If the embargo placed on Cuba was to be lifted, I would send the rest of my days dancing around his vibrant country because of its cultural atmosphere. In America, we have lost our child-like sense of wonder and have allowed the workforce to consume us completely. Cuba allows its residents to carry out their daily chores while enjoying all the life offered in a day. On the Pathways Cuba Trip, we learned about the politics and the culture of the Cuban people that allows for a splendid lifestyle that is very different from the American way.

The country of Cuba has a beauty that bounces onto its people. This atmosphere began
with Fidel Castro who, some belief, created a legacy of love to the country that will remain for many generations. This same atmosphere of love and kindness is what invites you to want to stay in Cuba, This legacy has taught the Cuban people to be proud in all they do: Cubans are proud to be hardworking and the light in the night. They are proud to have fought and won independence every time. This cultural atmosphere of being united and proud creates a fighting spirit in the Cuban people. This atmosphere makes it so that living in Cuba means walking into the warm embrace of open arms and not being in an environment of constant competition.

Socialism has many downsides, but being in Cuba means you are not worried about the
next best thing. Rather, you practice gratitude for what you do have. This allows for a
non-competitive economic environment which is pleasing because you unite in the struggle rather than trying to be the very best. Cuba is full of diversity but you will always belong and have a home regardless of factors such as skin tone, gender, or sexuality. This unity allows Cuban people to categorize things like medicine and education as basic human rights and needs, while in America, this is seen as a privilege. Education and medicine are offered to all Cubans; they expect to have it. However, in America, you have to work hard to be able to obtain your education and medicine. Cubans appreciate and are grateful for what they do have.

Being able to practice gratitude is a huge bonus of socialism, but there are a lot of negatives like that dependency on the government in order to thrive. This dependency on the government means you can not thrive as a living being unless your country’s government is thriving. The Cuban government is unable to prosper because of the embargo the United States of America placed on the land in which any place that chooses to give to Cuba will not be supported by America. This causes the Cuban economy to fall drastically because the American government provides economic support that no other country wants to risk losing by helping the
Cuban government.

This famous trade embargo was placed in 1962 by John F. Kennedy. It seems that the
embargo is kept up so that capitalist will not lose their money or power, and socialism will not rise. I believe that if the embargo did not exist, Cuba would be a small but thriving nation because resources, like oil, would all be more easily accessible.

In Cuba, I learned two valuable things I will carry with me as time goes on. The owner of
my first casa particulares, Daya, said, “SI PUDIERA VIAJAR nunca dejaria mi tierra hermosa” meaning SHE WOULD ALWAYS RETURN HOME, to Cuba, if she was able to visit other places. Daya is unable to travel because of the embargo. She does not wish to leave Cuba but she would like to know the world a little bit more. Secondly, a security guard at the Bay of Pigs Museum said, “los politicos de America y Cuba son una cosa pero la gente, tu y yo, NOS AMAMOS Y ESTAMOS UNIDOS” this means that politics aside, the Cuban people love the American people, so WE MUS UNITE.

If the embargo was lifted I would love to *let the rice burn* and be a resident who lights
the Cuban night with festivity. I now know that being Cuban is more than being from this land: Cubans have a strong, resilient, fighting spirit that does not leave the patria (the homeland). I would love to completely emerge into the atmosphere in a life surrounded by green beauty and a lifestyle that includes pride and gratitude for what we do have.

*LA REYNA Y LA REAL ‘Let the Rice Burn’ QUE SE QUEME LA ARROZ*

OLDER