12/10: Rise and Shine!

"Mujeres: Levántate y Resplándece" reads a sign in our MLKC classroom: Women, rise and shine! We were all called to rise and shine today to begin our quest to learn from the Cuban people and as organizers, gain a broader understanding of how Cuban society functions. I did not even hear Kera's alarm when she got up to shower, so she had to wake me up! I think we were both expecting issues such as cold water or lack of water or electricity shortages, but fortunately none of that happened yet. We rolled down to the comedor and joined our delegation at the long tables where fresh pineapple, papaya, and watermelon accompanied the fresh bread, frosted corn flakes, coffee, and tea that were present at each breakfast. I am ever thankful for sunshine and tropical fruit in Latin America.

Before the second half of our orientation, I snuck in a few photos of the center in the daylight: the drinking fountain to easily llenar tu botella, fill your water bottle, in preparation of a full day's activities.

Where residents, visitors, and workers would fill up water bottles or gallon jugs.

Views from the dorm staircase balcony.

It was so fun to see soccer played quite frequently on the basketball court just on the other side of the center. I never saw any actual basketball played and I assume futbol is more common, but perhaps some hoops happened at some point.

Dorm windows. Every room has an A/C unit which one should turn off when you are not in the room so as to save electricity, and we actually woke up cold when we had ours set to the lowest cool setting (warmest cool, does that make any sense?), so we just put it on "fan" and that sufficed.

Then it was back to the classroom for part two of orientation: more wise words from Diego and Ariel. Witness for Peace practices international accompaniments in Latin America as they have noticed "when there is an international presence in a region of war, bullets stop flying." And we would delve deeper into the Cuban situation over the course of the delegation, but in a broader light, it is quite odd to have a naval base in what is technically an enemy country (Cuba is on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism...). We would learn more about the US-Cuba relationship from Cuban experts and from our expert delegation staff, and we were also encouraged to just ask Cubans questions. Many speak at least some English, and the population is very well-educated. To get a sense of what everyday Cubans think of their society, you have to talk with them, right?

All in due time. Our first meeting of the day was a warm introduction to the MLKC from its founder and present director, Raul Suarez. This tiny, unassuming man was able to escape from his meetings in the Cuban parliament to speak with our group combined with the other delegation working with the center, a group from Portland State University. Raul was a pastor for 35 years, before and after the Revolution in 1959 that moved quickly towards an atheist Marxist-Leninist model that attempted to stamp out religion because it was seen as backward. After the Revolution came into power, some eighty percent of pastors and priests fled to the U.S., but Raul stayed and kept his role as a Baptist pastor despite facing significant political obstacles, and today he is a well-respected community leader in the realms of both religion and politics.

He first said he wanted to bienvenirnos al calor cubano, welcome us to the Cuban heat! The next-door Ebenezer Baptist church had the idea to form this center and is still closely affiliated, and he thanked us for our presence, saying our visit is close to pastoral companionship. "You are partners in our vision and mission about the world's current situation... We live in different situations and are fully aware that our visions and missions may not be the same, but we do have the ability to search for things that unite us," he declared. One of his powerful messages was that he senses this is a "tiempo guajado," "thick time" filled with history and expectation, that somehow it matters so much that we are here and here now. Who knows what the future will bring in terms of US-Cuban relations, but we are on the cusp of something big, and forging connections between our peoples will only increase the likelihood of peaceful, healthy development. This is a time of kairos, he said, the Greek word for time that instead of chronos, chronological time, indicates "timely time," a time of liberation, a special moment for God's purpose, "God's time."

He laid out his vision of the world for us. Fifty percent is in the hands of God, and the other fifty percent is in the hands of those who control the world: políticos, economistas, iglesias, etc. Priests and pastors are often expected to be intermediaries between God and the rest of us, but he noted sometimes pastors just need to be quiet and that power springs from la base, the base! If warming relations between the US and Cuba follow a higher law, we just might need a broader base.

For a little historical background, Suarez noted that the Revolution was comprised mainly of young people without a single international connection (US or USSR). They were young idealists and laid down their lives for what they believed was right, and there were many Christian martyrs who fought on the grounds of conscience as well. After the triumph of the Revolution (el triunfo de la revolución is the phrase Cubans use to refer to 1959 because the Revolution refers to the government in power since that date), reverends could act as citizens but not based on their faith. Religion was expected to be vertical: "Dios y yo," "God and me," and lealdad, loyalty, to the church and your denomination.

But in 1962, the newly established Revolutionary government took the political leap to the USSR as well as the ideological leap that all of society's spaces should be of the state, and the church was not necessary for the transformation of society. Some religious authorities were content with this arrangement as they felt relieved that the state could take care of the monetary needs of the people and the church could take care of the spiritual needs, but Suarez saw this as extremely contradictory: churches must serve the whole person and understand the economic woes and needs of the people.

He told us of an instance in the 1970's where the houses of three families in the community burned to the ground, and the government simply took too long to respond. In developing countries especially, and in the U.S. as well, churches often step in to fill the gaps to ensure the needs of the community are met. So the church provided materials and labor and built houses for the families, only to have government officials show up and angrily tell them that the church cannot do those kinds of activities. This of course created an uproar, and people went to meet with the officials, which led to much more collaborative relations between church and state in community work.

It was in fact this type of community work that helped remove the atheist nature of the state. It is not supposed to be Catholic, Christian, or atheist. The state is supposed to represent the people. The constitution was then altered to remove every piece of Soviet-style atheism, and new articles appeared that guaranteed freedom of religious faith and practice (Suarez did not say a date, but I have found 1992, post-fall of the USSR).

Religious tension that still exists in Cuba is found in the form of the Catholic-protestant debate, as el Papa, the Pope, claims that there is only one Church, the Roman Catholic church, while Suarez insists "We Cubans have churches." Cuba now recognizes that people have both material and spiritual needs, the government is attempting to serve a more holistic vision of the citizen, and the state is working for unity of the people, recognizing the diversity in all of Cuba: Catholics, other Christians, Hebreos (Jews), practitioners Afro-traditions, etc. Having studied some of unique nature of Cuban religion and its mixing and blending of traditions, I look forward to learning more about how Cubans live out religion and how spiritual needs are being cared for by both political and religious spheres in this age.

This neighborhood itself is the first working class neighborhood in Cuba, started in 1910, and its racial composition needs to be taken into account especially because syncretic religions are still practiced. When Suarez was elected to the legislature to represent this area, he visited the three temples of Afro-Cuban religions and was asked if he is going to represent them even though he is a Baptist pastor, to which he replied, "Yes, sure thing!" And the King Center originated from Christian inspiration but is ecumenical in practice, and it service extends far beyond the church.

African roots have a large impact on Cuban culture, and the Revolution did make some strides for racial equality. Suarez made a point of this distinction, "I don't like to say African descendents because we are all somehow African descendents, but 70-80 percent of this neighborhood has the blood of African slaves." The lives of African slave descendents were not the same as before the Revolution because of social, political, and educational transformations, as well as changes in societal consciousness and mentalities. People met with Fidel and talked with him for hours about representation of blacks in education and culture and the ideal Cuban, and there are still some spaces where work needs to be done, but Suarez says, "There are issues we are replanteando (reconsidering) every day."

Another way in which Cuban society is transforming is toward more acceptance of the LGBT community. For years most LGBT lived in secret, and those who were more outspoken were repressed in the time dominated by "Soviet realism." Now he notes the daughter of President Raul Castro is the head of CENESEX (Cuban National Center for Sex Education), there's a delegate in another municipality who is a transgendered person, and there are movies and debates about LGBT in society, but there is still prejudice and discrimination. As usual, it will take grassroots movement to look at the humanity of everyone, and from there, there can be movement within the government.

When asked about what reforms he would like to see, he said there is a movement to reduce bureaucracy and the number of ministries and decentralize more of the state to the municipios y barrios, the municipalities and neighborhoods. "It's there that our system of Popular Education is working!" There are comprehensive transformation workshops and resources at the local levels, and what is needed now is involvement of the people.

Raul Suarez has also mentioned he has had meetings on self-employment because he is a pastor and a politician. He can walk down the street, just like anyone else, and see people sitting on their portada and selling things out their front door. His main hope is that self-employment will not lead to individualism and destructive competitiveness like he sees in capitalist societies. Legal avenues for self-employment are expanding, but Suarez predicts meaningful changes that may not be what the US or EU expect. What he calls for, like many of us, is for our leaders to sit down and talk! The issue is that neither should impose ideology or conditionality on the other. We know Obama will do A, B, and C if Cuba does X, Y, and Z, but Cuba is the same way with expectations of the US. "The US used to have more problems with Vietnam but we've made up, why not with Cuba?" he asked.

His key is for our governments to talk about what nos une, what unites us. We can work collaboratively to fight terrorism and drug trafficking as well as protect the environment. Cuba has some expert bio-technology, so we could share knowledge between our two nations.

We then stood up and united our circle by joining hands and then applauding to remember this miracle that we're all here and to go back to our peoples with God's blessings. Phew! That's only the morning? We are learning so much already! What a great way to kick off our time in this community.

Our delegation then transitioned to an economic focus with first some background on Cuba's "dual economy." I am ever thankful for my Cuban Politics seminar at Carleton so I was somewhat familiar with Cuba's economic workings, but it was great for Ariel to break it down for all of us and its implications for Cuban society. First of all, Cuba has two currencies. One is the Cuban peso, which Ariel said Cubans have dubbed the "pijama peso" because it is only to be used in-house (and doesn't make sense anywhere else in the world). The average salary is about 420-450 Cuban pesos per month, which comes out to roughly $18 USD.

$18 a month sure does not sound like a lot, right? One would think that would be impossible to survive on, but extreme poverty is absent in Cuban reality. $18 is their take-home in addition to the libreta, the ration book that every Cuban family gets to start the month with something, and the salary on top of the libreta they can do with what they wish. The libreta covers staples such as beans, rice, sugar, salt, bread, and then milk for children under seven, but in Ariel's family, the rationed amounts last about ten days, so you need pesos to buy the rest of what you need for the month. Impossible? Well, education and medical care are basically free, and less than twenty percent of the population pays rent (and that percentage of the population will have to start paying some property taxes starting this year, but the other eighty percent do not pay property taxes). In Cuba, you can own a house, but you do not own the land. The government does give people leases to land in the countryside to go farm if they want, and they are encouraging more people to go back to the countryside to produce food.

Basically, the Cuban salary goes to extra foodstuffs, electricity, cooking oil, etc. If you want to buy different special items like beer, soap, hygiene items, and other specialty items not included in the libreta, you need the other currency, CUC: Cuban convertible pesos. Before 1994, a Cuban would be jailed if caught with dollars in their possession because of the huge stigma around foreign dependence. However, in the midst of economic crisis in the 1990's, the government resorted to a couple capitalist measures to stimulate the economy and fund its socialist system, namely allowing US dollars into the economy so Cuba could use this currency in the global market. In '94 they also allowed some private businesses, but with huge controls and high taxes.

Anyways, starting in 1998, all foreign currencies upon entering the country (US dollars, Spanish pesetas, and now euros) have to be changed into CUC for use in the country, and Cubans who can provide services to foreigners have a distinct advantage over those who cannot because they can earn CUC, which they can spend in special dollar stores for more specialty items. Therefore, people with private businesses, workers in the tourist industry, cab drivers, and those who receive remittances have access to this second economy with CUC, creating a disparity between them and the large numbers of Cubans without access to CUC.

The saying goes, "If you have faith, you'll be safe," which is a play on the Spanish word fe, which means faith, but f.e. has come to stand for familia en el extranjero: family abroad. If you have relatives abroad, typically in the US, and if they send you money, you can exchange these remittances for CUC and have that advantage as well. Here is where race becomes a factor because education is race-blind and can level the playing field with equal access for all Cubans, but there are more white Cubans in the U.S. and therefore more white Cubans receive remittances, perpetuating a cycle of more whites in higher education and in jobs requiring higher education. Continuing education through college may not be an option for families needing more salaries, so the pattern is that more black families without anyone to send them remittances cannot afford to keep their kids in school as long, needing them to work sooner. Another aspect in the mix is that black Cubans who leave the country face more discrimination abroad so they do not make as much money in other countries as white Cubans do, and are sending fewer remittances back to black Cuban families in this context as well.

The Cuban system is not without its flaws, and there is movement within the government to address the inherent inequities in this dual economy system. Furthermore, the whole concept of rations comes under critique, but at least as Ariel pointed out the example of the poorest country in Central America, Nicaragua (where I have also personally seen how creative people have to be with the little take-home they have), which is also socialist, but they get no help in terms of basic foodstuffs if they are struggling. At least the government gives you something, he says.

With this basic knowledge in hand, we took a field trip to a bodega, a distribution center. Every family has a specific distribution center (there is basically one on every block), and it is rare that you will be able to buy all that you need for the month in one shot because items get to the bodegas at different times and they may be out of something you need when you go. If you've stuck with me this long through all the wordiness, here are finally some pictures for your enjoyment!

A weighing scale. 

Ariel giving us a sense of the workings of the bodega.

Various items for display and "Happy New Year!" wishes.

Here the bodega owner shows us the famous Cuban cigars which actually used to be on the libreta and therefore rationed out to the population, but they were taken off because they are now considered a public health risk.

Bob getting a whiff of this variety.

Everything here is heavily subsidized, and this distribution board denotes the items in stock and their prices. As I mentioned before, what people need beyond their rations, they can buy here at these subsidized prices.

So we have now seen one side of the dual economy, and our next mission was to walk to a dollar store to see what you have access to with CUC. On our walk, we ran across someone's horse and buggy they had stashed outside of the bodega!

Also, this little dog really wanted to come with us.

The typical Cuban vehicle.

We could not take pictures of the actual dollar store, and Diego kindly waited outside with our bags that we would have otherwise had to check at the front, but we did get to go inside and explore. Inside we found air conditioning, a whole wall of shoes (though nothing will ever compare to the insanity of American shoe stores), a few different Cuban brands of toiletry products, a section of special foodstuffs like ice cream bars (how are they all Nestle?) and alcohol. The main attraction though were the appliances, and upon translating CUC to US dollars, we realized things like a TV that would cost about $300-$400 in the US is priced at about $900 here, way out of the price range of most Cubans. But there are installment plans listed on the price signs, and still, an older black woman quietly, with embarrassment, asked Elise for money. Like I said, access to CUC has created somewhat of a rift in an ideally egalitarian society, and that was just one instance that it played out in our consciousness.

From the dollar store we crossed a huge intersection with what appeared to be four streets going every which way and returned to start processing what we had overloaded our brains with over lunch. Congri is the Cuban version of Nicaragua's gallo pinto, a typical rice and beans dish, and we had our first taste of a type of cassava called malanga, a pretty bland but smooth root vegetable, in addition to beets, tomatoes, and chicken. Some social commentary learned over our eats with our expert team:
- People generally have what they need from the government, but not all that they want. Kind of human nature though.
- There are few people living on the streets, and those who are on the streets mainly have some mental issues or other kinds of issues, otherwise everyone pretty much has access to housing. There is a housing crunch, especially in Havana, but the government has of course noticed that and has renovation plans to house all families safely.
- There is a strong sense of art appreciation here especially because the competitive fire is not necessary to make it in the art world. Of course artists have to get noticed, but if you want to be an artist, you can choose to be an artist, and your salary will be basically the same as if you choose to be a professor or a dancer, which may sound funny to us. The catch is that if you make the right stuff to get noticed by the international market, your art is a way to make some international currency and have that "in" to the CUC economy. But more on that later.

Next up: a tour of the MLKC with Diego. We learned the center gets funding from different international grants, and there are so many activities all tucked away in this building, like a library that just got built, a socio-theology center, an IT center, another room where the MLKC can publish books and materials, and then Diego's office! Which is basically a closet, but he can do his writing and communicate with the Witness world when he can.

Here's Elise, our Witness for Peace-Upper Midwest Regional Organizer with the WFP-Cuba door!

The empty comedor a little while after the meal.

The center rotates t-shirts and other banners left from various delegations.

This and a couple other signs may be more permanent fixtures though: "Latin America against military bases."

Also this "Stop the Blockade" sign with poetry from Cuba's independence (from Spain) hero, José Martí.

We adventured back outside the center for our next meeting, and this is the typical scene just across our little street: people hanging out on the red benches, either waiting for a bus or just observing life.

¡Hola Diego! He and Tineke are on their way behind us as we head to the doctor's office for a check-up of our knowledge of the Cuban healthcare system.

People out and about. Or "oat in a boat," if you tried your Minnesotan accent on for size.

The rest of our herd up ahead.

Bright colors and adapted housing are really endearing to me.

A sign for a CDR: Committee for the Defense of the Revolution. These were initially created to be the eyes and ears of the Cuban government and Communist strongholds in every neighborhood, but now they mainly function as the most local connection to the government to serve the people's needs.

"Caution, there are dogs."

Upon walking into the clinic, Diego asked me if I knew who the man in the poster was. He's probably thirty-something in this photo, but here's el Presidente, Raul Castro, to be exact.

Aquí está la doctora, here we have our doctor! Betsy translates as she explains she is part of the primary level of healthcare -- Cuban healthcare has three levels: one is clinics like this one, two is hospitals, and three is institutions such as facilities dedicated to research.

With all of her flare, the doctor gave us the rundown on Cuba's world-reknowned medical system. Their most important focus is prevention, and they divide the population into four groups for strategic care delivery. 1 is healthy, 2 is at risk for HIV/AIDS/alcoholism/drug addiction, 3 is sick or affected by ailments such as high blood pressure, and 4 is deaf or handicapped in some way. These different groups then have different scheduled appointments, so 1's have one appointment per year, 2's have two, and 3's and 4's have three per year.

Besides those regular check-ups, the clinics offer programs for mothers and children and programs to raise awareness about and prevent cholera, dengue, and other transmittable diseases. For sexual health, Cubans have access to regular exams for prostate cancer and pap smears.

And what is truly revolutionary that Cuba has exported especially to other Latin American countries is their vaccination technology. Here they are incredibly systematic about vaccinating their children, starting with one vaccine administered within a baby's first two months that prevents five different kinds of disease in one shot! And there is a whole series through the baby's first 18 months.

They are also able to keep great records for the district each clinic serves of who lives there and how many people live in each house. The government redistricts by census once in a while, but the doctora said the beauty of this kind of system and being a neighborhood doctor is that "I have seen them grow up since they were babies, and I have seen older people become ancianos." She serves just 1,025 and truly serves a community.

She was so gracious in answering our many questions, explaining in response to one on how Cuba addresses issues of domestic violence, that the mother-child program has its own physician and psychologist, and there are more specialized centers throughout the country. The "people at risk" category, the 2's, covers potential prostitution or drug risk as well, and there are houses for women to help them "not fall into prostitution," as it would be translated. Similarly, if she notices any possible autistic behaviors in a child, she can send them on to a more specialized clinic, where if they are positively diagnosed, they are then moved to a special school better equipped to serve them.

Here are just some of the flyers from public health campaigns to raise awareness about programs available and bring issues such as homophobia into public consciousness. One in the lower left reads: "La homosexualidad no es peligro, homofobia es. No desprecies, ridiculices, y aisles a una persona por su orientación sexual": "Homosexuality is not the danger, homophobia is. Do not look down on, ridicule, or isolate a person for their sexual orientation."

She seemed wonderfully content with her job and how the system works, although if she could ask for improvements, she said it is tough that sometimes they cannot get enough of the medicamentos (medicines) they need and that they do not have the resources to buy a computer, which would be of immense help with the paperwork processes. Coming off our time learning about Cuban salaries, when asked about it, the doctor said those who study to be doctors in Cuba are those who love it and love to heal people. You do not do it for the money. "It's a quality of Cubans," she added.

Afterwards, Diego asked the doctora a few extra questions for his research and writing projects.

We just had so many questions for her! Here, with the focus on preventative care, part of her job is to have resources available for people to learn how to eat healthily and to avoid cholera by boiling water. Clinic visits are free, but if you do need medicamentos, they are not free but are más barato, cheaper, than they would be in other countries. And what's more, for those who are considered "at risk" or have less income, there is the possibility to get the medications they need for free. And Bob, one of our delegates (left), works in healthcare reform and pointed out to our doctora cubana, "We in the US are finally learning what you already know - primary care!"

Looking at the Cuban socialist model for development with its emphasis and intention to provide equal access to basic needs such as food and housing in addition to healthcare and education and seeing that firsthand is incredible. What has hurt Cuba is the perpetual, inevitable need for funds to sustain its model, but for a developing country where GDP (gross domestic product) is a completely inaccurate indicator to measure development, one can look at statistics on health outcomes (infant mortality, life expectancy, doctors per community, etc.) and see where Cuba has succeeded in comparison to other Latin American countries especially. It's about the priorities of the state. And for me, seeing the other delegates' different reactions to what we are taking in here based on their own life experiences is an amazing process as well, and I am just loving seeing what I have researched and focused on in college and live it in actual human interactions.

Here is another typical street scene on our walk back to the MLKC.

Back in the classroom again... Here's Judy, Nino, and Elise!

... and our dear interpreter Betsy, our expert speaker Gladys Hernández from the Research Center on the Global Economy, and Tineke.

Ariel said Gladys is a friend of his, but he jokingly added he sees her more on TV than in person! She began by saying, "The more you know, the more you can help us." (This is part of the reason why I insisted on writing basically everything down while I was there and why each of my Cuba posts will probably be about 20 pages!). Gladys echoed Raul Suarez' sentiment that Cuba has this special history with the US and this is a special moment now for Cuba. There are new measures introduced in relation to the Cuban economy, and there were also some introduced in the 90's that simply need updates and possible increases in scope.

She laid out that many problems Cuba faces are due to 1) lack of financing from many banks, 2) the global economic crisis, and 3) the embargo. Additionally, climate change has lead to drought and rising ocean levels, so the government has to relocate many who live in the south and also five main provinces affected by the drought, so the country is rebuilding. Another aspect to this rebuilding is that national food production is way up. Cuba used to import 75 percent of all the food it ate (including food for animals) in the 1990's, and 80 percent of Cuba's land was used to produce the 6 million tons of sugar that were almost entirely for export.

Reconstructing the face of agriculture in a country is no easy task, and the labor force is still an issue. With 80 percent of the population living in the cities, society itself has to be reorganized. The government is trying out more incentives to rent land to a lot more people and increase the amount of land that can be rented to someone, and then the farmer makes a contract with the government for how much they should produce. And with more creative ways to ensure farmers would produce enough staples to feed the entire country and a more relaxed approach to what farmers can do with their surplus land and product beyond the quota, you can see fruits and veggies in markets because farmers used to not want to waste time growing them, but now they can!

They still have agricultural product distribution issues as well as continued transitions in the agricultural production realm. She emphasized that farmers now have to be taught how to deal with the new system but also how to produce meat, wheat, etc., how to help land that was once singularly used for sugarcane adjust to different types of nutrients, and how to produce a now vast array of plants and get them to the Cuban people. 

Some sectors of the economy are working well, and one example she gave is biotechnology. A subjective obstacle Cuba faces on the global market though, is that whatever vaccine they produce is subject to prejudice, simply because it is coming from Cuba. These days this hardship has been somewhat softened as a result of more integration in the Latin American market and more connections with the Chinese market.

As for other economic sectors, Cuba is trying to exploit existing mines for more gold, cobalt, and nickel, but they still have to figure out how to deal with waste. Cuba also has three factories, but one has to close because it is too old - it was from the US prior to the Revolution, and it was just inefficient, using a lot of oil, and contaminating. Cuba used to produce 40,000 tons of nickel per year and is now producing 80,000 tons one less factory - and therefore more efficiently! This country is trying to push efficiency and renewables to use less oil, but for that they need money to modernize, and they also have to fight for foreign entrepreneurs to help Cuba with tech knowledge. On that front, Cuba used to import natural oil from the USSR and then reexport it, but now they produce 5 million tons of their own, using the gas for cooking and lighting. Still, more funds to invest in more infrastructure and import less oil would be beneficial. As Cuba is still relying on special oil prices from some Arab countries and Venezuela, transitioning out of that dependence will require more energy self-sufficiency.

The last major sector that is helping sustain the Cuban economy, controversially, is tourism. The Revolution saw tourism as foreign dependence in light of past puppet governments, and as a result, before the 90's, there was hardly any infrastructure for tourism. When the state was in dire straits in the 1990's post-Soviet fall and resorted to opening up to tourism to allow an influx of foreign dollars to stimulate the economy, there used to be 13 hotels, and now there are 123. Foreigners had to bring their own food and rent cabs for the day. Now you have whatever you need - food, water, [bad] internet, restaurants, stores, doctors, and about two million tourists are pouring into the country every year. Initially, everyday Cubans were not allowed into hotels for tourists even though they had been using those facilities, which obviously further segregated Cubans from the outside world and created huge backlash. In past years those regulations have been relaxed to allow Cubans access to those hotels for special occasions like honeymoons, and then three years ago the government began to allow all Cubans to stay anywhere as long as they can pay for it.

Foreign investment has never been considered a main sector in the economy, but rather its purpose is to obtain technology, knowledge, and markets. Cuba is exporting knowledge as well as services in the fields of education and healthcare especially to Latin American and Arab countries, but because of the US blockade, they ask, to whom can we sell? Because of our policies, there are strict regulations on who can invest here, and they basically can only sell to countries who do not like the US' blockade!

Especially as an economist, Gladys sees that the amount of money Cuba loses due to the blockade is huge. First, they have to pay three to four times for what they import because they get taxed the risk for selling to Cuba by countries who are friends of the US. Second, Cuba cannot trade in US dollars outside its borders, and Cubans would have to go to special banks to change to other currencies for high fees. This is easier since the creation of the euro, but still not insignificant.

Without the blockade, Cuba would have an estimated extra $160 billion. They could cut down on transportation costs and export to the US instead of China. In terms of social development work, they would more easily able to help countries like Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, etc. especially with education programs, in exchange for economic help. And those are just two examples of what Cuba could do, not to mention invest even more in education, healthcare, and technology within their own borders. Gladys looked down and added it was hard for her to talk about the blockade because it is infuriating and stupid. "There will always be people who will come to Cuba for markets, for curiosity, and for tourism, and this is not the Cuba of the '60s! We have a lot of respect and relationships around the world now. The US' stubbornness is probably because people would come here and see they have been lied to. We are a developing country but have had successes with our system, a different system. No wrong or right, just different. People have struggled for this Revolution. Nobody came and built it. It's something original. There are five generations in both the US and Cuba remembering the costs of the Revolution..." and those five generations in the US have had a large role in shaping our Cuba policy.

Cubans are a very educated people, so everybody has their idea of what should happen with the economy, she added. She foresees the dual economy ending in the coming year, but the government has to figure out how to afford paying Cuban salaries in CUC. What is coming under examination imminently is the concept of taxation. The only people who pay taxes in Cuba are owners and foreigners, but then you run into the issue that people think everything the government gives you is a right and that healthcare is free - but the government has to pay for it somehow. Free education is wonderful, and after you graduate you have three years of civil service (many choose to stay in that job and get paid then, and if you are reassigned, it's usually because you want to be), but people may pay more attention to it if they have to pay for it. Should Cubans pay for education with taxes or civil service? If taxes are going to happen, people want to be taxed in a just way. In all of the proposed and considered methods for transition, Gladys said in her quaint English, "We have to continue slowly by slowly what we think is better."

Today was a brain workout, that's for sure. It was fascinating to hear from an expert Cuban economist with such great global perspective her predictions on the coming strategies for economic development and where Cuba fits in the world economy. That is what a lot of Americans want to know - where Cuba is headed! Our group shared another simple family-style meal with special additions of ground beef and a new type of cassava, and then we celebrated a couple of birthdays with cakes Elise asked the kitchen to prepare earlier in the day! Betsy's 24th birthday is today (but she could not join us for dinner so we missed celebrating with her), and Diego's was the day before we arrived and he refused to tell us his age, instigating many a guessing game.

Diego with his cake!

Nighttime gave us an opportunity to get a better sense of the city and its history. Two million out of the country's eleven live here in overcrowded Havana. It was hard to see much at night, but we passed by a number of icons that our team pointed out:
- The Catholic school built in 1926 where Fidel went. After the Revolution, all education became public, and that school is now a military academy where after graduation all males have to serve two years (for females that service is voluntary). Cuba used to send its military to places like Angola and Bolivia to help with other revolutions, but now it is only domestic.
- El Miniesterio de Deportes, the "Ministry of Sports," is an arena for at least boxing and volleyball, if not other sports, which launched us into a discussion about how boxing has won the most Olympic medals for Cuba and why that would be.
- Revolution Square where anyone for political meetings meets, surrounded by ministries, the library, and Che's Ministry of Industry where he served in the '60s (it has since been turned into the Ministry of the Interior). Two edifices also feature the faces of Camilo Cienfuegos and Che Guevara, Fidel's amigos, all lit-up with their famous sayings.

Camilo: "Vas bien Fidel," which apparently he uttered to reassure Fidel in a speech in the early years of the Revolution. "You're doing fine, Fidel."

Sorry this one is a bit blurry, but here's the iconic image of Che and "Hasta la victoria siempre" - "To victory always."

- Stoplights have a countdown to turn red or green so you know how long you have to wait at the light and how long you have to get through the intersection! That technology has not surfaced in the US that I know of.
- Calixto Carcia hospital, the oldest and largest in Cuba.
- The University of Havana, founded in 1886. About 15,000 students pursue their education here, and about another 12,000 belong to the Latin American School of Medicine training not only students from Latin American but also about 120 from the US!
- The ice cream cafe featured in one of Cuba's most famous films (that I had seen in my Cuban politics seminar), Fresa y Chocolate, Strawberry and Chocolate.
- El Malecón with people milling about on the boardwalk and sitting up on the seawall itself. From there it is just 90 miles to Miami.
- Near the Malecón is a twenty-story building that was under construction during the Revolution and intended to be a bank, but it was captured and Fidel turned it into a hospital when it was done. Now, it is the most sophisticated hospital in Havana.
- A poster for El Rey León! The Lion King!
- The Spanish embassy, nicknamed "the wedding cake" for its architectural appearance. Colonial Spain had also built fortresses here to protect the port of Havana from the actual pirates of the Caribbean (I unfortunately cannot say as to whether or not Captain Jack Sparrow made any attempts to leap the city wall...).
- The house of Cuban ballet and opera. I just want to stand across the street and stare at it forever.
- El capitolio, the capitol, is a replica of ours in Washington, D.C., but a little bit higher! Now it is a museum and site of ministries.
- Parks are quite dark at night, which could be dangerous, except that Cuba is really not, and dark parks mainly allude to space for new couples who may not get any privacy at home.
- La Floridita, the world-famous bar where Hemingway would get his daiquiris.
- The art deco Bacardi building, one of the prettiest in Havana that we would hope to see again in the daylight.

After whizzing around all of these locales brimming with history, Chino parked and dropped us off in Old Havana, now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage center. Diego pointed out the statue of Jesus across the polluted Bay of Havana that stands 21 meters high, although for Batista's wife it was supposed to be taller than the one in Brazil, but it needed to fit the hill... The city of Havana was founded here in 1597 by the Spanish because of the port, and its first fortress (some of which you can see below) has been turned into a navy museum.

We wandered through to the Plaza de Armas, passing Havana's "magic ceiba tree" and a statue of la giraldía, the symbol of the city, Ponce de León's wife, and the only female governor of Havana (just for a few days when her husband took off in search of the fountain of youth). In the center of the plaza, a regal white marble Manuel de Cespedes, first president of la Republica, stands guard. He was a landowner who freed his slaves to fight for independence against the Spanish, refused to back down when his son was captured and held ransom, declaring "All Cubans are my children," which made him known as the father of the homeland.

Jazzy salsa music featuring a flute soloist increased in volume as we neared the governor's palace, a majestic building with a surprising feature underfoot. What appears to be an expansive brick street in front of the palace is actually wood in the shape of bricks to make less noise! You would never know unless you looked closely.

Winding through the cobbled streets also took us to the Hotel Ambos Mundos where Hemingway lived for 9 years in room 511, which is now a museum. Cuba makes a pretty big deal about Hemingway history, especially as it can help make a decent buck from tourists. The lobby of the hotel had its own bar and classy black leather couches, and you could tell there has been a good deal of money invested here. Pictures of young Hemingway adorned the walls and a pianist filled the space with the classical genre.

Other observances:
- La Catedral de Habana, the Cathedral of Havana, used to house the bones of Christopher Colombus.
- A woman in perhaps her early thirties walking with presumably friends was dressed in all white and carrying a white parasol. At night. Why? That is commonplace for a woman to do for an entire year as part of the initiation process into santería, which is probably the largest religion in Cuba but the Catholic church typically claims it is. What happens here is that to practice santería, you first must be baptized in the Catholic church (which comes out to a point for the Catholics), but many never go back and just go on to practice the Afro-Cuban religion.
- A live band playing in the town square! Lovely.

A few of us decided to do a little more exploring after our official delegation tour ended (we had a seriously full day!) and ended up at La Bodeguita del Medio, another famous Havana spot. Here Mr. Hemingway has left his historical footprint as well: "Mi mojito en La Bodeguita. Mi daiquiri en El Floridita." And because Hemingway would only get his mojitos here, Bob, Nino, Kera, Elise, and I partook in one for the experience.

Elise and Kera reading up on the Hemingway and other historical memorabilia.

Two finished Havana Club mojito glasses.

And as if the tiny bar area was not tight enough, a live band came in and added their warmth and love to the atmosphere. Bob and Nino slipped out to create some more space, and you can see them peeking in from the street side! This may be a rather touristy place, but it was fun to say we had a mojito here, here in Havana, and I also got the band's CD that they signed for me!

We ended our night with another relaxing drink on the plaza of a quiet Italian restaurant, sharing more travel and life experience stories before squeezing all five of us into a '52 Chevy taxi home.