Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. A Photo Diary of My Trip to Cuba

Samuel Block
By Samuel Block
Samuel Block Support
“Even in a perfect world, where everything was equal, I’d still own the film rights and be working on the sequel.”
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Alas, this will be my last photo tour through Cuba. I suppose it’s fitting that I’d forgot to post this last chapter sooner considering that the entire series would have been published a few years ago…. had I not forgotten then. Better late than never I suppose! Below are the pictures of a day spent in the Escambray Mountains, near Trinidad. The region is probably most known for being the site of a long rebellion against Castro’s regime. Perhaps it will surprise you to hear that nobody mentioned that while I was there…

This is Lenia! I really loved Lenia!

The property below is the home of a small family. It was located on the hiking trail, and an arrangement between the family and the tour guides allowed us to walk through. We were even allowed inside their home.

I’d assume that the little structure next to the man above is an outhouse. The couple interior shots I got of their home are below.

Our guide for the day was the lovely Lenia. On meeting her, she told us that she was named after Vladimir Lenin by her father, a committed Communist. Without any bitterness, she explained that she was not. My favorite story she told was about the day before guiding her first group of Americans. When she was first given the news, she was initially unmoved.

“Oh, okay. Where from?”

She expected the answer to be Ecuador. Or Mexico. Perhaps Chile.

“America. Like, America-America.”

This changed things.

Lenia went on to explain that her evening involved what felt like a few hours in front of the mirror, trying out different poses and phrases, hoping to catch the one that would make the right impression on the aliens she was about to meet. Should she cross her arms and strike a cool pose? Or perhaps hands clasped behind the back. Then there was the question of what to say. Should she lead with a casual “Hey!”? Or “Yo”? Perhaps formal would be the way to go.

There was plenty I had seen and heard during my trip to illustrate that Cubans, as a whole, had a pretty good opinion of Americans, but before hearing Lenia’s story, I hadn’t realized how much respect some of them had for us. The young people, for instance, clearly liked the idea of better consumer goods, and especially the idea of a constant, lavish party, but I got the sense that older Cubans appreciated the fact that we can make up our minds about our experiences. Cubans fortunate enough to have jobs take a lot of pride in them, so impressing an American – a person who can easily take their business elsewhere, one who is not so easily impressed – that’s special!

Unfortunately, the stories weren’t all happy. Lenia’s brother had recently escaped the country, leaving his sister and brother-in-law as the sole caretakers for her ailing mother. Apparently the brother did so by saving a large sum to travel to Canada, and then simply stayed. Cubans have to pay the government tremendous fees in order to even be allowed to travel outside the country. Canada, the country her brother chose, may have cost a few thousand on top of the travel expenses.

Further, after the hike, Lenia came with us to the house of our guide for the trip. She explained to me that this is not very common. The reason is because the people who she relies on for work (like Carlos) are generally well-connected and much wealthier; they prefer to avoid letting people below the chain see that. Carlos’s home was on a spectacular piece of land, but the home and its interior would appear to most of us as plain-old poverty. Nonetheless, Lenia’s eyes were wide.

“This is money!” She whispered in my ear.

Below is some construction that our main guide, Carlos, was working on at his property. He told me that he had originally hired workers from Havana, but they were terribly slow. He had since taken this project, as well as digging up a pool, on himself. (Keep in mind, this is the guy who Lenia said is wealthy – even being so ain’t worth much it seems.

This is the view from our main guide’s house.

The Road to Havana:

I highly recommend bringing an abundance of two things with you if you visit Cuba before the regime goes. The first is soap – it’s what virtually every beggar asks for. The other is candy! Cuban children are very cute, and Cubans are a lot less suspicious of adults they don’t know giving candy to their kids.

Shrek and Princess Fiona

Thanks for checking this out. I’ll link the previous chapters in the comments.

I hope you enjoyed.

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  1. Samuel Block Support
    Samuel Block
    Post author

    If you aren’t all pictured-out, here are the other parts.

    Part 1

    Part 2

    Part 3

    Part 4

    Part 5

    • #1
    • February 17, 2020, at 6:16 PM PST
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  2. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental

    Shrek was unexpectedly charming.

    • #2
    • February 17, 2020, at 6:30 PM PST
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  3. Samuel Block Support
    Samuel Block
    Post author

    Also, I forgot to write anything on the video that @ponyconvertible posted a while back and which @frontseatcat asked about. Here it is:

    Since this post went kinda long, and considering that it was only my first part of this series that dealt with Havana, I thought I’d just add that I think these guys did a pretty fair job. They certainly didn’t concern themselves with attracting attention to themselves, but considering that foreigners can come to our country and even tell lies about it without facing arrest, I wouldn’t try to run very far with that argument. 

    The point that they correctly made is that a tiny section of Havana, which is diligently guarded to keep beggars away from tourists, is where the sinfully ignorant galavant about before returning to Europe, Canada, or, more recently, the U.S. and telling their friends how incredible Cuba is. The fact is, unlike any other place I’ve ever visited, I cannot imagine how anybody would navigate the country without a local guide. So I can’t blame these travelers for not knowing where to go or what to do. 

    My main point is that if you want to get another view of Havana to judge whether these guys were fair, you can check this out. I think you’ll see why I agree.

    • #3
    • February 17, 2020, at 6:35 PM PST
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  4. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius

    What a great post! Nice pictures. and a great story.

    Thanks for some real insight to life in Cuba.

    • #4
    • February 17, 2020, at 7:59 PM PST
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  5. Samuel Block Support
    Samuel Block
    Post author

    Clavius (View Comment):

    What a great post! Nice pictures. and a great story.

    Thanks for some real insight to life in Cuba.

    Thanks Mr. C! 

    • #5
    • February 17, 2020, at 8:11 PM PST
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  6. Al French of Damascus Moderator
    Al French of Damascus

    Samuel Block:

    The property below is the home of a small family. It was located on the hiking trail, and an arrangement between the family and the tour guides allowed us to walk through. We were even allowed inside their home. 

     

    Workers’ paradise.

    • #6
    • February 17, 2020, at 10:39 PM PST
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  7. Samuel Block Support
    Samuel Block
    Post author

    Al French (View Comment):

    Samuel Block:

    The property below is the home of a small family. It was located on the hiking trail, and an arrangement between the family and the tour guides allowed us to walk through. We were even allowed inside their home.

     

    Workers’ paradise.

    If only people could find work!

    • #7
    • February 17, 2020, at 10:45 PM PST
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  8. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn

    Thanks, Samuel. Beautiful. And sad.

    • #8
    • February 18, 2020, at 6:21 AM PST
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  9. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat

    Samuel,

    Yo! Just astonishing! First, was that a rental car with an American flag air freshener? Funny! The poverty is beyond what I think most people know, I guess because of the proximity to US? Dilapidated roofs being held on with old wire – no windows. How do they ever survive hurricanes and monsoons? When and where has communism ever been a benefit to the people?! Since the government controls and has impoverished their citizens, how do they get any wealth? Where does it come from, to pay police and military, etc. They have so many natural resources, and the only thing standing in the way of prosperity are horrible dictatorships.

    Why don’t people get it that socialism is the root? You can tell that they are a proud people. I wonder where things stand since Trump reversed O’s policies? Again, the extreme poverty is like nothing I’ve seen. Samuel, great posts, all of them! You should be Ricochet’s foreign correspondent!

    • #9
    • February 18, 2020, at 6:35 AM PST
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  10. Samuel Block Support
    Samuel Block
    Post author

    Front Seat Cat (View Comment):

    Samuel,

    Yo! Just astonishing! First, was that a rental car with an American flag air freshener? Funny! The poverty is beyond what I think most people know, I guess because of the proximity to US? Dilapidated roofs being held on with old wire – no windows. How do they ever survive hurricanes and monsoons? When and where has communism ever been a benefit to the people?! Since the government controls and has impoverished their citizens, how do they get any wealth? Where does it come from, to pay police and military, etc. They have so many natural resources, and the only thing standing in the way of prosperity are horrible dictatorships.

    Why don’t people get it that socialism is the root? You can tell that they are a proud people. I wonder where things stand since Trump reversed O’s policies? Again, the extreme poverty is like nothing I’ve seen. Samuel, great posts, all of them! You should be Ricochet’s foreign correspondent!

    Thank you! I’m ready for my next assignment. 😉

    I know that a lot of people in the country have money sent to them, mostly from family abroad. Cellphones and internet access, albeit limited, have been very helpful.

    I know my Dad has stayed in touch with our main guide. Carlos usually asks for some specific product – since money can’t buy you much there – and my Dad gets cigars. And the American flag air freshener was Carlos’s!

    • #10
    • February 18, 2020, at 7:15 AM PST
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  11. Samuel Block Support
    Samuel Block
    Post author

    Hmmm…. it would appear somebody wasn’t crazy about my original title. 

    🤔

    I can’t imagine why. 

    • #11
    • February 18, 2020, at 7:17 AM PST
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  12. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist Joined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    I suppose it would be cruel to show them how a middle-class American lives. “This is money.” — not even close.

    Great pics/post.

    • #12
    • February 18, 2020, at 8:41 AM PST
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  13. Arahant Member
    Arahant

    Thanks, Sam’l.

    • #13
    • February 18, 2020, at 8:45 AM PST
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    • 3 likes