Day 10-11: Mambo de la Luna, thoughts from the road

Snake eyes on the paradise, and we’ve got to go today.

These are just road thoughts, a further attempt to pull together what I’ve experienced over the last 10 days. That sort or piece where any better writer would be able to neatly wrap things up in a paragraph, or an Anthony Bourdain show could sum things up well in a couple of lines and a decent final shot.

Cuba has been challenging, that’s for sure. All travel is challenging, or at least it should be: there is no point going around the world just to experience what you have at home everywhere you go. For Cuba, some of the challenge has been in the typical things: different language, different weather, different customs.

Some of the challenges have been fairly unique: I can’t remember the last time in my life where I had no mobile phone coverage for 10 consecutive days, it was probably back in the early 2000s when I moved down to Narrogin. I haven’t been able to receive a call nor a text since I arrived: I’ve been able to take photos, translate words, use apps and access the internet on my mobile, but none of the actual phone things.

The whole Cuban way of buying time cards for internet access has certainly been a challenge, but Cuba is a new internet nation and I’d imagine these won’t last forever.

Having spent the last 4 months learning Spanish via duolingo, I’ve done okay: a little bit better sometimes, not so good at others, but certainly the immersion has helped me get a little bit better each day. I may have lexicon gaps you could drive a bicitaxi through, I have had a couple of moments where Ive been able to get a message across.

I haven’t had any real challenges with the Cuban people, aside from the usual harassment that tourists get anywhere. These people generally strike me as trying to do the best they can with what they’ve got, and while it’s not always easy to judge intent, I believe that most of the people we’ve met want people to come to Cuba and have a good time, they love their country and want to share this with others. They all have stories of a nation with a not-always fortunate past, especially not since the Europeans came (again, not a unique thing). Sadly for Cuba, its first people have been all but wiped out and/or assimilated, unable to tell their own stories, surviving in place names and stray genes.

Cuba is a nation that has constantly faced challenges, however you define the nation: whether it be the first people, enslaved, exterminated, and assimilated thanks to Colombus; the first settlers doing the eradicating while dealing with pirates; the pirates, who were just doing what pirates do to make a buck in those days; the slaves, brought here in chains so that Europeans could have sweet cakes with their sweet coffee; the Spanish descendents who spent 100 years trying to gain some independence and recognition and, with the help of an Argentinian, finally succeeded; to the post-revolutionaries still feeling the effects of the Cold War almost 30 years after the Berlin wall came down. The nation will continue to face challenges: whether it’s getting new tractor parts, or will the nation be able to diversify its exports as I’m not sure how well the future will be for a nation who’s biggest exports include sugar and tobacco.

It is also a nation that seeks to remember its history, having had some big lessons to learn. A nation that builds 6-8 lane highways that can double as airstrips in times of war, with rollers full of spikes beside the road that can be pushed onto the highway to prevent enemy planes and gliders attempting the same. Where its citizens do compulsory two years’ military service.

I’d like to have been able to spend more time here, to get an opportunity to understand better how the slave/African-descended people do things, to experience their food as I am leaving with a feeling that almost all of the food we’ve had has reflected the Spanish/Hispanic influences, regardless of how many times I’ve selected the “criollo” option. Part of me thinks there’s another world of food to be found in Cuba.

I’m challenged by my own thoughts: has my presence here acually helped anyone? When my travel is put on the scales, does it come up slightly good or slightly bad? Has my money, time, attempt at understanding, these blog posts, has any of it managed to positively offset my carbon footprint, all of the plastic bottles of water, my possibly unwelcome and inconvenient presence somewhere far from home, feeding the problem of a nation seemingly dependent on foreign money? Am I making Cuba better or worse by coming, or has my time here actually mattered at all?