Dispatch from Cuba: Manana, HavanaBy Brian Hicks (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Friday, March 28, 2008
 HAVANA — It's a quarter til 10 in the morning, and the guy at the roadside stand halfway between here and Mantanzas is selling a fair number of pina coladas. They are the best on the island, I'm told. For $2.75 they put the mix in a glass, then hand you a bottle of Havana Club to spike it to your own specifications. "They give you the pina, you add the colada," a guy says. Some of us say, well, it's 5 o'clock somewhere, but the truth is time really doesn't mean much here. We've established that this is an island frozen in time, but it turns out they don't like to be reminded of it. There are no clocks in the hotel rooms, very few to be found anywhere, in fact. At first, it seems that it just doesn't matter. But maybe the reason is that locals don't want to know how slowly time is passing, and the tourists don't want to know how quickly it is going by. All this is by way of saying that we are slowly, painfully preparing ourselves to leave on Friday. We have known it was coming, have dreaded it, fretted about how we are going to live without a jolt of Cuban coffee to make four hours of sleep a day seem reasonable. It could be a while before most of us get back here, and it makes us a little sad. This place is not for everyone. No matter how much everyone claims they love palm trees and moonlight beaches, a good many people in the United States can't do without their Starbucks, their McDonald's, their cell phones, their Targets or their Wal-Marts — even for a few days. We are blessedly not among those folks. Most of us Press Association types love the whole experience — eating in paladars, smoking Cuban cigars and "investigating" the tourist industry at Varadero Beach, about two hours east of here. It was there on Thursday that we watched a decidedly European display of sunbathing and toured some of the swankiest hotels on the island. None of them are the Waldorf-Astoria, but for Cuba, Varadero is a resort. Drive onto the peninsula, and Cuba goes from being one of the poorer looking countries in the Caribbean to one of the nicest. As we were talking on the beach, someone noticed that the beer was $1 a can — something you won't find at any beach that U.S. citizens frequent. Bill says he's glad we've seen the island before it changes, and Brownie notes that the next coming of the Americans will be both the best and the worst thing that could happen here. He's absolutely right. One day Cuba will change, it's almost a certainty. In the little village of Cojimar, where the sad little decripit monument to Hemingway constitutes urban development, there are poor people living in shacks on land that is worth about $1 million a square foot — hard, coral-laden earth that looks out on the Gulf Stream, where the water abruptly changes from green to the deepest, darkest blue you've ever seen. That is the place that inspired Hemingway, and it will inspire others to buy it. It is a fact: Cojimar's property is too nice to keep out of the hands of people who can afford to take it. Because if there's one thing more certain than Cuba's Revolution, it is that money always wins. One day a rich guy will sit in that house and spend more on his dinner than the people who live there now make in a whole year. That's the way the rest of the world works. It will here, too. So one day, Havana will change, and there will be Starbucks and McDonald's and Targets and Wal-Marts and — who knows — maybe even a theme park. When that happens, the people who like those sorts of things will come, and this will become the No. 1 tourist destination in the Caribbean, maybe even the hemisphere. And when that happens, us press types will remember this trip, and think of the way it was this week, now. And although we will be happy to know that the Cuban people will see their ship come in, in truth we believe that many people — us and Cubans — will also be just a little sad. |
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Comments
This article has 5 comment(s)
Posted by 512c on April 1, 2008 at 9:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
One doesn't need to assume WalMart etc will be around forever. Things change. Maybe we can learn something from Havana?
Posted by MsBehavin on April 4, 2008 at 10:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Never mind that...just bring home the drink recipes.
Posted by BKLYNIRISH on April 5, 2008 at 7:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Maybe we can learn something from Havana?"
I know enough about Cuba that I'd rather hang on to what's below than have the ability to smoke overrated cigars.
Bill of Rights
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
...and so on and so forth.
Posted by Lilo on April 8, 2008 at 9:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ahh,who can resist a $2.75 pina colada!
So what if castro and his goons ran a round-the-clock firing squad and murdered tens of Cuba's bravest sons.
Why care about the hundreds of peaceful Dissidents rotting away in the regime's dark dungeons.
Or why remember 1994, when under the cover of darkness a fleeing tugboat full of freedom-seeking men, women, and children was intercepted on the high seas by castro's Coast Guard, who immediately proceeded to turn their high-presure fire hoses on mothers clutching their babies until their grips gave way and the children fell and drowned in the dark ocean, and then sank the vessel...I can't blame Mr Hicks for not mentioning these things, no doubt too busy with all those $2.75 pina colada
Posted by brickbradford on April 10, 2008 at 11:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How smug of Mr. Hicks: He loves it in the touristic Havana, Varadero, pina coladas and the whole scene. Beautiful. He must feel like Hemingway thinking of what to name his big fish so El Viejo could bring it out of the water. Except Mr. Hicks seems to be more one of the sharks: eat and enjoy, and maybe, just maybe, get "some" on the side while it's cheap from a jinetera or a pinguero. Yes Mr. Hicks, while you chant and inspire yourself two million Cubans have left "paradise" looking for a reason to live. While you enjoy yourself in present-day Cuba, millions long to get out from under Marxism, Communism, Stalinism, Fidelism, Lying, False Promises, Jail, and even Death by Firing Squads or by being beaten up by Neighborhood Terror Committees and the rest of it all. Mr. Hicks, I have a few choice words for people like you, but I'm sure if I use them this note wouldn't posted here by your editors. I'll just call you Felix Unger...Get it?
Yes, you betcha that most Cubans would welcome Starbucks, McDonald's, Hilton Hotels, and new cars to drive around. Cuba was indeed a paradise of pina coladas, cafe con leche, great transportation and standard of living before the friggin' revolution stole it all and put it in the pockets of the Castros and their Capitalist Corporations that get 51% of all trade that people like you don't write about. We fought for freedom from a corrupt sob, Batista, and instead got a guy who claims to be have freed all people of color. What BS!!! And what an opportunity for people like you, Mr. Hicks, to sit around hotels reserved for tourists and press, and drink pina coladas and enjoy the great cigars while the rest of Cuba has fallen to the bottom of the bottomless pit.
Felix Unger to you, with emphasis.