Paradise in Cuba!

The year I was born, 1959, was a year of passion, revolution, and rebirth. Think of the iconic personalities: the defeated Fulgencio Batista, and the victorious Che Guevera and Fidel Castro. I suppose it was a year of passion and upheaval for my parents as well. In January, Batista fled. In April, I arrived.

My fascination with Cuba began later. My father, a Navy doctor, was stationed for three years at the Guantanamo naval base. While Cuba experienced the growing pains of a new socialist economy, nationalization of scores of business, agricultural struggle to wean from its unhealthy sugar mono culture, and austerities created by the United States trade embargo, I experienced paradise.

My sister, Karen, and I gallop into the water.

Paradise! Sun and sand, and when I wasn't in school, endless play: climbing trees, riding horses, building forts, galloping around my neighborhood, a mane of blond hair streaming behind, and beaches. My mom maintained a saltwater aquarium at home where I could, between beach visits, view beautiful fish and the mashing mouth parts of sea urchins. The ocean was warm and welcoming at my favorite beaches, Windmill, Phillips, and Kittery. I floated in utter tranquility, gazing at the gorgeous tropical fish just inside the protective reef.

Brother Keith with papaya.

Mangoes have been my favorite fruit for as long as I can remember. I recall stretching up from my saddle perch to pluck a luscious red mango and later, eating it like an apple, succulent juice dripping down my chin and arms. On the tree in our backyard hung immense papayas as big as my head, nothing like the anemic specimens in my local northwest grocery. Limes also grew prolifically in our backyard and, to this day, I cannot smell limes without thinking of Cuba.

I'm a Washingtonian now. We rust, we mold, and some of us, like me, crave tropical warmth during a long dreary winter.

Me (with the burger) chillin' at the Snack Shack.

My Cuba dream was born in childhood and stayed with me through the long years of the (ongoing) US embargo, college, marriage, jobs, and raising children. Come with me as I journey with adult eyes back to the country of my childhood dreams. 






Continue to "First Impressions of Cuba, Part 1"
http://mycubadream.blogspot.com/2018/02/first-impressions-of-cuba-part-1.html