Ron y revolucion

This is a long overdue update, but, as usual, life has been hectic. I really should stop opening my updates with excuses... Anyway, as many of you know, I took off to Cuba for spring break with Jacqueline--yes the same travel buddy of Grecian notoriety. I won't bother with a blow by blow of our trip, but I would like to share some thoughts and observations about Cuba, a place that is still misunderstood and misrepresented in the West.
The propaganda immediately greets you on ride from Havana's Jose Marti airport into downtown. Giant billboards of Castro with big red lettering "VAMOS BIEN," anti-Bush posters, and graffiti murals extoling the glory of la revolucion or Che Guevara (el Che has been dead for nearly 40 years, but he's still totally idolized).
At first glance downtown Havana felt and looked a bit like a postcard from the 1950s, esp on the Malecon, the long avenue that runs along the waterfront: bright colored old chevys and lots of people stolling around in the warm sunshine. But after a day, the truer picture emerged: one of underdevelopment and decay.
Habana vieja, the old city center, has been renovated and completely redone as part of the investment in tourism infrastructure. But the residential neighborhood right next door, Centro Habana, is quite literally crumbling. People walk in the middle of the streets to avoid the chunks plaster that fall off building facades and the debris that litters the sidewalks. However this part of la Habana has a musical pulse, with music from different radio stations pouring out the windows and old men sitting on street corners with guitars on their laps. In fact, most of Cuba felt that way, and we had the privilege of seeing some of the world-renowed Buena Vista Social Club perform at the glorious old Hotel Nacional.
However, despite the constant upbeat musical soundtrack, I felt little joy or hope in Cuba. Cubans it seems have given up and are just trying to get by day to day. After 47 years under Fidel Castro such routine despair is understandable. Cubans can't even access everyday things like shampoo--even though it is plentiful in the small stores in tourist hotels, they cannot purchase it with regular pesos. This is one of the many examples of "tourist apartheid," whereby tourists are allowed certain privileges (like satellite TV) while Cubans are isolated from foreign visitors as well as the outside world. The lucky few who get to work within the tourism sector have access to the "convertible peso" and can purchase some of these things, but sometimes it's just easier to tip your hotel maid in cosmetics rather than cash. Most people we interacted with were either other tourists or Cubans who worked in tourism (museums, restaurants, hotel, bars etc). However, everyone knew we were foreign (the whole American accent/white skin thing somehow tipped them off) and we got several marriage proposals when strolling along the streets (hey lady, you wants Cuban boyfriends? I marry you, yes? You take me to America, ok?). Just another example of how stuck people feel in Cuba--and that's just in Havana! I can't imagine what it's like in the impoverished rural areas, which we only passed on the bus ride from Havana to the beach resort area of Varadero.
Oh my, I could go on for a while about the total hypocrisy of Varadero, but ultimately the beach is gorgeous and the rum flows freely, so I don't want to bash it too much... In fact, that's true about Havana too, and I don't want to give the impression that I didn't enjoy my time there. Cuba is lots of fun, even though I found myself laughing more 'at' than 'with.' I mean, Castro is a classicaly paranoid totalitarian and some of those anti-Bush billboards along the Malecon are just so shocking it's hilarious. I'm just really glad that I got to before he dies, which may be never seeing how long he's lasted so far...
Anyway, viva Cuba libre! and enjoy the pics :)

(oh about the pics, just click on the link below, but you have to sign into the kodak gallery- a free process which will literally take 30 secs... I just need people to sign in since this link is on my blog, aka open to the entire world!)