The Head And Heart Of Cuba

Many travelers travel with their concrete itinerary in mind – where they need to be and a list of the “not-to-be-missed” attractions. Some, like us, create virtual maps with the locations of these places and follow a walking tour of their own making. During our recent trip to Cuba, however, we decided to let the journey unfold throughout the day’s tour. We still created a map of places of interest, but handed over the control of what we would focus on to our hearts. What did this mean for us? We remained flexible when the itinerary was adjusted and truly focused on the lives and rich history of the Cuban people. 

Time was a big topic from the minute we stepped off the ship. The start of the tour was 30 minutes later than scheduled. “Cuban time” was coined by many fellow travelers in response to waiting patiently for things to happen. As seasoned travelers, we chose to let the day’s events develop without stressing about the day’s schedule.

What did we notice when we shifted our focus to the people of Cuba? The old and new exist side-by-side and sometimes even within the same building. Old Havana’s infrastructure has been damaged by many years of tropical storms and hurricanes and a lack of funding to focus on supporting the many revitalization efforts.  And, because our focus was on the people, we found bright spots and beauty rising out of ashes everywhere we went. 

One of the stops on out tour was to a cultural center that featured rapping grandmas – you read that right, the head rapper was 90! The whole performance was in Spanish so we understood much of what they were singing about. We then visited an inter-faith community museum that was filled, room-after-room, with artifacts and instruments from many of the world’s religious beliefs and practices. All were respectfully brought to life for us to learn more about. Again, this was not on our personal itinerary, but we were able to learn more about the people who had welcomed us to their beautiful country and the grandmas gave great hugs.

Rum and cigars anyone? While at the el Morro fortress, we visited the historic, in-house cigar and rum shop. The Guinness Book of World Records winning, hand-rolled cigar is housed there and is encased in a set of displays on the wall. The rum? It was extremely inexpensive and they had several great choices. We did purchase a few bottles in addition to some Cuban coffee. We spent 168 CUCs total for all 5 items. The best part of that visit was the time spent with the shop owners. They went overboard to answer our questions and explain historic processes for making rum and rolling cigars. Their passion for their work, history, and heritage was so inspirational. Their faces lit up as they shared about their lives and country’s rich history; their pride was evident in all that they shared.

We ate an authentic Cuban meal for lunch as a part of the tour itinerary. We sat with and grew to know another family from Florida over that meal. We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch of roasted pork, fish, and chicken. The black beans were to die for and the rice was savory. After the meal, we visited a few shops and met a few more locals who were eager to speak of their pride in their country and how they were so looking forward to the “transformation of Cuba” in the years to come. I will always remember the sales associate in the store where I purchased two tiny Cuban flags to use as Christmas ornaments. The other purchase we made was 2 of the Havana Club tall glasses that we drank from during the lunch. I asked for permission to purchase the glasses, which caused much confusion until we said that we collect pint glasses when we travel and wanted them to remind us of the people and places we have visited and met in Cuba. The proprietor came out and gave us permission to purchase the glasses and we both went away happy. I walked away hoping they could enhance their revenues by selling the glasses to future guests.

We saw children walking home from school still sporting their school uniforms and backpacks full of books. They were laughing and very polite, stepping out of the way for our tour group to pass by. According to the tour guide, education is provided to the citizens of Cuba through college and, in exchange, graduates provide 2 years of some type of social service to their country. As an educator in the public schools, I had many questions about that policy but didn’t want to take time away from the other travelers in our group. Perhaps next time…

There were a few times when it was mentioned that currently our countries (USA and Cuba) aren’t getting along very well. Again, we didn’t push on or engage much with the topic because we weren’t there to have deeply philosophical conversations about politics, but to learn and grow as fellow humans who are journeying through life together on this planet. Our governments might not always agree with one another but, as hosts and visitors, we certainly did not have any trouble spending a full day together. 

Cuba will certainly be a country to watch as they strive toward political, economic, and humanitarian growth and prosperity. As a nation, they will need to unite and define those elements in addition to the steps needed to reach those goals. Tourism is proving lucrative and seems to be providing much of the funding to being and sustain redevelopment. We are appreciative of their hospitality and look forward to spending more time getting to know Cuba and her people.