Thu Dec 26

One more note about yesterday before moving to today. We are staying in an all-inclusive resort, kind of like a Club Med. You wear a bracelet that gives you unlimited food and drinks throughout the resort.

For dinner last night, we were given the choice of any of the many restaurants at the resort. For a change of pace, we chose the French restaurant. Or, I should say the "French" restaurant, because while they had some of the trappings of a French restaurant, the food was decidedly not French, and definitely not very good. The most amusing moment was to leave the restaurant just when the band outside in the plaza was starting up. Yes, you guessed it, our same friends from the two previous band encounters.

Today we set out for some limestone caves not too far from the resort. We got to wear helmets with head lamps on them, just like miners. The caves were pretty impressive with lots of amazing rock formations, including a bunch that looked like mushrooms, but were tall as a person.

Our lunch was at another organic farm, with one of the more delicious meals that we've had. And, of course, a bit of people-to-people in learning about how they converted an unused area into a productive organic farm.

Happily, we headed back to the hotel after lunch for a few hours off. We actually got to go to the beach and I enjoyed getting a chance to take a dip. I understand that when you're swimming on the north side of Cuba, you're swimming in the Atlantic. When you're on the south side, you're in the Caribbean! The water was perfect … a touch cool but easy to get used to. Then we took a dunk in the swimming pool.

My favorite moment today was at a rest stop (they’re good about scheduling frequent bathroom breaks when on the bus!). There is always an attendant outside the rest room to hand you a little bit of toilet paper when you go in. She usually has a small plate to accept tips. Well, we had been told in the beginning that there is one very special piece of local money, the 3 peso note, which has a picture of Che Guevara, the famous Cuban revolutionary, on it. The guide explained that tourists all try to collect the note with Che so they buy them from the locals for more than their face value.

Well, as I waited in line, I looked down at the tip plate and noticed a Che Guevara, right there on the plate! I couldn't believe my luck. I smiled at the lady and asked if I could have it, and she nodded yes, so I left her more than the value in exchange, as a nice tip. I was very proud of myself, having scored a Che by paying attention.

I bragged vocally about my triumph. Joan really wanted a Che for Missy, so she went back and, lo and behold, another beautiful Che note already was in the dish. It appears that our sweet, old toilet lady had a nice little business going getting tourists to purchase her Che bills without even having to outwardly sell them. She just waits for people to notice! Now, that's an entrepreneur. By the end of the rest break, I think most of the people on our bus owned a Che note.

Speaking of Che, we do see frequent images of him around, but nothing of Fidel or Raul Castro. Apparently Fidel has made very clear that he did not want a "cult of personality" (although there kind of is one anyway), so he has asked for statues and portraits to not be erected (perhaps until after he is gone). So you see his image very infrequently, but Che is on many billboards, posters, walls and t-shirts.

I've been reading a book that Michael gave me with readings throughout Cuban history and just finished the most famous speech by Castro. When you read the history of the previous government's corruption, and the state of the people, you can totally understand why there was a revolution in Cuba. Castro's speech is quite moving in how it enumerates the many problems at the time in Cuban society.

I have to say there is much I admire about Cuba. They have universal health care, universal education, universal literacy, no homeless people (everybody gets a house), no starving people (everybody gets food), electricity to almost everybody, decent roads. However, the part they didn't figure out is the "business model". They paid for all of these social benefits by taking money from Russia and then other countries, without enabling any private sector. So they really don't have enough money to fix their crumbling infrastructure, and they carry huge debt.

I can see why Castro hated business based on how corrupt it was when he started the revolution, but it seems he "threw out the baby with the bath water" in that there is simply no competitive industry to employ people and generate foreign capital. It does seem that Raul Castro is headed in the right direction, although very deliberately and carefully. However, the only real private businesses today are small shops and restaurants, and the big businesses are still all state owned. Still, the administration now is apparently giving the businesses more autonomy and more local control. So the coming years should be very interesting to watch.

-- Donna