Cuba

It is difficult to distill my experiences from the short time I spent in Cuba into a few words or photographs. In simple terms, I traveled to Havana, Venales and Trinidad, Cuba in February 2013 but the trip was much more. I had wanted to go for as long as I can remember. Everyone who had been came back raving about how amazing it was. With travel restrictions for Americans loosening and the Castro government becoming more open I wanted to experience Cuba before its uniqueness was lost in the globalized world. I was not disappointed. Cuba is in a time warp. The average Cuban has limited mobile phone coverage, no Internet access and lives off very little (at the time of my trip the average monthly salary was approx. $22 US). Thus, Cubans live simply and do a lot with very little - a wonderful example is the American cars seen everywhere that have been kept in excellent working order since the 1959 revolution. Decisions the Castro government has made over the years are visible everywhere. A focus on education and healthcare has resulted in a highly educated population who has excellent medical care. However, the lack of focus on housing past ensuring that everyone had a place to live has resulted in a crumbling infrastructure - good for photography but difficult to live in an apartment building that has a tree growing through it or only part of a roof. By the end of my trip I realized that my concern Cuba would quickly change came from my American point of view. While I do believe that there will be changes as Cuba opens up, the current lack of infrastructure will slow it. Plus, I believe that the Cubans themselves will ultimately control the pace of change as they have a strong sense of themselves and their country. I hope to visit again to further experience the warm and welcoming people as well as their wonderfully photogenic country.