Cuba Revisited

It’s been nearly seven months since I returned from my adventure in Cuba. Sometimes it seems like a lifetime ago. The thrill and excitement of the trip have worn away now that I am not talking and writing about it as much as I had been. I wonder how it is we keep it with us.

I liken this after effect to the excitement pre leaving.  There’s so much to do to get ready, planning and packing and organizing, that those months leading up to the trip are filled with anticipation and are nearly as exhilarating as the trip itself.

Afterwards, it is possible to relive the trip for months in the sharing of it.  It never quite gets old showing pictures and telling stories of the places you’ve been and the things you’ve done, does it?  I can tell the same story of diving the cenote or salsa dancing with the bartender over and over again. 

Recently a friend returned from a legal trip to Cuba. She actually flew direct from Miami, something I didn’t know was possible. She has a step brother living and working there which made the trip legal.  She even has a stamp in her passport.

When she told me she’d be going, I was thrilled. It was another opportunity to share my experience and relive hers.

She went at the exact right time.  A month or so prior, President Obama announced plans to improve relations with Cuba. She got there before everything changed; a huge reason why I went when I did as well.  A huge reason why anyone, I imagine, goes to Cuba; to see the pristine country untouched by commercialism and progress.

But she also got there on the cusp of change.  Listening to her stories brought back a flood of excitement for my time in Cuba, and a sense of awe at how quickly things can shift, perhaps especially when The United States is involved.

The propaganda posters and billboards that I was so fond of photographing while traveling in Cuba were suddenly gone just a month or so after the news of the decision to establish a US embassy in Cuba.  American flags swiftly joined Cuban flags on poles outside of hotels and other establishments, something I never imagined possible, at least not so soon.

The few Cubans who were willing to speak with her, most still in their pre announcement fear, spoke a bit of hope and progress.  There was excitement over the eventual access to the world wide web and cell phones to call family members in the states, even the possibility of seeing loved ones again.

I’m glad I went when I did. (Don't get me wrong, I see all the benefits of where Cuba and the US are heading. I think it's about time really. And mind you, it hasn't gone unnoticed, the fact that all these changes mean we might one day be able to purchase that most precious of liquors, Havana Club, right here in my own country!) I got to see the Cuba we all think about when we think of Cuba.  I had a strong feeling things would be changing very soon and therefore bumped up my travel there, deciding I couldn’t afford to wait.  I’m glad I didn’t.  My friend got to see the beginning of a new era, and those who travel after her, will not see the Cuba she and I saw.