The Modern American Traveler - Tourism & Privilege on Display in Cuba

Travel to Cuba for those of us hailing from Los Estados Unidos can be tenuous, at best. Prior to leaving for Cuba with my colleagues from BGI and other schools, I had heard plenty of anecdotal accounts of American tourists entering Cuba illegally and taking their chances coming home through Mexico or Canada. Our tour, which was facilitated by Global Exchange, thankfully had us firmly planted in legal status and we traveled, we assumed, with a bit more legitimacy than our scofflaw compatriots.

Being legal with the US Department of State, however, does not protect one from the more mundane realities involving travel to a "Third World" country. Cuba, which is technically one such destination despite many characteristics and circumstances that make it much more First World than many places, presents many challenges to those accustomed to the conveniences life affords one in the über-wired USA.

We began our journey with the unexpected bonus of a $50 "departure tax" from Cancun. The tax, collected in cash by the men behind the counter of Cubana Airlines, no doubt went to a good cause like building schools or paying nurses to sit bedside for elderly cancer patients. Now, there are those who will say this tax is standard procedure in Mexico. While that may be the case, I did not experience the same treatment departing Mexico for the USA two weeks later, despite also staying over 24 hours in the country. It seemed the charging of the tax was more of a bribing of the airline workers to speed our check-in and assure our luggage joined us in Cuba.

This opening salvo was a good omen for the trip, as one thing Cuba has mastered within the realm of its growing Tourist economy is the myriad ways in which a foreign traveler can be induced to fork over cash for services rendered. Tips were prevalent and, after two weeks, I was not alone in having grown weary of the requisite .50 or 1 CUC gratuity expectation waiting around every corner.

Many things in Cuba offer the US traveler opportunities to reflect on the relative luxury we enjoy every day back home. Housing, property ownership (including cars and consumer goods), freedom of movement and expression, our abundance of all things food related, etc. And, just as often, an example of some facet of Cuban society would surface demonstrating ways their system appeared to be addressing the most basic needs of the people. Health care and Education were usually cited as the obvious examples of this kind of thing, but there were other less tangible - but just as real and deeply rooted - areas where life in Cuba seemed comparably beneficial to human existence.

My point is not to dwell on those things the US has and Cuba does not, nor the opposite comparison. For me, the real learning came from observing the degree of difference that exists between the world I've come to know in the USA and that which exists in Cuba and thinking about how those differences manifest in the culture. What are we worried about? What can we control? What is out of our control? The box they've lived in for the past 50+ years, one largely of US making and enforcement via the blockade, has created systems that reinforce a spirit of ingenuity and creative thinking, while also one of resigned (happy?) acceptance. The hurricanes will always come, just as the way things are - both good and bad - are simply the way things are. Change will be slow and it will come from the dictates of the State. Often, it won't make any sense. The sense of melancholy was palpable to me at times.

Life observed from the confines of an air-conditioned bus can only reveal so much to the visiting traveler. We did manage to stop often and depart on foot for talks and lectures from biologists and sociologists and government bureaucrats, which helped break through the Tourist bubble. Likewise, every cab ride was an opportunity to question the (usually English speaking) driver about his life ferrying people like me to Old Havana and back. One such cabbie, the self proclaimed "oldest cab driver in Havana" shared that he felt Raul was worse than Fidel, if only for his increasing reliance on the military to run the government. He also said we should "keep politics off the table and out of the bedroom; for if you don't you will not eat well, fuck well or sleep well." Definitely a wise head.

While the tour itself was wonderful and introduced us to many people and aspects of Cuban society the normal US traveler would not have the opportunity to experience, I left with a lingering "what did I just witness?" question hanging over my head. I've never felt quite so separate from the land I was visiting as I did in Cuba, both economically and (to a lesser extent) culturally. The politics of Cuban socialism only came out a few times, like when we visited the CDR (Committee to Defend the Revolution) in a small town West of Havana. The economics of Cuba today, however, left me feeling completely separate from the "real" economy. This was by design, more or less, and worked to relieve me of my money quite effectively. I'll write some more thoughts on this topic in a subsequent post.

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The 2011 BGI Global Perspectives on Sustainability study abroad experience took 24 BGI students, faculty and alumni to Cuba for two weeks. The trip was hosted by Global Exchange and sanctioned by the US Department of State. All opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or experiences of BGI, Global Exchange, the US Department of State or any other individual participant on the tour.