Cuba Reflections - Franco's Future

The old taxi sputters through traffic, spewing black smoke and dodging pedestrians in the street with haphazard order and controlled indifference. Speeding and weaving until the destination, we arrive curious and only slightly nauseous.

Three hours looking at Art from Pre- and Post-Revolution Artists, most schooled and supported by the State, leads to lunching on lobster tails, plantains and rice with black beans. The flavors of each bite richer than the previous, washed down with rum, flan, coffee and cigars. We eat like Mafioso.

With the rum still spicing our cheeks, we speak of our understanding of things too abstract to truly appreciate. Our waiter advises us on a good jazz club to return to later in the evening. Outside and up the stairs, a little boy offers to share his scooter with us for a fun little diversion. His name is Franco and he is four years old. The world will be different when he's finally old and gray, but what will he have lost and gained in that time by being Cuban? What does the future have in store for Franco?


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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.