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I'm going to Cuba in December on a trip with my synagogue. It's a mission trip to deliver Jewish items and medical supplies to the Jewish community in Cuba, though I don't think we'll be reporting that on our medical forms. The main reason for selecting this trip is that my parents are aware that I haven't been able to travel for a few years because of medical situations and they're willing to pay for it. Based on the itinerary, we will be doing some general tourism, but also a lot of visits to synagogues and community centers, so this is not a beach trip. We will only be eating dairy/vegetarian items because of kosher laws. We'll be in Cienfuegos and Havana for most of the trip, hotel-wise, with day trips to Trinidad and Santa Clara. I don't expect a lot of free time, and I'm reading the book "Everything You Need to Know about Cuba" but if anyone has some trip advice, let me know, especially vegetarian foods I should definitely try and/or avoid. Customs: What can I bring in and out of the country? I have been getting some very contradictory advice. I would like to bring a lot of my own food (I'm stricter about being kosher than people on the trip) and my dad wants me to buy some cigars. Most of the places I've traveled in the world have not had issues buying/selling or I've known when to avoid purchases or lie about them (Sorry United States, I've brought in some Israeli soil), but I assume Cuba is a bit of a special case.
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Oct 26, 2014 06:05
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 20:35 |
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You can basically never bring dairy, fruit, or vegetables on international airline flights. This isn't Cuba-specific, but it's something that many countries take very seriously. Last I heard, you're not allowed to bring back rum, cigars, or basically any other souvenir-that-costs-money, but things are always changing, and this rule may very well not be enforced if you just have like one box of cigars. I sure as hell wouldn't bring back more than 1 box / 1 bottle of booze though. If you really care about keeping strict kosher then you probably can't really "try" any foods, as I can basically guarantee that, unless a Jewish person made it, they'll have mixed plates/utensils/cooking pots that were used for preparing foods with dairy/egg/meat/etc. Or you could just stick your fingers in your ears and eat whatever. In any case, the trip organizers will tell you all the rules of what to do and what not to do though, which is going to be way better than asking The Internet, which may have incorrect / out of date / blatantly false information. Saladman fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Oct 26, 2014 |
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Oct 26, 2014 17:20
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In Kashrut if you are traveling in a country with no kosher food, there's a big difference between putting something in your mouth that's dairy and chowing down on some pork, that's why I'm asking. I've brought stuff like pb&g, granola bars, pre-packaged stuff, et cetera into lots of foreign countries.
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Oct 26, 2014 19:24
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How are you getting to Cuba, and which countries wil you be going through on your return? The thing is, Cuba isn't a special case, the US is. They are the ones with the embargo. I am Canadian and went directly there, and had no trouble bringing back some rum, based on Canada's duty-free laws. Don't plan on bringing back cigars if you have to pass through US customs at any point. Sticking to a kosher diet would be pretty hard in Cuba, I think. The best food I had there was all pork so I guess that's right out. There might also be lard in any cooked beans, so ask about that. Hopefully your group is going to make special accommodations at the places you eat for you. Milk is highly rationed in Cuba so not much dairy there. Fruit should be available at places you go and at your hotel for breakfast. Bring as much extra stuff in as you can, beyond what your group asks you. Razors, batteries, soap, even just old clothes and things like that. your group will probably have a place to put it to good use, if not just leave it at a school or something or with someone cool you meet.
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Oct 27, 2014 04:59
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Horatius Bonar posted:How are you getting to Cuba, and which countries wil you be going through on your return? The thing is, Cuba isn't a special case, the US is. They are the ones with the embargo. We're flying out of Miami via charter flight and returning via charter flight. My experience with international returns is that if you're an American citizen, they basically do no checking of anything and they just believe you. Of course it helps if you're not nervous because you're not bringing anything major in. We have a very specific list of what the community wants, and we're going to fill our bags to the weight limits with those items, but I'll keep that in mind.
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Oct 27, 2014 05:12
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dj_clawson posted:I've brought stuff like pb&g, granola bars, pre-packaged stuff, et cetera into lots of foreign countries. This stuff is always fine. The restriction applies more to fresh fruits & vegetables, and dairy/meat are generally also restricted by incredibly convoluted laws (e.g. some cheeses are forbidden, others are OK, some meats OK, others forbidden..). I grew up in a Jewish community and literally never heard of kashrut not applying / applying less strictly when you're traveling in foreign countries... but only a couple of my friends actually kept kosher so the particulars weren't exactly high on my list of things to learn. I'm curious though, as I didn't see anything about this in the Wikipedia article, which admittedly is not the central rabbinate source on dietary laws.
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Oct 27, 2014 09:18
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dj_clawson posted:We're flying out of Miami via charter flight and returning via charter flight. My experience with international returns is that if you're an American citizen, they basically do no checking of anything and they just believe you. Of course it helps if you're not nervous because you're not bringing anything major in.
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Oct 27, 2014 18:17
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 20:35 |
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Hmmm. Looks like the itinerary for the trip sucks, and it costs a fortune. I am probably not going to Cuba, at least not with my synagogue.
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Oct 28, 2014 05:24
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