Being the revolutionary nut that I am, I've always dreamed of visiting Cuba to relive the history. I hear that Cuba could be viewed as an egalitarian paradise as the guerrilla legions envisioned it, or it could be a nightmare like Orwell imagined in his 1984. In any case, I know from what I've read thus far that Cuba is like my homeland in many ways. Its very rich in culture, diverse in ethnicities, and filled with passive, life-loving people, just as one would imagine a Mediterranean country like Egypt to be!
But to get to the bottom of it all, what really inspires me to visit it is the fact that it is an unfolding revolutionary experiment that the likes of Che and the Castro brothers and conceptualized and implemented. Many look to Cuba as the backwater of North America and that its dictatorship is the source of all its ailments. In my eyes, I look at the U.S. as the culprit that's strangling Cuba's economy by the throat. I think that if Washington gave Cuba a chance and not painted it in red unconditionally, then this country would flourish like no other simply because it is so rich in culture. I like to imagine it as a pearl that has yet to be discovered in the heart of the Caribbean.
I know that my father has a good friend there and I hope that I will be able to visit Cuba one day to smell the tantalizing aroma of Cuban cigars, stroll the colonial streets of Havana, listen to the rhythmic tunes of Buena Vista, and most importantly visit the memorial of Che in Santa Clara. Till that day, I guess books and music are what will help me continue to imagine Cuba as a paradise.
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