A little bit of Cuba on my mind

After just returning from an amazing family trip to Cuba this past month I have so many exciting photos and stories to share.  I have been wanting to blog but don't even know where to begin.

To enter Cuba as a U.S. citizen one must go for an educational or cultural purpose. Due to trade embargos still in place from the 1960's we are not allowed to enter on a tourist visa or use $US currency.   Thus my family embarked on a religious themed mission to revisit the birthplace of my husbands mother and family roots (as well as the roots of our Havanese dog, Delilah) with an extended family of 16 members.  We had a private tour guide and autobus that took us each day to visit both religious and secular sites.   As part of our mission we were advised of medical and clothing items in shortage and suggested to bring as donations to the communities we would visit.  Thus we were each allowed to bring only 44 lbs of baggage with us and most of us had about half of this in items to give away.

During an extensive tour we had opportunity to learn so much about our family ancestry as well as about the Cuban culture and experiences that contrast to our ways here in the U.S.  For those close to my age, this was a unique step back in time to how life was when we were born...a world without the greening effect of supermalls, cellphones, wifi and internet cafes.  The highlights of our trip were the opportunities to meet with the local people and learn about their thoughts on their lives since the Revolution.  

One thing of extreme interest to me was the impact of the planned redistribution of wealth since the Revolution.  Under the ideologies of Castro and Che the wealth of the upper class society was taken away.  (Of note, Havanese dogs were considered the national breed of Cuba before the Revolution and were primarily owned by the upper class as lapdogs.  Today there are no traces of this breed in Cuba.  The Havanese in the US are all bred from one family who fled Cuba during the Revolution along with their pets.  )Many of the people in these classes fled Cuba leaving behind beautiful properties.  If someone left their home the property was considered to be abandoned and redistributed or taken over by the government. All private enterprises were disbandoned.  Everything including business and properties became government property.  

According to our tour guide whose parents grew up very poor this change had a positive impact for the majority of Cuban citizens.  Many people were very poor from remote areas who were now able to move into the cities and obtain a better life and opportunity for their families.  The reforms may have been positive for this group initially but many were soon realized to limit their economy.  Since the 90s many new reforms are being introduced slowly each year to bring back tourism and economic growth.

When one visits Cuba today you see beautiful buildings that crumble before your eyes.  The roads all need work.  People are surviving on salaries incomprehensable to our society.   A high salary is $30 U.S. per month.  We learned that on average a cab driver or someone in the service sector can earn more than a professional such as a doctor.  Many of the salary equalization effects as well as the inability to own property have resulted in demotivation.   The infastructure and incentives to live and better ones lives are not in place.

This is so apparent when you look at the time warp and see the lack of infastructure on the crumbing buildings and highways.  To this end though when you visit the coastal beach areas they have remained beautiful and unharmed by commercialism. The sands are the softest I have ever seen and the water is crystal clear.  

On the social side of life we came to realize many interesting things however such as that people can be happy and make do with the resources they have available.   The people loved the Beatles ideology and in particular have a park dedicated to John Lennon (Let It Be....is a great part of their philosophy).

Recycling and reusing existing resources to recreate parts to keep automobiles running, reusing materials for clothing to make new ones as needed and even making medicines from natural sources are some of the unique ways the Cuban people keep going.  Instead of our high social media dependency people actually sit outside and chat with neighbors.  People just don't have cellphones or easy wifi access.  They actually talk to each other!  There is a stone wall along the coastal highway called the Malecon and it is designed as the worlds largest sofa.  On nice evenings people of all ages gather along the Malecon to sit and socialize.  

There are so many different facets to life in Cuba and I could write and talk about it endlesslyl   If you or someone you know is interested in information about visiting Cuba please feel free to contact me as I would welcome the chance to share much more!!

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