A week in Cuba was the most educational trip of my life

I'm Cuban and I'm now in Cuba, university professor, not affiliated to any political organization, and I check HN almost all days and personally I do not feel limited in any way, only by its high cost. In the same way private internet access is not illegal, is just nonexistent as option because most Cubans cannot afford the current costs of Internet infrastructure at home.

It's funny, when the news got out that the US is normalizing relations, the first thing all my friends and family remarked is that now Cuba will be 'spoiled', and we'd better get in our vacations while we still can, before Cuba's overrun with Americans.

On a serious note, everyone I know that's been has loved their time in Cuba. Most seem to think it's better than Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and so on (except for the food). Certainly safer.

I haven't been to Cuba myself, but I've been to my wife's country which is less developed, much more violent and unequal. It was still nice (apart from AK-47 wielding bandits, corrupt police and the fact that everyone wants to rob you because they think white people are made of money). Minus the safety concerns, I'd be OK with the level of development and living there.

The fact is, there's nothing wrong with 'poor' countries. Having a car and technology isn't all that. Having a decent house is important in Canada, but near the equator I'm OK with a shack. As long as basic needs are met, life isn't that bad.

Which is why so many Canadians (I certainly know quite a few) 'exit' the system and live in 'poor' countries.

I understand the universal education and healthcare, but that does not go very far when on average your take home is about 100 bucks a month.

And I don't see Mexicans (who have good relations, or Dominicans or Venezuelans for that matter) getting on boats and hoping for a better life in Cuba.

One thing, among others, Cuba does offer is a kind of time warp porn which some people find compelling, yet, day to day life, I imagine many Cubans would trade for an economy which was not ruled so much by decree and doctrine. They have had to live in that imagined idyll where humans have not been despoiled by money...

Rather because they have so few material possessions they have no choice but to enjoy the few things they can count on in life.

Secondly, 50 years of trade embargo probably has a lot to do with the decay and lack of availability of goods. America tried hard to ensure that Communist Cuba would fail and collapse, and it didn't.

It might be fairer to compare Cuba with other agricultural-exploitation countries like hyper-capitalist Honduras.

Interestingly enough, you can say this about most places you visit for a short period of time. As a tourist you typically get a surface feel for the place. After spending a measurable amount of time (9 months+) in a Similar place (the dominican republic) with friends who said similar things after short visits, I can say much of this is attributed to seeing people in nice, quaint, sanitized parts of life you see as a tourist rather than an accurate description of what's actually happening culturally.

That's to say that you don't really get into interpersonal relationships when you're in a place for a week. People seem generally happy because most people are friendly - specifically to strangers - especially when those strangers mean revenue or money for themselves, their business or their community - especially on the first pass. After spending time and living there - there's many of the human emotions you're familiar with stateside including contentment, joy, but also anger, sadness, jealousy (and yes) unhappiness too (gasp) - it's just that you don't see the negative emotions when you're only there for a week.

It's always a little disingenuous or a little naive when people come back saying "they have so little, but are so happy." It is true on one level, but also is conveniently dismissive of recognizing that you only experienced a sliver of their actual lives.

You think the US is more unequal than Cuba? I'd love to see what the Castros are worth vs. the lowest paid Cuban.

And in my books, being thrown in prison because you express a viewpoint counter the gov't is pretty damn unequal.

I'm dying xD

That does not make the experience of the article's author any less real. Or the culture he discovered any less valuable.

It can be even argued that some of those virtues do exist today not in spite, but thanks to the human rights issues. Normal people want to do selfish and/or stupid things all the time; and in a democratic society you let them get away with all but the most destructive of those behaviors as the cost of preserving those human rights. It is a trade-off.

On the other hand, Cuba is an example of a different society that chose a different, not necessarily worse or better, trade-off. As a matter of fact, given that this little island was geopolitically isolated at the fall of the USSR, you may even dare to call that tradeoff successful.

I've seen more police "brutality" in the suburbs of Canada when the bar closes...

BTW, brutality is in quotations because no one can possibly watch those actual videos and call the police actions anything close. The protester (singular) who was arrested, was not only twice the size of the fat, out of shape police officers, but there was barely a scuffle.

Here's a good picture of the police brutality from your link: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ceaq1QXWsAIOVNu.jpg

and here as well: https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/hfg17gfMjN_RcKbCTm1hPw--/Y...

So brutal.

Please note in case you haven't been never in Cuba that Cubans are known for always says aloud what we thinks in any corner either in political or any other matters.

Moreover, assuming that what you're saying is true, you're putting the person you're talking to at risk if they answer freely. That's not a fair argument to have and certainly not for fake internet points.

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11476566 and marked it off-topic.