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Thursday, April 28, 2005
Post-Cuba Reflections: Appreciation and
Balance
As I sit here in the morning, listening to the rhythmic salsa of
Manolito Simonet y Su Trabuco, I am reflecting back on my 16 days
in Cuba and all that I have experienced and learned.
My time in Cuba has been the single most interesting and amazing
travel experience in my life so far - bar none. I have never jumped
head first into a vastly different culture like this before, and
it has, without exaggeration, been a head-twisting experience.
My favourite picture of the Capitolio
No doubt I fell in love with the city of Havana, I find it an amazing,
beautiful and multi-faceted place. No doubt I had a really special
experience with the people, and I made new friendships, with local
Cubans as well as with a small crowd of international people who
shared this language-learning experience with me at the University
of Havana.
There is also no doubt that going to a totalitarian Communist country
shifts your mindset just a little. Starting with the shortages (of
food, of writing paper, toilet paper and toilet seats, gasoline,
public transportation, consumer goods etc. etc.), to the constant
presence of the police, to the palpable sense of guardedness, in
some cases even paranoia, among the population. The watchful eyes
of the authorities are everywhere and you have to be very careful
about how you act and what you say.
Farm life in Vinales
You start to realize you have entered a totally different world.
I was really careful not to try to reveal the sources of my information
because I honestly did not want to jeopardize my friends and acquaintances
in Cuba who were willing to share their candid opinions.
You have also entered a country where private property and private
business are all but forbidden, but strangely enough, everybody
has turned into an entrepreneur. Cuba is truly a country with a
myriad of ironies and contradictions.
On the other hand, you see a people who are hospitable and very
friendly once they know you (and once you get beyond the constant
hustling directed at the tourists). Although you constantly hear
about the daily struggle ("Hay que luchar"), you see a
people that know how to celebrate and enjoy life in all forms. Cuba's
sensual music is just one way of expressing that joy of life.
Peeking at the church in Vinales
But beyond my Cuban impressions I have learned a few more personal
things. First and foremost, I have learned to enjoy what I have
at home, right here in Toronto. (Believe me, I have never enjoyed
the luxury of a toilet seat so much.....)
No doubt in my mind, through a fluke of immigrant fate , I have
chosen one of the best countries in the world to live in: a safe
country, a prosperous country, a free country with a good balance
between individual freedoms and collective well-being, a pluralistic
and tolerant country, free from repression, surveillance and dogma.
Classic cars...
Last but not least, I have also learned to appreciate my own life
situation more: my comfortable life in Toronto, my freedom to be
an entrepreneur, my freedoms as a woman. And most significantly,
I have come to appreciate my personal relationships, my friendships
and my marriage and even my physical health, which, in my anxious
quest to build two businesses at the same time and to get this website
up and running as quickly as possible, had been suffering for a
while.
As a result of all these experiences, I have decided to slow things
down a bit and to achieve more balance by dedicating more time to
my husband and our home life, our friends, our sports activities
and, in line with Cuban philosophy, to just enjoy and appreciate
life a little more.
After all, as I saw in Cuba, life is not all about business, work
and making money...
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Interesting and useful books about Cuba:
Related Articles:
"Cuba is Calling - Why
I selected Cuba as my language study destination"
"Hello
from Cuba (1) - First Impressions"
"Hello from Cuba
(2) - Rain in Vinales"
"Hello from Cuba
(3) - Hiking Vinales and Exploring Nature"
"Hello from Cuba
(4) - Bureaucracy Galore - The University of Havana"
"Hello from Cuba
(5) - Another Mind-Twisting Experience"
"Hello from Cuba
(6) - The Student Experience and Political Insights"
"Hello from Cuba
(7) - Fun and Recreation"
"Hello from Cuba
(8) - Bicycle Rides, Camellos and Cannon Shots"
"Hello from Cuba
(9) - Havana Neighbourhoods"
"Hello from Cuba
(10) - A Country Excursion"
"Hello from Cuba
(11) - Inside a Cuban Home"
"Hello from Cuba
(12) - Contrasts and Contradictions"
"Hello from Cuba
(13) - Exploring Downtown Havana"
"Hello from Cuba
(14) - Field Trips and Interviews"
"Hello from Cuba
(15) - Getting ready to say 'Goodbye, Havana'..."
"Hello from Cuba
(16) - The final day"
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