Cuba is Compelling

Would I ever return? I left Cuba with lots of unanswered questions, mostly about the people’s self-reliance and the economy and tobacco’s role and the economy and the cooperatives and the economy and household Santeria shrines and the economy and….

So I could imagine coming back some day to try for answers, and particularly to learn more about what our presence as outsiders means for local people. One story we heard after arriving suggested that tourism has deprived locals of essential nutrition, because food supplies on the island are limited by sanctions, and market incentives drive the most nourishing items to visitors.

Especially if I had more Spanish, it would be fun to again plan overnights at home-stays. Putting up tourists in local homes became legal only recently, partly because demand outpaced local hotel supply. In Trinidad, our very kind hosts told us (I think I understood correctly) that nearly all of their neighbors were trying to raise the money to renovate their houses to the standards that travelers expect. In Viñales, entire streets had already converted to offering home stays, hanging out shingles that advertised simply by the owners’ names. In one block I recorded Tito y Yanet, LaPrieta y Mario, Carlos y Mariela, Jovita y Papo, Roberto y Lola, Maria Jesus y Raul, Damian y Magdy, Santiago y Tona, Estrella y Celestino, and Drs. Rosa y Juan.

The idea of coming back to Cuba of course assumes that the government will continue to welcome my passport. For now, the spirit of the agreements signed by Obama led our guide to say of Cuban-American relations that “We are friends but not that good of friends.” Everywhere we cycled during our visit, we couldn't miss being reminded by monuments, billboards, museums, and slogans (“Hasta la victoria siempre!”) of la revolucion’s triumph over the yanqui imperialistos. Even if this trip turns out to be my only one, I can imagine taking armchair excursions via the wide variety of Cuban literature.