Society | Information Bravo

Locale: After Varadero, the Jardines del Rey, or Gardens of the King, are Cuba’s most popular tourist destination, and for good reason. With their swaying palm trees, white sand beaches, and turquoise waters, these islands are nearly a parody of a tropical island paradise.

During the austerities of the Special Period, immediately following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, the Cuban government was astute enough to realize that in order to preserve their socialist experiment, they had to make some changes. In 1990, in an attempt to deal with the devastating impact the collapse of the Soviet bloc inflicted on the Cuban economy, Cuban authorities announced the start of “the special period in time of peace,” an economic adjustment program. The following year the Fourth Communist Party Congress ratified the program and spelled out its main components; among them, international tourism was to be promoted as “an important source of revenue for economic development.” Ten years after the Special Period was announced, many changes had occurred. One economist summarized the decade in this way:

Economic reforms have gone further than the hardliners of the Fourth Party Congress envisioned, but have fallen well short of what economists (both inside and outside the island) deem necessary. Performance of the non-sugar agriculture sector remains dismal. Sugar lost its predominance in Cuba’s economy and in the 1990s, the sugar industry experienced the lowest annual production figures of the second half of the century. Hopes and expectations about the biotech industry proved illusory. Foreign investment has been erratic and has fallen short of expectations. Tourism, on the other hand, registered a strong performance throughout the decade and is no doubt the star of the “special period.”

Weather: 80s. Sunny.

Itinerary: Camagüey to Rancho La Belén in Sierra La Najasa, back to Camagüey, west on Carretera Central to Ciego de Ávila, north to Cayo Coco, cross causeway to island

Overnight: Hotel Sol Cayo Coco, Jardines del Rey

Excursions: Breakfast at Rancho La Belén, birding along the interpretive nature trail, lunch at paladar (private restaurant) Chrono, birding on Cayo Coco, buffet dinner at hotel

Habitats: Secondary growth, some forest, some invasives.

Bird Species (partial listing, by family): Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator), Great Lizard Cuckoo (Coccyzus merlini), Limpkin (Aramus guarauna), Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola), Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), Sanderling (Calidris alba), Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griscus), Willet (Tringa semipalmata), Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla), Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus), Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), Cuban Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium siju), Cuban Trogon (Priotelus temnurus), Cuban Tody (Todus multicolor), Cuban Green Woodpecker (Xiphidiopicus percussus), Cuban Parrot (Amazona leucocephala), Giant Kingbird (Tyrannus cubensis), Cuban Palm Crow (Corvus palmarum minutus), Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna), Greater Antillean Grackle (Quiscalus niger)

Guides and Driver: Angel, David, Liu, Camilo and Carlos

Observations: At lunch, they served a pinkish-red drink made from mamey (Pouteria sapota); the fruit is faintly sweet and has a distinct flavor. I’m not sure if I’ve had it before.

We are staying at an all-inclusive resort, which means that even the alcoholic drinks (meaning rum-infused of course) are free to us plastic wristband-wearing guests. The hotel seems decently staffed and maintained, though it took us a while to get toilet paper for our bathroom. There are many American TV stations available here as well.

Reflections: If I were a German or a Canadian, I wouldn’t think twice about booking a week at an all-inclusive resort on Cayo Coco in the dead of winter. What’s not to like about sun and sand and surf? In fact, there are a lot of tourists in Cuba! Most of them, of course, are not American.

I do wonder what the locals think about all of us tourists — I suppose we are a necessary nuisance, or something like that, though I’m sure they would be too polite to phrase it like that. The embargo has caused genuine hardship, though I haven’t yet seen the kind of wrenching poverty that sometimes (rarely) makes news headlines in the First World. Certainly the Cuban women I’ve seen have been stylishly dressed — quite the contrast to a dowdy, elderly woman like myself (and binoculars don’t count as a fashion accessory either).

Images:

The trogon is Cuba’s national bird.

I was fascinated by these living fences, which use trees as the fence posts.

I first heard about it from a fellow EQLT member on a hike earlier this year: women were planning to march in Boston the day after the inauguration. “Best idea ever,” I thought to myself, “I’m an old sixties radical — I can do that. Where do I sign up.” I had to Google for the information, but it wasn’t hard to find. I learned that the big march would be in Washington DC but sister marches were planned in cities all over the United States and indeed all over the world. The Boston march was organized by the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus; the mission statement declares:

On January 21, 2017, we will unite in Boston to march in solidarity with communities most affected by the hate, intolerance and acts of violence being perpetrated throughout the nation—among many are communities of women, immigrants, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQIA and people with disabilities. Ours is a peaceful, nonpartisan march.

So we left North Brookfield at 9 this morning, with my friend driving. At the Riverside T stop, we already encountered traffic jams, but car by car, we crawled into the parking lot, found a parking space, and joined the line queuing for the train. Again, the line moved slowly but it did move. In the interests of safety and expediency, T officials decided to let inbound riders on for free (thank you, MBTA). The subway cars were crowded with people, most of them marchers, I guessed, and we slowly rattled our way to Park Street Station, with more and more people trying to get on at each stop.

The day started out foggy and overcast, but we didn’t arrive at the Boston Common until 12:30 and by then, the sky had begun to clear; eventually, the sun came out and shone brightly on our parade! The agenda was speeches from 11 am to noon, and the actual march was supposed to begin at 12:30, but I think they were running a bit late. From where we stood, we could not get a sense of what was happening or where we were supposed to go. We milled around with the rest of the crowd, and finally, around 2 pm, we found ourselves inching (literally, moving by inches) toward the corner of Beacon and Charles Street, where we slipped through a hole in the wrought-iron fence and joined people in the street. Chanting and holding our signs, we marched down Beacon for a block, turned onto Arlington, then turned down Commonwealth Avenue. By the time we reached Clarendon, where the march turned inbound on Comm Ave toward the Common, it was 3 pm, so we decided that we’d head for the T at Copley, then take the Green Line back to Riverside and home.

I couldn’t easily hold a sign, hang on to my pack, walk, and aim my camera, so these shots are pretty bad. They should give you a flavor of the day though.

People gathered on the Common

Here’s another photo of the crowd.

Supporters even cheered from the balconies of the buildings along the march route.

Most of the participants carried signs.

Some signs were quite graphic.

We are heading toward Comm Ave now.

The pussy ear pink hats were all around us.

Here’s one of the three signs I made.

The crowd was huge, probably much bigger than the organizers expected, and diverse: we were old and young, men and women, of all races, religions, and probably nationalities too. I don’t have a photo of myself, but that’s because I don’t do selfies. For the record, I wore a blue turtleneck and blue jeans because I live in a blue state, a white sweater because white is for the suffragettes, and a scarf hand-woven by an Asian-American woman artist.

The signs marchers carried were quite memorable, and I wish I had a compilation of them. I’ll list some of them at random: A woman’s place is in the Resistance, Elect a clown and you’ll get a circus, How do you like this change in climate, Nope, I’m with her [arrows pointing every direction], I’m with her [picture of Statue of Liberty], Don’t worry America — he’ll soon leave you for a younger, skinnier country, Make America civil again, I’m marching for my mother [satellite photo of Earth]. I also loved the striking Shepard Fairey We the People posters, particularly the beautiful woman with an American flag as a head covering; it read We the People Are Greater Than Fear.

Information Bravo

"Wind light and variable. Visibility 10 miles. Sky clear below 12,000."

Category Archives: Society

Visiting Cuba Day Two

We marched in Boston on Jan 21 2017