We
hit the streets
of Havana, thrilled to have made it to this wonderfully, sinfully
bad-girl destination we've hungered to see.
Armed with cameras, notebooks,
five weeks of intensive Spanish and as many Power Bars as we
can cram in our shoulder bags, we set out to discover if Cuba
is more complex than the three-bean Fidel-cigar-salsa salad
that has been a staple of our Cuba-news media diet.
Country of Contrasts
And indeed Cuba is complex — a country where change is
chewily palpable and the word paradox springs to mind 47 times
a day — a communist country that is hosting the Pope; an
economy based on American dollars that are illegal for Americans
to spend in Cuba; a land painted in dour, gray tones by the
media that is in reality joyful and vibrant; a people impoverished
in part by American policy who seem not to carry a dram of resentment
toward American people.
