Letra: De igual a igual por Los Van Van with Translation

Link to the song: DE IGUAL A IGUAL 

Canta: Mayito Rivera

Composer and Arranger: Juan Formell

Oye mami mira de igual a igual así que mira tu

Listen baby, look, tit for tat, so watch out.

Te creíste que cambiándome por otro

De repente yo iba quedarme solo

No no que va

You thought that by leaving me for someone else

That all the sudden I’d be alone.

No way.

Te equivocaste la vida te da más

Mucho más siempre hay alguien más

You were wrong. Life always gives you more.

A lot more. There’s always someone else.

Te figuraste cuando te fuiste esa mañana

Que de repente iba quedar sola mi cama

No no que va

You figure when you left that morning

That all the sudden my bed would be empty.

No way.

Te equivocaste la vida te da más

Mucho más siempre hay alguien más

Y además de lo vivido y lo que queda por vivir lo voy a disfrutar

Yo le voy a descargar a mi libertad igual que tu

De igual a igual

Not only what I’ve already lived, but also what I have left to live

I’m going to appreciate it.

I’m going to enjoy my freedom, same as you.

Tit for tat.

De igual a igual 

Ohohoh, ohohoh así soy yo

Tit for tat. That’s what I’m gonna do.

Si te creíste que cambiándome por otro de rabia me moriría - mentira.

If you thought that by leaving me for another I’d die of rage it was a lie.

De igual a igual 

Ohohoh ohohoh así soy yo

Te equivocaste completamente

Por que yo me relajaba con distintas melodías, lindas como tu

De igual a igual

Ohohoh, ohohoh así soy yo

You were completely wrong

Because I was chillin with different melodies

As pretty as you.

Tu actitud ha provocado en mi deseos de gozar

Y disfrutar de mi libertad, que no.

Tu verás que si seré feliz

De igual a igual

Ohohoh, ohohoh así soy yo

You behavior has provoked in me the desire to have fun

And enjoy my freedom.

You’ll see that I will be happy.

Que te creíste tú que yo podría perder

Yo gané la experiencia y tú perdiste güiro calabaza y miel

De igual a igual 

Ohohoh,  ohohoh así soy yo

What did you think I could lose?
I gained the experience. 

And you lost the squash, pumpkin, and honey.

Así soy, yo soy así y ya no hay rencores ni tormentos

Pero voy a mí

That’s how I am and there’s no bad feelings or drama

But now I’m gonna look out for me.

Mira ya no hay nada entre nosotros ok

Pero voy a mí contra ti

Y ahora será como tu quieras pero la llave no no la llave no

Look, there’s nothing left between us, OK?

Not it’s me against you.

And it’ll be how you want it, but I’m not giving you the key.

Como tu quieras pero no corazón la llave no

However you want but not my heart, and no key

Oye la llave no te la doy que no

Pero no corazón la llave no

Hey, I’m not giving you the key. No way!

Si te hace falta la olla ven a la casa que allí estoy

Pero no corazón la llave no

If you need a pan come to my house since it’s there.

Si quieres ver la telenovela en colores ven a la casa mi amor

Pero no corazón la llave no

If you want to watch novelas in color come to my house.

Pero la llave no me la pidas no me la pidas que no

Pero no corazón la llave no

But don’t ask for the key!

Mira no intentes de experimentes conmigo que no te la voy a dar

Pero no corazón la llave no

Look, don’t try to experiement on me because I’m not giving it to you.

Y voy a hablar con Tomasa pa' que vigile la casa hoy

Pero no corazón la llave no

I’m going to talk to Tomasa about watching my house today.

Hay no no no no no no la llave no que no que no

Pero no corazón la llave no

Mira no le de la llave

Dale mambo

La llave no

Calla por favor no digas nada

Que tú no tienes razón

Shhh - don’t say a word

Because you’re wrong.

La llave no

Mira que la gente anda diciendo por la calle

Que tú aprovechas cuando me voy

Look, people in the street are saying that you’re taking advantage of my absence.

La llave no

No te la daré no te la daré no te la daré

Cállate ya por favor

I’m not giving it to you so shut up please

La llave no

Yo te quiero yo te adoro tu eres todo mi tesoro pero eso no que no no

I love you, I adore you, you’re my treasure, but not that.

La llave no

Ay no no no no no te la doy tu no la mereces que no que no

I’m not giving it to you. You don’t deserve it.

La llave no

Entonces no me la pidas no me la pidas que no que no

So don’t ask me for it.

La llave no

Mira y dale mambo

La llave no

Me parece que te olvidaste mamita que el van van aquí soy yo

It appears that you’ve forgotten - The Van Van here is me.

La llave no

Por eso por eso mismo mulata la llave no te la doy que no

For exactly that reason, mulata, I’m not giving it to you.

La llave no

Quiero decirte que a la caja fuerte le cambié la combinación

I wanna tell you I also changed the combination to the safe.

La llave no

No me entres a la casa no me entres a la casa y menos si yo no estoy

Don’t you dare enter my house unless I’m present.

La llave no

La llave no no no no no no no no no me la pidas no

Don’t ask for my key!

La llave no

Mi hormiguita retozona mas si llamas de jugar, la llave se la tuve que quitar

My little ant gets friskier when you call it to play. I had to take away its key. (A paraphrase of a children’s song)

La llave no

No me la pidas no me la pidas que no

Mira y eso que tú quieres no

Eso que tu quieres no puede ser

Look, what you want - no way.

What you want can’t be.

Dile a la gente que yo no te quise querer

Eso que tú quieres no puede ser

Tell the people that I refused to love you

Y eso que ti quieres mami y eso que tu quieres mami no

Eso que tú quieres no puede ser

And what you want baby, no way.

Dile a la gente que yo no te quise querer

Eso que tú quieres no puede ser

Economic Thoughts on Cuba

Some economic thoughts after my latest one week trip to Cuba. For reference, I've been to Cuba for music and cultural research beginning in 1995. From 2008-2018 I took a break. Always just in Havana. 

To me, the law of economics that is proved that most often, even more than S/D curves or competitive advantage, is that if the state doesn't allow a free market, the black/informal market will play its role. On display in Cuba in spades right now. 

First, I need to explain the money here. The main currency is the CUP. I don't even know what the acronym stands for, but it's the Cuban peso. The official exchange rate is 140 CUP/USD. But the only time that is used is if someone deposits dollars into a bank account. Which no one does. I exchanged my dollars into CUP for 170. In general, the informal exchange rate has been 160-180 for 2023. 

Second, there's another currency, the MLC (moneda libre convertible is my best guess) that is off-limits to most Cubans. Not for legal reasons, just practical ones. MLC are bought with USD or Euros at a 1/1 exchange rate. There are no physical MLC, it's all of a debit card. 

Most stores sell items in CUP. Inventory is limited. Then there are the stores that sell in MLC which are for tourists, foreign residents, and Cubans with access to dollars. These stores have better inventory, but even then don't have some necessities all the time. 

The informal market here is almost a missing since it's the primary market. Most transactions occur person to person. The stores with the most transactions are usually ones within houses. Arbitrage is huge here. Those with MLC can buy a crate of beer for 1 MLC (or $1) and then sell it out of their house for 200 CUP for a 17% on each one. Buying beer in a store in CUP is difficult since there hardly ever is any. When there is, the brand is random, the price is often equal to the street price if not more, and you're stuck with the quantity they're currently selling it in (20 or more but you only want one). Most of the Cubans I met are involved in arbitrage in one way or another. 

Gas lines are nuts. Some days only 5 cars deep. Today was about 10 cars deep and about 20 trucks waiting for diesel. Not sure what the price was. I'll have to try to find out. So no one can say "there's no gas," but you just need to wait in line for half an hour or more to get it. 

Huge amounts of construction going on. Mainly hotels. No idea where the capacity is going to come from. The newest hotels are largely empty. Perhaps 20% capacity. But about 5 new hotels in Miramar since my last visit 4 years ago with about the same number under construction. With all the problems in Cuba, though, I think it's never been better for purely tourist purposes. 20 years ago, the only "luxury" hotel was Melia Cohiba. Now there at least a dozen. None of the scarcity is visible for tourists. Tourist restaurants are well stocked. Hotels are clean and modern. Prices, though, have definitely risen. 

Aside from new construction, buildings are in very bad shape. Even in Miramar, the neighborhood of embassies and headquarters of foreign companies, there are buildings falling down. Centro Habana is even worse, with at least a building per block closed off because it could tumble at any second.

 If morale is any gauge, this is the worst Cuba has ever been. People have always said Cuba is bad (with a smile). This dates back to 1995 - the tail end of the special period. But every single person I asked, at least those old enough to remember it, agree that now is worse than the special period ever was. 

There's a simple solution. Free markets. And Cuba has a perfect example of the transition from socialist to quasi-capitalist in Vietnam. I wish they would pursue it. 

P. S. Oh my God, and how could I forget the amount of time wasted counting money. I went to exchange money with 5 $100 bills. The amount of money I got back was about 5 inches high. At that point I was happy to just take his word that it was $85,000 pesos, but that might leave me exposed to future estafa. So I counted it all. Kind of. 

Dinner in a restaurant can cost from 2 to 3 thousand pesos. The most common bills are 100 and 200 paid. That's anywhere from 10 to 30 bills that needed counted by the customer and then again by the waitress. They even have they're own way of counting: went they get to 1000 pesos, the bill that completed the 100 is folded perpendicularly to the rest as a type of band almost. This happens thousands of times a day in just the tourist sector in Havana. Imagine how many work hours it takes up throughout Cuba to count money making these bundles of 1000 pesos. And imagine how think a wallet is if it wants to carry $100 worth of pesos!