¡Hola Cuba! ¿Como Estas?

Hello again, Blogonauts!

In "Guys and Dolls," Frank Loesser's 1950 musical set in New York, the gambling gadabout Sky Masterson convinces his Bible-thumping antagonist Sarah Brown to go on a date with him.

Only after she agrees does he tell her that they'll be dining at one of his favorite Cuban restaurants...in Havana.

Yes, it's a fanciful set up, but it shows how easily Americans and Cubans interacted before the early 1950s.

But then the US backed a take-over by a military dictator (is anyone surprised?), who was subsequently ousted in a revolutionary uprising (also unsurprising), and in 1959 Cuba become a Communist country. Thus, in those heady days of the Red Scare, the US-Cuba estrangement began.

The chronic paroxysms of enmity between the countries of course peaked during the Cuban missile crisis. Russia eventually agreed to withdraw its nuclear weapons from Cuba when the US agreed to remove its similar weapons from Turkey.

Although I know diplomacy is complicated, more than 60 years have passed, and everyone who was then in power has long since died. The US's 21st century openness to other Communist regimes like Vietnam & China makes this ongoing antipathy with Cuba all the more confusing.

CUBA: So close, and yet so far! And I'm soon about to cross that thorny diplomatic fence to get to know some of the culture that Sky Masterson wanted to show Sarah Brown (and to sample some of the rum-infused "dulce de leche"). Hola Cuba!

First I will spend a couple of days in Miami. Then on Friday, American Airlines (imagine that!) will carry me to Havana. (Bewilderingly, in spite of the severe restrictions on trade, there are loads of flights daily between the US and Cuba.)

I am not so foolhardy as to try to visit Cuba on my own. Instead, I've signed up with a private tour group comprised of 16 travelers. Our actual tour begins on Saturday.

Rather than weigh you down with the details, if you want to anticipate my journey's progress, you can click here to see the tour's general outline.

Unfortunately, internet service is sparse and unreliable in Cuba, so perhaps updates to this blog will fall prey to the shaky Wi-Fi and cell service. But my camera's trigger finger is still itchy, and my trusty laptop is coming along for the ride. In any case, my wanderings will find their way to you eventually, even if the stories have to wait until I return to the Massachusetts on February 24.

Blog to you later!

Location: Charlotte, NC, USA

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