I'm taking a group of students to see just how different it really is. The main focus will be to learn about higher education in Cuba, but we'll naturally learn about its history, culture, politics, music, art, food, and whatever else we can. We've been reading Julia Sweig's book on Cuba as a primer. I also have a stack of other books that I've collected and tried to read as much as possible.
Here Sweig talks about her book with South Carolina's favorite son, Stephen Colbert, and explains the importance of U.S.-Cuban relations and what the future between these two nations should look like.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Cuba/US Trade Relations - Julia Sweig | ||||
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Reading and learning as much as possible about Cuba is good and all, of course.
But, there's really no substitute for being there.
I've learned this truism in my other travels. My first trip out of the country was to another communist country, the U.S.S.R. in 1988 as a high school student from Utah. I've pulled out my journal from that trip and I'll be curious to see what comparisons there might be between the two experiences.
This is a unique time to go to Cuba. Who knows what's around the corner for this country. The Obama loosened regulations for academic travel last year, which is what made this trip possible. However, this could change back. The Castro regime can't last forever, right? What happens after Fidel and Raúl are gone? More of the same? Or will it open up?
So, we are taking advantage of this window of opportunity. If the restrictions are put back in place, we wouldn't be able to return. And if Cuba opens up and a McDonald's pops up on every corner, then we couldn't return to this Cuba either. I can go back to Russia, but I could never go back to the Soviet Union.
Like my Soviet trip I plan to keep a journal and I had hoped to blog it here so others could follow along. However, I've learned that Internet access is expensive and slow so I won't be in touch for about 10 days, but I'll certainly upload some thoughts (and lots of pictures) when I get back.
Hasta pronto...
