March 1959
La Bodeguita del Medio is Cuba’s most famous restaurant-bar and claims to have originated the equally famous Mojito cocktail.
But there were bodeguitas in every neighborhood, generically called “la bodega del barrio.” These were not famous, some were simple and others fancy, but they all served an important social function as the friendly local gathering place, where day and night, food, drink gossip, music, and games of chance could be enjoyed.
Every neighborhood has at least one solar, created by subdividing large houses, often old mansions called “casonas,” to create small units for those of modest means. Communal living meant shared bathrooms and limited cooking facilities.
La Charada China is a Cuban system for picking lottery numbers based on dreams. A chart lists the mystical relationship between objects and their corresponding numbers. It has possible origins in the I Ching. Chinese culture is an important component of Cuban culture.