Cuba: Where Heaven and Earth Meet

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Cuba: Where Heaven and Earth Meet
by msabaye
15-Feb-2010
 

Being in Cuba is like being somewhere at the boundary of heaven and earth. The endless turquoise ocean, dreamlike sun and breeze, and mesmerizing landscape whisper in one's ears: "Why this is heaven. Nor am I out of it." Stepping into the cities, browsing in supermarkets, and talking to the locals take you back to earth and its realities.

But there is more to Cuba than its natural beauty. Warm, kind, and beautiful people are also a great part of what makes the Cuba experience an ethereal one. I had never felt so safe anywhere in this world. OK, maybe in Yazd in Iran. I remember seeing open doors of some houses in Yazd and asked the guide about it. He said it was very safe; people didn't feel they needed to close their doors.  

Now, if you are a resort person, you can continue living in heaven uninterrupted. I get bored to death having a lot of fun or rest. I need something to engage my mind. And there was a lot in Cuba. 

On the road from Havana to Varadero, we saw very many young and old men and women hitchhiking day and night. It is a very common, safe, free mode of commuting all over Cuba. Driving was fairly good considering the road was shared by cars, bicycles and sometimes horses. The streets were full of old, I mean really old cars painted in amazing colours I had not seen anywhere. The cabs were amazing: yellow and a really funky shape.  

In general, people cared about their appearances. Regardless of their occupation or social position, they seemed to pay attention to their looks. I liked that; I saw so many colours and then I came back to Canada and everyone was in grey, white, black interrupted by a few in dark navy and dark brown.

People also seemed happy. I saw people who were in charge of providing tissue in return for a small sum of money for public washrooms. They were laughing and joking and talking happily. I have not seen that anywhere in Europe where the public washrooms also have attendants. And certainly not in Iran.

My guide was a young man who was very disappointed that they were not allowed to have credit cards. He was upset that he had to save money for a long time to buy things. I told him about the huge debt Canadians incur at the moment on their credit cards. He seemed surprised.   

Before I went to Cuba, I asked the health officials in Canada what vaccines I needed to take. None, they said, as Cuban health care has eradicated all epidemics for ages. When I got to the airport in Varadero, I noticed all workers wore masks. I assumed there was an epidemic there! And realized quickly that they protected themselves against all that we might have taken to their country. Health care is available to all Cuban citizens without any payment.

Education is not just free but mandatory. University entrance has exams. Everyone is paid more or less the same salary. I wondered how many people I knew (Iranians, Canadians, Europeans, Americans) would go through years of study and training in medicine if they knew they were going to be paid as much as a clerk or janitor or driver. I couldn't help asking, why do people go into medicine? Love of their profession, my guide said. I was embarrassed.

I secretly hoped that I could, by some extraordinary incident, see Castro. I asked where he lived (no, I was not planning an incident. It was an innocent question). I was told that Castro lived in a military base in secret. He moves about without anyone knowing when or where. Whether any of this was true, I have no idea, but I got a sense of how some people felt. I asked the guide, is Castro rich? Well, he owns the country, he said! So I gathered he must be rich.

People cannot have their own business, and worse than that, they cannot travel. I couldn't get over these. Also, food is rationed. My guide said every person is allocated 10 eggs a month (I think). He said that there was a shortage of food and a thriving black market. Walking through the supermarkets reminded me of shops after the revolution and at the start of the war in Iran. I don't know how many of you remember these. I remember the shelves were half empty. Whatever they had in stock was sold but not replaced. There was hardly any variety.

Satellites were forbidden too. And people kept trading dishes and ... Sounds familiar?

Tissue was a rarity in Cuba. I mean that. If you have allergy problems, like I do, make sure you stock up on tissue if you travel to Cuba. There were no tissue boxes, only small packages. I had a severe allergy attack and felt miserable on two accounts: one being incapacitated by my allergy, two constantly focusing on how to get tissue to wipe off my watery eyes and runny nose. We walked all over old Havana and we found no tissue in any pharmacy or supermarket. I later saw a doctor in a medical clinic who provided medication and saved the rest of my trip.

There were no vending machines either. But I didn't care about that. Most things were European or European style, understandingly as US is in very bad terms with Cuba. The coffee is great. Even in a kiosk on the road, they have a coffee machine that brews espresso, Americano, etc. I drank 6-7 cups a day, and thanks to the allergy medication which made me utterly drowsy, I didn't lose any sleep.

Old Havana was beautiful but not in very good shape. It was like an old aristocrat who has lost most of her wealth but none of her grace.

This was the earth part, the reality of people living there. As far as I could tell, for some, this was part of heaven too. For others, it seemed more like hell.

Back to heaven, I remember the banana, avocado, mango, and sugar plantations on the road to Havana. And a sugar mill, and the aroma of sugar in the lush green road winding up toward on a hill...   

Seeing a coconut tree for the first time in my life was one of many wonders of my trip... It was so beautiful...

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Monda

Cuba has #2 spot on my list..

by Monda on

of places to see before I die.  The stories I had read were more along Azadeh's experiences.  I suppose things have improved for tourists.  All in all I have heard reports of down to earth life, beautiful nature, poor but happy natives, fantastic musicians and capable doctors, kids running around lsafely and good food, for very affordable price.  Thank you msabaye for your feedback.

 


Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

Q

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on

Speak for yourself. You think I pay taxes?

  • Do you live in the US and ever buy anything? If you do then you likely pay sales taxes.
  • If you live in a house you either pay property tax or your landlord does and takes it out of your rent.
  • If you work for a living then you pay taxes. If you don't then don't let IRI find out! I won't tell them so you don't have to worry about me  :-)
  • Just using the internet you are paying US taxes.
  • And there is utility tax; phone tax; social security; medicare
  • How about transportation and gas tax.
  • Maybe you are a preist and live off donations I suppose. If you live in the US you are paying taxes. 

Don't feed the beast!

 

 

 


Q

it's not blocked actually, I checked!

by Q on

You pay taxes that are used to bomb Afghanistan.

Speak for yourself. You think I pay taxes?

Also, I don't do this just online, so I need to be here.


Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

But Q

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on

I have too much fun prompting people like you to say ignorant things. This is where I belong!

You don't need to be here to write in IC do you? They have internet in Cube or is IC blocked!

When you live here you are a part of the system. You pay taxes that are used to bomb Afghanistan. You are feeding beast :-) Out there you get  benefits of free services, and low crime. Big brother will tell you where to live; what job to have; what to say and what to think. It is just like Islam: everything is pre determined by VF aka Fidel! 


Q

Veiled, why would I move?

by Q on

I have too much fun prompting people like you to say ignorant things. This is where I belong!


Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

Q Jan

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on

 

Since Cuba is such a great place when are you moving :-)


Q

Azadeh, it has changed a lot in the last 10 years

by Q on

I have travelled to several places in the Caribbean. One fact of life in modern Island life is that almost all goods must be shipped in and that makes them very expensive. The embargo against Cuba is all the more devestating because of this fact alone.

However, people in other Caribbean islands, the "capitalist" ones friendly to the US don't have it any better off. From Jamaica to Barbados, the local population is generally poor and corruption is high. On the smaller Islands, British and American firms usually have monopolies on basic utilities, Internet, etc. Violent crime, usually much higher than Cuba, although muggings of tourists are now common in Havana I'm told and the police presence really helps with this.

What does human rights mean if police are corrupt and abuse their power and politicians are owned by even mid-size businesses that can throw their weight around on these small economies?

Having McDonald's and KFC available on the Islands hasn't solved any problems.

You never hear about any of this because the North American Corporate Media has not interest in covering them, and that's why you end up with people ignorant of the real situation.


MeyBokhor_Manbarbesuzan

638 ways to kill Castro

by MeyBokhor_Manbarbesuzan on


MeyBokhor_Manbarbesuzan

@Veiled Naive Prophet of God Knows Where

by MeyBokhor_Manbarbesuzan on

I quote you, "If Cuba is such a heaven then why does Castro have to hide in a military base; what is he afraid of?"

If you broaden your history knowledge beyond that which is propagated by the History Channel, you will see the number of admitted and non-admitted assasination attempts by the CIA on his life.


Azadeh Azad

Dear msabaye

by Azadeh Azad on

I travelled to Cuba twice, once in the early 80's and another time in the 90's. Based on your experience, it is obvious that things have changed for the better - at least when it comes to tourists (less paranoia.)

I did not mention the free and universal Health Care or the free Education for all, because you had covered them both. I must add that artists (unlike writers) are free to express themselves in any way they like (unlike the old USSR.)  These are the progressive aspects of the Cuban society.

Meanwhile, dictatorship, censorship and absence of Human rights   remain major issues in the Cuban system.

Azadeh


rustgoo

Obsessed with toilet paper

by rustgoo on

The outright poverty in Cuba is an American induced phenomenon.


Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

People also seemed happy.

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on


People also seemed happy. I saw people who were in charge of providing tissue in return for a small sum of money for public washrooms.

I find this horrendous and distasteful. I suspect they do this just for rich capitalist tourists. Who else is going to pay to get a sheet of toilet paper? So the Cubans are so poor that they go around handing out toilet paper for money to tourists. Am I the only one who thinks something is odd with this picture?


Education is not just free but mandatory. University entrance has exams. Everyone is paid more or less the same salary.

Well no wonder people are happy handing out toilet paper. Why advance in life? Why bother since you are not going to be rewarded for hard work.


hamsade ghadimi

one's heaven

by hamsade ghadimi on

it seems that you had a great trip.  a heavenly trip.  but it also felt like a bit of a promotional piece for the cuban government (e.g. education, health care).  i met a group of american hikers the last time i visited iran.  it's ironic becaue just as your description of cuba, these americans described iran as heaven on earth.  they had a fabulous time and had hiked to the summit of demavand.  they had great food, shopped in the bazar and travelled to masouleh. i had a great time there on my visit but i wouldn't have rated it as heavenly as the americans since i could see the poverty and homelessness (it was worse than i had seen before).  needless to say, i had the option to leave the country.  i hate to admit it though, if i had to live in iran and work for a living, it would not have been heaven on earth.  for me that is.

thanks for your story.  it was very informative and i can't wait to see cuba.


msabaye

the trip

by msabaye on

Yes, I went there from Canada. We could go anywhere we wanted. The cost differs from one place to the other and depends on length of trip, your origin and destination, and the type of resort/hotel you choose. There are many places on the web advertising trips. I just picked one that fitted my schedule and budget. 

We rented a cab with an English speaking guide for a whole day to travel from Varadero to Havana for 180 ccu (about 205 Canadian). To Trinidad it cost about 240 ccu.  


msabaye

A heaven between Fidel, and American embargo!

by msabaye on

No, I didn't hear anything about Trudeau. The opposite can be said about Hemingway. I was taken to the hotel he lived in and a pub he frequently visited.  


msabaye

My experience

by msabaye on

Thanks for sharing. When was this? We travelled freely; we rented a cab with a driver who spoke English. We travelled from Varadero to Havana and intended to go to Trinidad, but I got very ill. Our guide invited us for dinner at his house; we declined because of my illness. So, I didn't feel any restrictions on contact with Cubans.


Azadeh Azad

My experience

by Azadeh Azad on

My experience was different from that of Ms. msabaye.

I found the nature very beautiful - the turqoise ocean and sandy shores as soft as ashes! However, there were strict limitations for travelling in the country. After flying to Havana (Cost: CND$1000.00 for two weeks, plane, food, room included), we were taken on a charter bus to Varadero Beach where all Canadians are taken. One day, we were taken on another bus to Havana to visit the Plaza de la Revolucion and other historical and commercial sites for a day.

 Havana is gorgeous and full of beautiful/historical houses that are crumbling. People are friendly and of different ethnicities (from Chinese to African to Indians - descendants of slaves.) We were not allowed to travel to other parts of Cuba and were forbidden to invite Cubans to our rooms. We could not visit Cubans in their homes neither. Photography of anyone in army uniform was forbidden.

It took me 3 days of negotiations with the immigration office to be allowed to go back to Havana by myself. Cubans themselves cannot move from one province to another for work or simply because they like another part of the country better.

People have money, but there is nothing to buy! Life is slow and lazy. People are passive: they have given up! 

An unexpected scene was to see the pictures of Marx, Engels and lenin inside round neon lights, as in advertising, on the way to downtown Havana!

Store clerks ask you for 5 times more when you buy things. Be very careful!

Azadeh


David ET

امروز نیکاراگوئه، کوبا و ونزوئلا از رژیم تهران حمایت کردند

David ET


به گزارش خبرگزاری فرانسه از ژنو، کشورهای غربی امروز در نشست شورای حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد، سرکوب خونین مخالفان رژیم تهران در جریان اعتراضات اخیر در ایران را قویا محکوم کردند. 

در شروع این نشست، محمد جواد لاریجانی رئیس هیئت نمایندگی جمهوری اسلامی از رعایت حقوق بشر در ایران سخن گفت که با واکنش شدید کشورهای غربی روبرو شد. 

نمایندگان آمریکا و فرانسه در سخنان خود با رد اظهارات لاریجانی، رفتار خشونت آمیز رژیم تهران علیه معترضان در جریان اعتراضات پس از انتخابات ماده ژوئن در ایران را قاطعانه محکوم کردند. 

نماینده فرانسه گفت، رژیم تهران با اختناق بی سابقه و سرکوب خونبار، مردم ایران را که در پی حقوق جهانشمول خود هستند، در معرض خطر قرار داده است. 

وی گفت، گزارشهای بسیاری در باره بازداشت، حبس و شکنجه معترضان و تجاوز به زندانیان در ماههای اخیر دریافت شده است. دهها نفر در تظاهرات ضد دولتی کشته و هزاران تن دیگر نیز دستگیر و روانه زندان شده اند. 

نماینده فرانسه در شورای حقوق بشر سازمان ملل اعلام کرد که کشورش خواهان تشکیل یک گروه تحقیق بین المللی برای رسیدگی به اقدامات خشونت بار رژیم تهران علیه معترضان است. 

بنا براین گزارش، کشورهای آمریکا، انگلستان و فرانسه امروز رژیم تهران را فراخواندند که اعزام گزارشگران ویژه سازمان ملل به ایران برای رسیدگی به وضعیت حقوق بشر در این کشور را بپذیرد. 
در نشست امروز کشورهای نیکاراگوئه، کوبا و ونزوئلا از رژیم تهران در برابر کشورهای غربی حمایت کردند.

دوشنبه، 26 بهمن ماه 1388 
ایران پرس نیوز 


بت شکن

Cuba?!!! Heaven?!!! Earth?!!!

by بت شکن on

What is this Miss? A propagnada piece for the Central Comittee of the Cuban Revolutionary Politburaue? Either you have not traveled enough around the world or you have written this with an ulterior motive - or bit of both. It is clear from your comparison of the "toilet paper people" in Havana and Europe and suggesting that the Cubans were happy handing out toiler papers wherease their European counterparts or Americans if you will are sad, you have a strong leftist sympathies disguised (or may be not) under a thin veil of pseudo- intellectulism.

 

Please don't tell me about Cuba. The only  people who find their heavens there are gays and lesbians.


میرزاقلندر

"...Cuba is and has been a full dictatorship..."

by میرزاقلندر on

It was an American agenda to portray Cuba as a "Russian thing" back then, to support their cold war interests. Castro was not a "communist" so to speak, to begin with.And his so-called dictatorship is a consequential by-product of the American foreign policy.


AMIR1973

Mirza qalandar

by AMIR1973 on

What dictatorship doesn't have a "support base"? You don't think the lousy regimes in Syria, Saudi Arabia, N Korea, and Egypt have a support base? Really?

Actually, I didn't mention Cuba or Venezuela. Venezuela at least has a popularly elected leader and is not a religious dictatorship where the Leader can only ever be an akhoond chosen by other akhoonds, and where akhoonds are present at every significant lever of power. IRI is the world's only perfect political system, because it is guided by Eslam-e Nab-e Mohammadi. Moreover, it's charismatic and freedom-loving President has predicted the collapse of the US (which will go the way of the USSR) and indeed of all liberalism.

Oh yeah, Iran is a democracy following democratic processes. Was the Leader popularly elected way back in 1989? What basic rights does the Iranian public enjoy? One would think that opposing a right-wing theocracy which has murdered many thousands of leftists (as well as monarchists, other Islamists, Bahais, adulterers or anyone else opposing its medieval rule) would be easy for "progressives" who support Cuba and Venezuela. But alas, for some "progressives" it seems that it's just a little too painful or embarrassing to face the fact that the Democratic People's Islamic Republic of Iran is a regime that has killed more Iranians than any other in its modern history. Instead, let's talk about its "democratic processes". Oh yeah, IRI is much more democratic than, say the USA: after all, it's a "people's democracy"  :-)


Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

Mirza

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on

 

I was  talking about Cuba. Then you brought up IRR. Now Venezuela. They are all different. 

  • Cuba is and has been a full dictatorship for decades. No elections or anything and its dictator hides in a hole. 
  • IRR was a pseudo democracy until recently. It has now become a military dictatorship.
  • Venezuela was a democracy and still has some of it left. However Chavez is doing his best to turn it into a Cuban style dictatorship.

The only one with an possible majority support is Venezuela. That is because of the unique makeup of that nation. Hugo Chavez represents the indigenous population while the right the European immigrants. Plus he did a lot to help the poor Native American majority. There is no similar situation in either Cuba or Iran.


میرزاقلندر

"...A better statement would be..."

by میرزاقلندر on

Denying the existing support base in Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, etc. is not helpful. One cannot forget the fact that the recent situation in Iran followed an election; which is a democratic process. Annulling it for the undesirable outcome, is so undemocratic.


Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

Re: "dictator who refuses to submit to public..."

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on

 

The Floridian public to Cuba is as irrelevant as LA public to Iran!! Who is relevant to Castro and IRR? A better statement would be:

The Cuban public to Castro is as irrelevant as Iranian public to IRR!!

 


AMIR1973

میرزاقلندر (Mirza Qalandar)?

AMIR1973


Actually, the Iranian public is as irrelevant to IRI as the public in L.A., Florida or beloved Gaza. Please remember: the Leader of the country ("Rahbar") is the representative of the Twelfth Imam until he returns him from "occultation" ("ta enqelab-e Mahdi). Or are you a believer in the notion that IRI is an "Islamic democracy" or a "people's democracy", much likes it freedom-loving missile supplier, N Korea (aka Democratic People's Republic of Korea)?


ahmad_

the trip

by ahmad_ on

I assume that you flu from canada to Cuba, but were you on a tour to see the cities as well or just to stay in a compound?

what is the average cost of a trip?

In you go out of the resort area, what are the costs?


Rea

Heaven and Hell rather

by Rea on

Heaven for Castro and his camarades, hell for everybody else.


میرزاقلندر

"dictator who refuses to submit to public..."

by میرزاقلندر on

The Floridian public to Cuba is as irrelevant as LA public to Iran!!


Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

Re: "why does Castro have to hide..."

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on

I am not a leader aka dictator of a nation. I don't owe anyone revealing my identity. If someone wants to run a country they do owe people. They must listen to people and submit to their judgment. Castro is a tin plated dictator who refuses to submit to public. 

He has good reason not to go out of hiding. He would have to face his victims. So he hides deepr in his hole. Just like Saddam did.


میرزاقلندر

"why does Castro have to hide..."

by میرزاقلندر on

Fair question if asked by people who don't hide behind an avatar!