It is great that you have studied Spanish before arriving in Cuba – it will help you to understand what´s going on, and to connect with the locals…. but, it´s not enough! You will find much common vocabulary which is not in your Latin American phrasebook…it is Cuban slang.
Remember that Cubans believe that everyone in Cuba has African blood in them, “Si no tienes del Congo, tienes de Karabali” i.e. If you´re not from the Congo, you are from Karabali (another area in west Africa from which slaves were taken). So it´s no surprise to find lots of Cuban slang with African roots, and given the long domination by the USA, there are also many words adapted from English. Here are some that came from English:
- Béisbol : baseball (from English)
- Bisne, Bisnero : business (from English), businessman
- Blumer : knickers (from English “bloomers”)
- Carro : car (from the English “car”)
- Chebi : collective taxi ( from Chevrolet, Chevvie)
- Chopin or shopin : shopping ( tourist shop “shopping”)
- Clóset: closet, cupboard
- Jonrón : home run
- Kiosko : little shop
- Moni : money
- Nylon: plastic bag
- Pulover : T-shirt (from “pullover”)
- Queik : cake
- Short : shorts
- Show: performance, spectacular, show
- Sidicá : Sidecar, motorbike and passenger
- Suéter : sweater
- Tenis : sneakers, training shoes, sports shoes
- Yin : (blue) jeans (from the English “jeans”)
- Yuma : white foreigner (“3.10 to Yuma” cowboy film)
…and here are a few from African languages
- acere: friend, mate
- bembé: drumming ceremony, Santería
- Babaloa: Santería priest
- Cambute: herbal grass
- Changó: god or Afro-Cuban saint of masculinity
- Elegguá: god or Afro-Cuban saint of opening the way
- Orisha: Santería saint, or god or goddess
- qué bolá hacere: greeting in western Cuba
- qué bolá compay: greeting in eastern Cuba
- Yemayá: goddess or Afro-Cuban saint of the sea