overview of my Cuban holiday

OVERVIEW OF MY CUBAN HOLIDAY

 

This country of 12 million people is fascinating to me because it is such a beautiful island with such a diverse population. The Cuban representative from Sunwing (SunQuest vacations) which I usually use , even has Chinese in his background. So many different countries ruled and inhabited  Cuba , even the English .....for one year!They have many provinces (12...I think) and they joked that because so many Canadians come here they are going to give us our own province.... about time I say!

 

 Most I met are happy and friendly and who is to say that their government oppressing them is such a bad thing? The freedoms are coming for them albeit at a much slower pace than the rest of the world. The embargos may be hurting them but then again look at other countries and the crime and drugs and greed and...and...

 

 These people have the basics which we all should have.... like food , water, shelter , education ....and it is mandatory that everyone be educated, plus it is all free... and free healthcare! Even we don’t have free dental and eye care. Our kids drop out of school and drugs are a real problem in our society... not so in Cuba.Cubans have little access to internet and TV is censored , although they do have CCTV(Chinese TV broadcast in English with the moderators sounding like western journalists ...omg ...it was pretty funny to me!) This is in the hotels and I have to admit I didn’t turn it on much at all.

 

 The charm of this island is that it is isolated and you’ll see we aren’t all walking around with our handheld devices keeping in touch with stuff back home... remember this is supposed to be down time, so relax you are not supposed to be working. Phones will work btw... they have Cubacell but as always, be careful about those data roaming charges...ouch !

 

 I love the old buildings, and how they keep the old cars on the road is beyond me. The many artists and art work is amazing and I finally bought a painting for myself. The carvings in wood and antlers and coconuts is amazing, and things made out of tin and pop cans and auto parts and...and... the list goes on . I had to keep turning over the items to see if it was made in china but everything is made here by hand and they are a pretty inventive lot. The wood carvings are very beautiful.

 

 Beggars are starting to pop up everywhere but our tour guide on the Havana tour suggested we give our money wisely to the  people looking after us (something that you are getting service for)a nd not encourage the begging on the streets that is outright getting something for nothing and encouraging child abuse....because there is usually an adult out there taking the money from them. Great idea !

 

 Hemmingway loved this island and lived in a hotel in the middle of Havana. It is still a thriving hotel and this is my second time here and I haven’t explored it...dam!!!! Next time I am going to stay in it!

 

Change is coming...you can see it and you can feel it , but much slower than our fast paced way of life....god I love it here....insert smiley face!!

 

WAW....I don’t want to go home!

 

 

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