Three weeks of travel along the length and breadth of Fidel Island and I still couldn't figure out: who are you Cuba? You have everything, but you really have nothing.
Cuba isn’t love at first sight, you have to go through a few days journey, enter the territory of the locals and then blow away by its charms. The asphalt-free streets, the unmarked road, the 60-year-old vehicles that it unclear how they still continue to ride, and even so fast… the endless joy that seems to exist in every resident of this country, from a few months old to a 100-year-old elderly man, walking the streets with a banana cluster and giving you a real smile of joy.
Cuba isn’t love at first sight, you have to go through a few days journey, enter the territory of the locals and then blow away by its charms. The asphalt-free streets, the unmarked road, the 60-year-old vehicles that it unclear how they still continue to ride, and even so fast… the endless joy that seems to exist in every resident of this country, from a few months old to a 100-year-old elderly man, walking the streets with a banana cluster and giving you a real smile of joy.
At the beginning of the journey, I asked myself quite a few questions that started mostly with "how". 'How can you live like that?' 'How do you settle for little'? 'How do you stay happy with nothing'? 'And how can you stay sane after the sight of the sick and deserted dogs on the streets?'
All along the trip I searched for answers to these questions, in most cases the questions only got worse over time as we passed more and more cities and villages came up and asked me more questions. Along the way,we past by many strange people that are far from our existential reality, and then the token falls- proportions.
All along the trip I searched for answers to these questions, in most cases the questions only got worse over time as we passed more and more cities and villages came up and asked me more questions. Along the way,we past by many strange people that are far from our existential reality, and then the token falls- proportions.
As you move away from the city and reach to remote towns and villages, the feeling of driving back in the A time machine is growing stronger. This journey shakes the soul, and had put me to the greatest test, the test of life. Why do we need all this materiality that we are in constant pursuit after? The enslavement to the accumulation of money, and the work that keeps us from finding the peace.
Watching the Cubans who Aren’t found in the pursuit of happiness as befits Western culture, but simply living it here and now (dancing in the streets, hoping to school - just for no reason), the realization that something in us might be wrong.
It's hard not to be emotional when talking about Cuba.
The colorful island wakes up your senses and makes you want to explore those native people, and see what makes them who they are.
As soon as you are captured in Cuba's charms, and after the initial shock, the desire to receive more and more from it strengthens. It makes you want to throw away your former identity and wrap in illumination of joy and happiness.
The colorful island wakes up your senses and makes you want to explore those native people, and see what makes them who they are.
As soon as you are captured in Cuba's charms, and after the initial shock, the desire to receive more and more from it strengthens. It makes you want to throw away your former identity and wrap in illumination of joy and happiness.
The sights you see in Cuba, such as horses, carts, donkeys, and cows that walk aside the man as if they were his best friends, excite you. And then beneath the surface, it is soon discovered that the same Cubans are actually using them for their survival. Then the joy mingled with sadness.
Despite the sleepy and lazy nature of Cubans, they keep their homes and living areas regularly clean, and make great efforts to nurture their living environment. I felt like everything I had seen and met in Cuba was completely different from what I had known in my past travels and life, and I felt as if it had given me all the good reasons to fall in love with it.
The streets are always crowded, even if it is dark outside, people make sure to light up every corner in their warm temperament. If it were possible to paint an atmosphere it could be assumed that it was painted in the colors of a rainbow. The people live in simple, crumbling houses, which may have been referred to as "transit camp" in the country, but in Cuba they are routine. The houses spreads a sense of warmth and joy, while Cuban music plays from the windows of their homes and everyone flirts with everyone and just wants to dance.
The streets are always crowded, even if it is dark outside, people make sure to light up every corner in their warm temperament. If it were possible to paint an atmosphere it could be assumed that it was painted in the colors of a rainbow. The people live in simple, crumbling houses, which may have been referred to as "transit camp" in the country, but in Cuba they are routine. The houses spreads a sense of warmth and joy, while Cuban music plays from the windows of their homes and everyone flirts with everyone and just wants to dance.
Although life in Cuba is in the shadow of the tyrannical communist regime, political repression and anti-American slogans that are displayed all over the country, people remain happy, which has taken me a while to understand how it is happening. While young citizens dream of living in a better place, they cannot leave the country. The country's largest prostitution industry is expanding, the empty supermarket shelves from the abundance of Western food and open only to the indigenous rice-based Cuban food, black beans and pork and strange snacks. All this, moreover, does not prevent Cubans from being the happiest and to settle for less.
The people are the ones who make Cuba an experience so special to everyone, a great sense of rhythm, a great desire to bond with strangers, and their natural tendency is to rejoice. Regardless of age, gender, or skin color. Everyone moves and shakes.
The true paradox of Cuba is the Cubans' great difficulty in communicating with the outside world, in the face of the will and belief that is good for them in their country is almost incomprehensible, and only strengthen the fact that the ancient wisdom of life, which contains music, joy and much peace, is what causes them to survive the persecution of the regime.
Cuba offers a unique combination of serenity along with a never-ending movement of exploration. Not necessarily exploring in the sense of exploring the wonderful country, but rather going inside, a journey into yourself. The feeling of disconnection and transition from life in the industrialized, material, and rhythmic world we come from, to life on a remote island wrapped in vegetation and greenery without Internet and TV services, and without the desire or ability to know if the Third World War had already broken out, or if it was an earthquake in your country.
Despite the harsh conditions of heat and humidity, and the agonizing realization that Cuban young people have no future outside the borders of the country and will grow older in the same way as their parents, despite their tyrannical regime, and the political repression of Cuba is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
To fly to Cuba is to know that you are traveling to meet yourself in remote regions you that you didn’t knew.
The need for materiality dwarfs, the emotion intensifies and you begin to recalculate your path in life...
To fly to Cuba is to know that you are traveling to meet yourself in remote regions you that you didn’t knew.
The need for materiality dwarfs, the emotion intensifies and you begin to recalculate your path in life...
Cuba my love,
I'll be back.