Viva Cuba!
After spending the past week in Cuba, it's hard for me to get used to being back in the States. I find myself saying "Tiene una basura?" and "Donde esta el bano?" instead of the equivalent English phrases. But I am getting used to seeing homeless people again, as well as those without healthcare and jobs. Based on all of the American propaganda about Cuba, I was expecting to see some kind of fascist state with heavily armed "morality police" everywhere to ensure that we were not being subversive to the Castro ideal. In reality, I saw a society that may be even more functional than our own. When you consider the main reason for Cuban poverty (an inability to engage in tourism and trade with the richest nation in the world that happens to be only 90 miles away), the benefits of the Socialist system seem to outweigh the costs. In Cuba, everyone has a job, a house and food no matter what their status is. The result of this is that people are occupied for 8 hours a day and that in turn keeps the streets clean and safe. There is basically no crime in Cuba, nobody I spoke to mentioned anything even remotely related to crime (other than smuggling and prostitution, but I'll get to that later). Even at 2am, there are no streets to avoid because of the danger of being mugged or attacked and people are much more friendly and trusting as a result.
Cuba is more than just that Communist island of Castro, it's also the Pearl of the Caribbean with spectacular sunsets (check my photos for those), beautiful people, awesome cars (also in my photo section) and the friendliest people I've encountered in the 40 or so countries I've been to. Case-in-point: After playing a baseball game against the Cuban players, a child comes up to me with a wooden statue (of a Cuban baseball player) for trade (everyone in Cuba wants either baseballs or a baseball hat), but when I told him I had nothing left to trade he just handed me the statue and told me it was a gift and he turned away. The same thing happened in Havana when in the square: a woman handed me a coin with the image of Che Guevara on it and asked for a CUC (equivalent to about $1.10 in American currency) in exchange. But since I had no change and told her that in Spanish, she just let me keep the coin as a gift...she sold one to one of my teammates instead. Unlike Tijuana or Greece, when I would tell the Cubans I wasn't interested, they would stop bothering me and sometimes just give me some kind of gift just for speaking in Spanish to them. I lost count of how many Cubans I met who told me "I love Baseball, I love America!", and in 1 week, I only saw one conflict amongst Cubans and not one fight outside of a bar.
Cuba is also a very tolerant place. People of all colors seem to get along in harmony (though Tourists seem to be higher on the totem pole than locals) as do gays and straight people. That was the most amazing thing to me, that in the local discoteque in Cienfuegos there were both gay and straight couples going at it...you would NEVER see that in the US. The bar scene brings up an interesting aspect of the Cuban economy: prostitution. Every girl in the discoteque is a working girl, they pretty much have to be just to get in. If a woman works at a clothing store anywhere in Cuba, she makes only 4.50CUC a month, and it costs at least 3.00CUC to get into the disco. That means that if she goes out one night in a month, she can afford one beer and will have enough for only a half-bottle of water for the rest of the month. So for her to have fun, she has to make money with the guys she meets. As 4.50CUC a month isn't enough to get any kind of luxury or entertainment, most girls are relegated to selling their body for extra cash. That was probably the worst aspect of the Socialist system in Cuba, but it would be vastly improved if the embargo opened up and the government had more money to go around.
So what about the baseball? I have NEVER seen a country so obsessed with a sport, even Soccer in Europe; everywhere you go in Cuba, baseball is there. There are sandlot games, stickball games in the street and professional games in 35,000 seat stadiums. Any time someone saw me in my baseball uniform, I had pictures taken with them, signed autographs and was asked about 1,000 times if I had a baseball to give them (or their 10 year old son). The teams we played were those of retired stars from the professional league and the national team. Some of the pitchers we faced had dominated Americans in international competition for a decade or more. And the hitters were some of the best I'd ever faced. I had about 5 guys 0-2 (or 2 and 0 cause in Cuba strikes come first) and threw them nasty sinkers or changeups and every one was put into play. Americans would have definitely struck out on those. I pitched really well though, made it into the 6th inning (5 1/3 was my final inning count) before my arm gave out and I only had 3 hits and 3 walks against me with 2 unearned runs. I left the game with our only lead against the Cubans in 4 games. But it wasn't about winning, it was about interacting with some of the nicest people to ever play the sport of baseball. The men from the Cienfuegos team were so kind and so in love with baseball that it made me feel like a child again to be on that field. When I gave my first baseman's glove to Vives (the backup 1b on the national team behind the Cuban Babe Ruth: Antonio Munoz, the man who greeted us at our hotel) he gave me his old one...the only glove he had used for the past 41 years of his life!!! Every time he caught a ball in the glove I gave him, he would kiss his fingers, touch them to the glove, kiss them again and then touch them to his heart. A man who played 41 years of baseball at the highest level still felt that kind of love for a new glove, a pure love for the game of baseball that can only be found in Cuba.
After a week in Cuba I wasn't desperate to get back to the US of A; I would have loved more time in Cuba to enjoy the spectacular natural scenery and weather, the fun-loving culture, the music, the baseball, the people, the architecture and the cars. The only thing I missed about the US was the food and my girlfriend. See, in Cuba the food is also socialist. Everywhere you go, the meal is basically the same. A salad of mostly carrots, tomatoes (very good there), cabbage and usually no dressing; then is the meal course with two scoops of black beans and rice without flavor, buttery potatoes, some greens and a piece of fish (or by request: pork, chicken or beef); next comes the dessert, consisting of some Cuban ice cream and a little cake. The food had no spice like one would expect. While I understand why some people choose to leave Cuba for the opportunistic United States, Cuba is certainly not the oppressed toltalitarian regime we've all been taught about. It's going to be amazing to see how much Cuba will blossom once the embargo is lifted, as it is only a matter of time before the government finally wisens up and realizes the stupidity of their mistakes. And the day that happens, you will see me invest in everything related to Cuban tourism and baseball, as those are two things that Cuba does better than anyone else in the Caribbean!
VIVA CUBA!
Cuba is more than just that Communist island of Castro, it's also the Pearl of the Caribbean with spectacular sunsets (check my photos for those), beautiful people, awesome cars (also in my photo section) and the friendliest people I've encountered in the 40 or so countries I've been to. Case-in-point: After playing a baseball game against the Cuban players, a child comes up to me with a wooden statue (of a Cuban baseball player) for trade (everyone in Cuba wants either baseballs or a baseball hat), but when I told him I had nothing left to trade he just handed me the statue and told me it was a gift and he turned away. The same thing happened in Havana when in the square: a woman handed me a coin with the image of Che Guevara on it and asked for a CUC (equivalent to about $1.10 in American currency) in exchange. But since I had no change and told her that in Spanish, she just let me keep the coin as a gift...she sold one to one of my teammates instead. Unlike Tijuana or Greece, when I would tell the Cubans I wasn't interested, they would stop bothering me and sometimes just give me some kind of gift just for speaking in Spanish to them. I lost count of how many Cubans I met who told me "I love Baseball, I love America!", and in 1 week, I only saw one conflict amongst Cubans and not one fight outside of a bar.
Cuba is also a very tolerant place. People of all colors seem to get along in harmony (though Tourists seem to be higher on the totem pole than locals) as do gays and straight people. That was the most amazing thing to me, that in the local discoteque in Cienfuegos there were both gay and straight couples going at it...you would NEVER see that in the US. The bar scene brings up an interesting aspect of the Cuban economy: prostitution. Every girl in the discoteque is a working girl, they pretty much have to be just to get in. If a woman works at a clothing store anywhere in Cuba, she makes only 4.50CUC a month, and it costs at least 3.00CUC to get into the disco. That means that if she goes out one night in a month, she can afford one beer and will have enough for only a half-bottle of water for the rest of the month. So for her to have fun, she has to make money with the guys she meets. As 4.50CUC a month isn't enough to get any kind of luxury or entertainment, most girls are relegated to selling their body for extra cash. That was probably the worst aspect of the Socialist system in Cuba, but it would be vastly improved if the embargo opened up and the government had more money to go around.
So what about the baseball? I have NEVER seen a country so obsessed with a sport, even Soccer in Europe; everywhere you go in Cuba, baseball is there. There are sandlot games, stickball games in the street and professional games in 35,000 seat stadiums. Any time someone saw me in my baseball uniform, I had pictures taken with them, signed autographs and was asked about 1,000 times if I had a baseball to give them (or their 10 year old son). The teams we played were those of retired stars from the professional league and the national team. Some of the pitchers we faced had dominated Americans in international competition for a decade or more. And the hitters were some of the best I'd ever faced. I had about 5 guys 0-2 (or 2 and 0 cause in Cuba strikes come first) and threw them nasty sinkers or changeups and every one was put into play. Americans would have definitely struck out on those. I pitched really well though, made it into the 6th inning (5 1/3 was my final inning count) before my arm gave out and I only had 3 hits and 3 walks against me with 2 unearned runs. I left the game with our only lead against the Cubans in 4 games. But it wasn't about winning, it was about interacting with some of the nicest people to ever play the sport of baseball. The men from the Cienfuegos team were so kind and so in love with baseball that it made me feel like a child again to be on that field. When I gave my first baseman's glove to Vives (the backup 1b on the national team behind the Cuban Babe Ruth: Antonio Munoz, the man who greeted us at our hotel) he gave me his old one...the only glove he had used for the past 41 years of his life!!! Every time he caught a ball in the glove I gave him, he would kiss his fingers, touch them to the glove, kiss them again and then touch them to his heart. A man who played 41 years of baseball at the highest level still felt that kind of love for a new glove, a pure love for the game of baseball that can only be found in Cuba.
After a week in Cuba I wasn't desperate to get back to the US of A; I would have loved more time in Cuba to enjoy the spectacular natural scenery and weather, the fun-loving culture, the music, the baseball, the people, the architecture and the cars. The only thing I missed about the US was the food and my girlfriend. See, in Cuba the food is also socialist. Everywhere you go, the meal is basically the same. A salad of mostly carrots, tomatoes (very good there), cabbage and usually no dressing; then is the meal course with two scoops of black beans and rice without flavor, buttery potatoes, some greens and a piece of fish (or by request: pork, chicken or beef); next comes the dessert, consisting of some Cuban ice cream and a little cake. The food had no spice like one would expect. While I understand why some people choose to leave Cuba for the opportunistic United States, Cuba is certainly not the oppressed toltalitarian regime we've all been taught about. It's going to be amazing to see how much Cuba will blossom once the embargo is lifted, as it is only a matter of time before the government finally wisens up and realizes the stupidity of their mistakes. And the day that happens, you will see me invest in everything related to Cuban tourism and baseball, as those are two things that Cuba does better than anyone else in the Caribbean!
VIVA CUBA!
posted by Dan Pasternack at 11:11 AM
1 comments
