Oh, boy, are we happy about Cuba and the US being friends again and exchanging prisoners. I actually did not know when I became a member of my family that papa grew up in Cuba and used to go to school there as a boy and chewed on sugar cane as a treat and swam in that wonderful water and ate black beans and rice and fried plantains and listened to incredible Cuban music, not to mention the music of the language, which is very, very different from the Spanish of Mexico or Spain.
You can hang out with musicians anytime, anywhere.
Mama and papa went to cuba some years ago when they had a couple of weeks and they were supposed to go only with a group (legally), but the group and leader fell through at the last minute and they flew away alone to Havana, rented a car, and drove all over the place, picking up hitchhikers (all of whom were very educated and almost always an “ex” something—lawyer, doctor, businessperson. Everyone was so incredibly friendly and and lively that they came back almost unable to describe the sweetness of Cuba.
There were some amazing characters on the streets, too…This man was piercingly nice to mama and papa.
And little yellow cabs to ride around in, not to mention the old cars that have been maintained so beautifully.
So now I guess everyone from the US will be going without hassles, and maybe mama and papa will take me along on the next trip! Because of so many prohibitions when they went, they ate in paladares, private homes that are allowed to serve food,, and it was WONDERFUL, they said. There was music in the casa de musica, one in each neighborhood, and poetry readings and dancing and festivals…
Some of the women are really TALL, haha.
What a magical place in which to be a guest, and now, who knows what will happen and how it might change. Let’s hope it maintains its character and integrity and stays Cuban.
And there are kitties everywhere!
I’m looking forward to those mojitos, haha.
What do they put in those things anyway…?
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