Viva Cuba!

After researching places to take my yearly holiday, Costa Rica, Barbados, and Cuba made the cut. In the end, Cuba won the call to my travel agent.

Before I set foot on the island, my reasons for going were clear; Beautiful beaches, unique culture, low crime rate and the city of Havana. I also wanted to see a place that was untouched by the “American way”.

I learned that our perceptions about their political system are skewed. We’ve been told Communism is evil but I learned that a lot of things are better than I have it here in Canada, at least based on the way I look at the world and the direction we’re headed. For example, the average Cuban makes fifteen dollars a month and gets food and other goods through ration cards. Yes, this rationing system means there are caps on what a person can buy but no one is starving in Cuba. Imagine if we all rationed what we ate and every person on the planet got their fair share. Everyone eats, no one is homeless, education is free, healthcare is free and Cubans are always smiling.

Other things I noticed about Cubans include their lack of material possessions, their devotion to family and their knack for being very social. By social, I’m not talking about chatting with someone they will never meet on an online chat-line. The average Cuban doesn’t own a computer and this reflects on their way of life. When I drive or walk around my neighborhood here in Canada, I rarely see people sitting outside on their steps. While walking around the streets of Havana and Matanzas City, there were people everywhere. Adults sitting on stoops talking to their neighbors and children playing games in the street and well, being children.

While the rest of us are working eighty hours a week to pay bills racked up due to frivolous spending we do in order to keep up with the Joneses and our children are raised by a television, Cubans survive with very little while maintaining a positive attitude that is rare in our society. In Cuba, no one cares what material possessions their neighbor has.

So what did I learn on my trip? I learned that cafeteria-style meals and loud stereo systems pumping American music at the resort disco don’t do justice to the real Cuba.

I also learned that the Cuban people who fight to keep their culture intact, who continue to instill morals in their children, who get to know their neighbors, who make every attempt to be happy with what they have despite adversity are many steps ahead of the rest of us.