Cuba, An Enigma

“Liberty is the right of every man to be honest”, said probably the most influential Cuban author, philosopher or whatever other title he poses or deserves, of all times. Like any fun-loving or better yet, sarcastic kid, probably a class-clown or that one kid who just asks question after question, and you or I kind of want them to stop talking, I would ask “how honest do you have to be to get some of that Liberty?”.

Anyways, being a Palestinian -Cuban girl, I am a survivor of a couple crazy cultures that have clashed together to make me that I have lived my whole life. Researching on them and living them is so much fun, so I figured why not pick one of them and write what I know, but also tie it in with the research I do on them- the “killing two birds with one stone” deal.

I chose Cuba, just for clarification if you didn’t get it from the quote in the introduction.

But, what’s more important, the obvious: why should YOU want to read about Cuba? Most of the world knows nothing about this little island that seems to be the only little paradise that has been able to standup and hold its ground against one of the greatest super powers in the world, the USA. You could be American or Canadian or Australian or even Cuban and yet still know absolutely nothing about this country, I guess maybe not necessarily for Cubans (although your knowledge could be biased in one of two directions).

Anyways, my blog is for the explorers of this world: those who love to learn about things and places they have never seen or heard of before, those who are curious about Cuba, its politics, its culture, or what it means to be Cuban, or those who are willing or desire to go see this exotic enigma of a piece of land. I call this place an enigma for a few reasons, those of which I will hopefully cover throughout this blogging season.

For now, I’ll share with you a tentative list of ideas and topics I want to cover.

Politics. Oh, everyone’s favorite. I want to cover it though and look at US-Cuba relations. Also, maybe the politics in Cuba, and even the politics of Cuban Americans and talk a bit about why they may or may not vote the way that they do here in the US.

I want to talk about censorship on the island and tie it to how I think we should look at it and feel about it as Americans.

Why not talk about the conditions the Cuban people live in? In doing so I’d hit on rations, old cars, educated but no “worth it” jobs in their respective fields, no air conditioning, dilapidated housing, and all the things that make me hurt for my country.

Of course, we can’t forget the culture or its people- salsa, rumba, son, reggaeton, mojitos, Cuban cigars, dominoes, Pitbull, Andy Garcia, Gloria Estefan. We have these things here because of this country. What about all the amazing baseball players that you know of- I mean, our very own Dodger, Puig, is Cuban.

This country,

Cuba,

Is nostalgic.

It is beautiful.

It is rich in history, but there is a lot hiding under its surface.

If we dig deep enough, I am hoping we can find where all the “Liberty” is hiding that have allowed a few Cubans to be honest enough to share with us about their country even though the stakes are high for them (liberty still more valuable) and hopefully with this new president in power, change after 60–70 years of an only Castro administration, will allow or give the right to a few more men to be free- to be honest (foreshadow of a future post).

Let me leave you with a few things that you should know throughout my blogging.

1. I like, no, I love to make jokes; however, that does not mean you will understand them nor does it mean you will find them funny. Nonetheless, I will proceed to make them. (for example, I find even just putting this disclaimer in here humorous)
2. I am Cuban. I have been to Cuba three times and I have seen many changes and something new each time I have gone. I know a lot about Cuba anecdotally through family and experientially, but also academically as I have and continue to read and research on the country.
3. I will always try to do my best to be as objective as possible, unless I am obviously telling a story or telling you “what I am about to say is subjective” kind of thing. So, if I am not when I should be, hopefully you can tell the difference between my subjectivity and objectivity, please let me know so that I can check my information again.
4. I do not claim to speak for every Cuban, but I do know and have lived with many in Los Angeles, Miami, and Cuba and the majority of us have similar stories, experiences, knowledge and thoughts on our country.
5. I love this place with all my heart and am going to do my best to make you love it or at least understand it even just a little bit, although I am still far from uncovering its totality myself.
6. Lastly, as much as anyone loves books or any other forms of stories, I am the firmest believer that “of all the books in the world the best stories are found between the pages of a passport”. So, hopefully I can convince you to test me on this. I want you to travel somewhere, anywhere, or at least Cuba ;)

Re: Cuba, An Enigma

by Laila Khoury — Monday, 27 August 2018, 2:37 PM

So, I forgot to mention the name of the man quoted above, but if you know even the slightest bit about Cuba or listened to President Obama’s speech in Cuba, you would have heard his name and him being referenced multiple times throughout the speech.

His name is Jose Martin.

I will probably be referencing this man a lot so it is good for you to know his name!

- Laila