People fall in love with Cubans, Cubanas or Cubanos, pero, but you have fallen in love with Cuba! said my Cuban mother many years ago.
Occasionally in the olden days, the immigration agents used to chide, do you have a novia, girfriend/fiancee/wife here? Yes, sir, I used to say with a looming voice: she is called CUBA.
I fondly remember the dictum of Ernesto Altshuler Sr, a historian of science and father of the current illustrious professor of Physics at University of Havana, who said:
If you are more concerned about yourself than others, USA is a better place for you; BUT if you are dedicated to the welfare of others, you have come to the Paradise here, in Cuba.
My years in Baracoa was the Epoca de Oro, the Golden age of my stays in Cuba, but currently in another form the Epoca de Oro continues in Havana.
Why am I so happy in Havana, Cuba?
I ask myself the same question, as i go back home, usually close to midnight after checking my email at the hotspot two blocks from home, skirting the cracks on the pavement?
There is no single answer, but as the Senior Altshuler had admonished, I think it is the welfare of the Cuban people and the minor contribution that I make to it that is the foundation of my joy of being in Cuba.
Here is a photographic musing, as I prepare once again to go back to Havana..and my friends there.
is the attraction the decaying buildings of glory which had known better times? where are the tenants of these buildings, occasionally some name or other can be seen etched on the side of the buildings.
there are cracks in the pavements but it is of no great concern, is it ? or do you want pristine sidewalks of Miami on which no one walks?
"my" street as they would say in USA an "our" street as we would say in Cuba.
That patio once housed my favourite restaurant and maitre d' which served food that equaled the best in the world, which made my good friend, Foodie and Dr, MW, to exclaim..better than Fort Lauderdale!
this plaza used to be called Elian Gonzalez plaza. Do you remember that saga? He has just graduated from the Military academy with an Engineering degree in Cuba.
I know very little about cars, but living in Cuba, you can see museum pieces of cars plying the roads in perfect conditions. My chofer, Yodel, arrives in his 1949 Oldsmobile!
is it the gorgeous sunsets or sunrises, right at your doorstep?
the above photo was taken just one block from my house.
or is it the pleasure of arriving at the Callejon, apartments built before the revolution by a jewish cuban descendant of Polish ancestry, Itzhak Grinsman.
Is it the pleasure of seeing the comforts of home, after journeys away to Miami, Doha, Brussels, Haifa, Kuala Lumpur or Cochin?
is it the pleasure of welcoming Shabbat with a Borepri Hagefen accompanied by a Merlot or Malbec from Argentina?
feeling happy at the pleasures of other people
Here the professions do not give you undue status, an ambassador and a doctor, stand in line to buy their Lamb at the market just like any one else.. I like this sensation of social equality.
meeting new people who become friends.. Cuba has to be the friendliest country on earth. Chef Tony dropped by, I had never met him before, and on my return has promised to come and cook a nice meal for me and my friends ..I will invite my mother also I think..
what better than a snooze as the sun is going down, nice breeze from the ocean and the pleasure of knowing that you live in the safest country in the Americas?
and in the end it boils down to the time spent with friends. Cubans can give you the greatest gift, that of TIME ..
No one here would dare say to their friends: I DONT HAVE TIME.. but they do say, it is a little complicated, not difficult.
Occasionally in the olden days, the immigration agents used to chide, do you have a novia, girfriend/fiancee/wife here? Yes, sir, I used to say with a looming voice: she is called CUBA.
I fondly remember the dictum of Ernesto Altshuler Sr, a historian of science and father of the current illustrious professor of Physics at University of Havana, who said:
If you are more concerned about yourself than others, USA is a better place for you; BUT if you are dedicated to the welfare of others, you have come to the Paradise here, in Cuba.
My years in Baracoa was the Epoca de Oro, the Golden age of my stays in Cuba, but currently in another form the Epoca de Oro continues in Havana.
Why am I so happy in Havana, Cuba?
I ask myself the same question, as i go back home, usually close to midnight after checking my email at the hotspot two blocks from home, skirting the cracks on the pavement?
There is no single answer, but as the Senior Altshuler had admonished, I think it is the welfare of the Cuban people and the minor contribution that I make to it that is the foundation of my joy of being in Cuba.
Here is a photographic musing, as I prepare once again to go back to Havana..and my friends there.
is the attraction the decaying buildings of glory which had known better times? where are the tenants of these buildings, occasionally some name or other can be seen etched on the side of the buildings.
the above photo was taken just one block from my house.
and in the end it boils down to the time spent with friends. Cubans can give you the greatest gift, that of TIME ..
No one here would dare say to their friends: I DONT HAVE TIME.. but they do say, it is a little complicated, not difficult.
