Cuba: Full of Surprises

Written by William Colon

William Colon is the executive director of the Latino Institute, Inc. and a contributing writer for the Hall Institute of Public Policy.

The first Cuba Education and Cultural Tour, undertaken this past February 1-8, 2012, hosted by The Latino Institute, was full of very pleasant surprises.

Twenty four educators, students, and other professionals joined our group. We all had preconceived notions about Cuba, its political system, and its people. We had been told to expect very difficult conditions, misery, crowded housing, dilapidated structures, very little food, and a depressed populace.

On the contraire, we found no misery, and we found a beautiful and dynamic country full of very nice people, who welcomed us with warmth and friendliness. Words cannot properly describe what we saw and felt.

Educated and well spoken children and adults, no drugs, some elderly peddlers (not the drug addicts you encounter at almost every corner in San Juan, or for that matter, in Newark) and, yes, some petty crime. But, the streets are all relatively clean and very safe, with no armed guards with machine guns, as we all have experienced in other countries in Latin America.

The country is indeed full of contradictions, as private entrepreneurs flourish and a good number of great buildings are restored, at the same time, personal liberties are restricted, many people live in crowded and dilapidated housing (especially in Havana)  and they openly complain about the dual monetary system and the fact they cannot freely travel abroad. The embargo, or as the Cubans called it, the “blockade”, is part of the lexicon of daily life and the official justification for most of the ills of the economy. But there is no ill-will towards Americans, and everyone yearns for the reestablishment of normal relations with the United States.

As much as we learned on this trip, there is more. As Renee Reed, one of our tour participants said: “I wanted to make the trip to see for myself, and form my own opinion.”

Among the highlights of the tour: the impressive and expansive Habana Vieja, with its fabulous historical architecture and plazas, built five centuries ago by the Spaniards; the cultural and musical dynamism of the malecón: the visit to beautiful and breath-taking Viñales, in the rural, tobacco-farming countryside, with its beautiful and friendly people; the Afro-Cuban rumba and creative musical geniuses; and the cultural performance of the students at the Nicolás Estévanez Murphy Elementary School.

We are going back. Please join us on one of our subsequent Cuba tours this year. Yes, go to Cuba with us, and form your own opinion.

For additional information on our June and July tours, please call Carmen Torres at 973-273-0273.

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