the workplace on time, being late is not a big deal because for them relationships take time. In this mindset, business is built on relationship and so therefore, business will only thrive in that context. Though Spanish is spoken by the population, Cubans have developed different meanings with certain words that had been widely used. To illustrate, it is a big mistake if one mentions the word â€Å"papaya† because this had evolved into what is referred to as the female genitalia. In addition, â€Å"guaguas† simply means city buses. â€Å"The special period† that may be present among their conversations specifically meant the â€Å"time after the soviet fall. â€Å"Adios† has become to many people something with different connotations; it is more than â€Å"goodbye† but it is frequently used as â€Å"hello† communication. Another term is â€Å"Amarillo† which is attributed to traffic policemen and their outfits suited for your ages and â€Å"plan jaba† is a public policy allowing Cuban women who work to do their shopping. People here are conscious of titles, thus, it is perfectly advisable that whatever credentials a person possesses must be duly recognized. If one encourages conversation to take place, families and children are obviously to be good starters and topics that are â€Å"no-nos† are the 1988 grape export scare, politics or the human rights and the activism that pervades in the minds of Cuban citizenry. A guest should avoid using the first name of another until the other invites the other to do so. Calling a person with just only a â€Å"psst-psst† sound is normal for them and is not construed as rudeness. Reference: Foster, Dean. Understanding the Cuban Socialist Experiment. Cuba? Accessed August 1, 2007.