I wish Dan and I could take credit for all the photos, but I had a lot of grainy shots and Dan was his usual reserved-shooter self (well, not always). Several other people on the trip have uploaded their photos to share and because we want to give you a really good feel for the trip, I've used a lot of them. I'd like to thank them...
Thanks to President Obama's loosening of certain policies, there is now somewhere around $1.5 billion in remittances sent each year to Cuba from family members (about 80% in the U.S.) and U.S. citizens are now free to visit their relatives in Cuba. When they go, they bring as much stuff with them as possible! This picture is typical of one person's packages. Along with a flat screen TV and a laptop. Most private businesses in Cuba are started using money from relatives in the U.S. who also bring materials and supplies. We had a nice dinner off of new Fiesta-Ware at one of the Paladares (private restaurants). I doubt this is news to anyone, but the relationship is not good. The latest U.S. annual report on terrorism still lists Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism despite the fact that they can't back it up! Here's a short article from the LA Times about this Cuba still on U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. And if you'd like to read some more, Stuart, our trip leader, just emailed us this - a letter from Kathy Castor from the House of Representatives to Barack Obama. It's an excellent summary of what we have both seen and learned about contemporary Cuba. |