A bicycle-taxi driver waits for customers in Trinidad

You'll spend a lot of time in Cuba shaking your head and generally avoiding jineteros.

You'll get sick of answering the question: ''What country are you from?'' which is the standard pick-up line of someone hoping to get you into conversation so that they can later extract some of your convertible currency.

But you can make it work for you and have a great time while you're at it.

We Westerners can get rather caught up in trying to have an "authentic experience", some sort of pure social exchange that overlooks the fact that we're rich and they are (relatively) poor. We're apt to feel insulted if an interaction we thought was social ends up being financial. But every now and then, it's worth going with the flow.

A good jinetero - and some are clearly in it as a serious business, not a sideline - is educated and funny and will eagerly answer your questions and organize things for you. It's like having a very attentive personal guide.

So go ahead and drink, dance, chat, practice your Spanish, teach some English and give out your money. Do this at least once.