The Cuban people are beautiful. They don't have what we have as far as possessions, salary, spending money, etc, but they are happy. You'll hear them actually singing as they go about their work. Yes, I said singing, out loud. That blew me away. If someone does that here, they are looked at funny! 
You don't just sing for no reason! Man, our culture is so damn inhibited in too many ways!When we were on the jeep safari, driving out through the little towns and back country, we saw lots of kids - they would come running out to the side of the road to wave at us as we drove by. Hoping for handouts, likely, as I think that was the regular route for the tour. They were cute, though.
Some of them would be smiling and happy, and others looked like they were doing it just for the handouts - waving mechanically and not smiling at all. It seemed to be the older ones that were like that, and the smaller ones that looked happy and excited. I wonder if the parents would send them out there to essentially beg for handouts?There were four of us in a jeep, so Jon and I ended up traveling with a woman and her teenage son. The son made a comment about these kids that really irritated me, but would likely be a fairly common mindset among North Americans.
He compared what they were doing - standing along the road hoping for handouts - to prostitution. I wanted to smack some sense and sympathy into him! These kids have nothing, these tourists come through and many of them come with gifts for the kids - pencils, paper, hair things, etc - so the kids are out there hoping to get some! That pack of pencils or pad of paper will be the most treasured thing they own! Those hair barrettes will be the envy of all the other little girls! It's not the same as someone begging or "hooking" in North America - not even comparable! Here we have the opportunity to make something of ourselves. Even homeless beggers could find a job, make some money, be productive, if they choose to. Down there, they are so limited as to how much they can make, how much they can own. Their salaries are set by the government, and are not at all equal to the cost of things (1 pair of shoes could be a whole month's wages). You'd be out there waving for handouts too!
The whole North American mindset really irks me. We live in the very lap of luxury - and complain about everything! People in places like Cuba live with a fraction of what we have, yet they are happy, they make the most of it. The kids don't have the fancy Toys R Us or even Walmart toys. They are thrilled to get pencils, paper and hair clips! In downtown Varadero, we saw these two boys just playing in an old Fiat. They don't have the video games and tv - they are content to play in this old car.It reminded me of my own childhood, actually. We used to play in the old cars around our place, as well - and we were happy to do so! What adventures we would have in those old things! We didn't have the tv or video games either - and we didn't miss them! The outdoors was our playground - and I dare say it was better than any electronic playground that kids have now. Cuban kids are lucky, because they don't have the option to be sucked into video games, television and computer games. They grow up far richer than most North American kids.
We visited a Cuban farm. They opened their home to us, fed us fresh sugar cane, coconut, guava, bananas, etc. It was very eye opening to walk through one of their homes and see how these people live. The one we visited was the home of a family of 10. The two parents and 8 children. Here is the home they lived in:
Yes, you are seeing correctly. Two bedrooms, one small bathroom, one small kitchen, then there was a very small sitting area, and a dining room of sorts - all for 8 kids and two adults. And notice the amount of possessions - notice how bare the rooms are! And only one burner on the stove in the kitchen. This place is a shack by our standards, and yet this is how they live! This is typical for a Cuban family. And we have the nerve to complain about our homes and how we live? As I said, it was eye opening!
The people live with next to nothing, and yet they are happy and for the most part content. Sure, they'd like more money, better salaries. I'm sure they'd like better and bigger homes, more possessions, but they don't let that stop them from living life!We followed this bus for a few minutes on the jeep safari, and the kids inside were watching us and waving at us. Happy. Content. Friendly.
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1 comment:
Jesse love your pictures and write up on cuba, your right we have to much, sure makes a person want to go and help out in countrys like this, like that family go in a paint there walls for them, just to give them a lift. would be so much fun.... ya when i was in Domanica i loved it, people were so happy, and at night they would sing on the streets... Read More and dance around just like you said...its so relaxing and happy... i am sure they have there problems and its a diffrent life, but ya would be worth to give it a try.... maybe we all need to start some thing here to get that happyness, that kind of stuff drawes people.... keep posting.... love it.. and happy year to you....
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