Trip of My Life - Cuba (Day 3)

As we have been settling in eating three times a day, imbibing the most amazing Cuban rum, and overall just getting to know my family after so many years and actually not having any preconceived notions of what it would be like, we decided to gather up the family to take a tour of the town I was born in. My mother’s cousin, Gregorio, offered to tour us around town in his car where we all poured ourselves into the small confines of his Honda (I think it was a Honda). It has air conditioning which is all that matters when it gets baking hot and humid. We weren’t at the height of summer, but it was still pretty different than what we’re used to Portland, Oregon.

However, before we get to far down the tour around town, let’s go take a stop at a one of the local watering holes and have some beer and wine. Albert, Gregorio’s son, pretty much knows everyone we run into around either Cabaiguan and the neighboring town of Guayos. Guayos actually was much more “happening” than Cabaiguan. There are more shops, more restaurants (or particulares that are basically eateries inside or attached to someone’s home), more cafeterias, more tavernas, and generally more people out and about taking advantage of those venues. It’s concerning for Gregorio and my family because it means that if economic development doesn’t ramp up in Cabaiguan, then the town will die a slow death only compounded by lack of investment by the central government.

I have to say unequivocally that everyone in my family dropped whatever they were doing or planning on doing to spend time with us, no matter the time of day or night. While it may sound intuitive to many, I have seen many instances in other situations where this kind of selflessness, attention, or loving focus did not occur between family members. You can argue that if you let a few decades go by then anyone can suffer from separation and time apart. It simply felt different.

Let’s take a little break before the tour around town. Have some Cristal beer…it’s pretty tasty! A lager I think, but definitely not PBR :) Maybe it’s the uncomplicated life. Maybe it’s their simpler life. Maybe it’s a combination of things but we simply enjoyed the downtime, enjoyed each other, talking about anything and everything. Conversations about Gregorio’s mom, who live downstairs from him in the two-story home which originally was a one-story home. He spent upwards of 20 years…yes, that’s not a typo. About 20 years to scrounge the materials for improving the original one-story, then construct the second story on top of the roof slab. Relative to many homes in Cabaiguan, the two stories are very modernized with hot water, air conditioning in two bedrooms, propane plumbed in to facilitate cooking in the kitchen, and even WiFi and Internet access, though this is limited to 30 minutes per month of connectivity time.

We finally get in the car to ride around town as Gregorio gives us the narrated tour. “On our left is the hospital you were born in.” He’s referring to me. “Coming up we’ll be slowly going down this dilapidated street to see the original house you and your parents lived in before you left Cuba for the US.” We actually get out and go over to the building where my parents house was when I was born. The house which can be compared to a multi level townhouse was actually been divided down the middle to form two different smaller homes. We walk up to one of the sides where a family is sitting on the front patio enjoying some breeze and avoiding the heat inside the house, and introduce ourselves. They are actually very welcoming and enjoying meeting us! So much time has passed that my parents and local family members don’t know any of the folks living there, but the local residents were as friendly and amicable with us as if they’d known us for decades. Again, it may be that small town hospitality and familiarity of the Latino people, but it is vastly different than what I’m used to in pretty much any part of the US.

After reminiscing about the tour around Cabaiguan we decide to drive back to Guayos (it’s only a few kilometers) to check out that town. Like I stated before, there was a noticeably different vibe and energy in Guayos. Rather than sitting in the car and missing interacting with the locals, I suggest we park and take a walk around the town center. Kristina and I reflected on how it felt like the town centers of a few Vietnamese towns we enjoyed a year ago. The small-town feel and atmosphere definitely is common across even vastly different cultures like Vietnam and Cuba. Uncanny! We also noticed yet another thing in common with the small towns in Vietnam and Cambodia…dogs! A ton of dogs all over the place! Yet I took particular notice that even though there were so many stray and feral dogs, none of them were in particularly bad looking shape or seeming physical health. I do remember from Costa Rica that the locals took very good care of all the stray dogs with leaving food and water all around town in front of homes, shops, and restaurants. Interesting day 3, for sure. I wonder what day 4 will have in store.