Cuban Capers
May 13th, 2013. Filed under: Reruns.
First posted June 5, 2008
I was drawn to Cuba first because I adored the madcap adventures of Lucy and Desi. I did love Lucy and her romantic husband from Cuba. I had dreams of some day traveling to Cuba and experiencing some of that glamour. And we can’t forget Hemingway’s Cuba. It used to be a playground for Americans before politics (theirs and ours) changed things. For the most part we are locked out of travel there. I remember when the ships I worked on changed itinerary. We were positioned to make Cuba one of our ports whenever the country opened up to us. After a couple years we crew members lamented the fact that the Miami Cubans pretty much run our government’s policy on Cuba and gave up on the dream of having Cuba as one of our ports.
Cuba became more enticing as I made friends in Jamaica and learned how easy it would be for me to visit there. It was just a matter of going to Port Antonio and taking a ship over. I knew that I couldn’t have Cuba stamped on my passport, but so does Cuba. They just stamp a tourist card and leave your passport blank. Oh, how very tempting.
Every week in Ocho Rios I would meet my friend, Cyd, at Bill’s Place. We would visit until I had to get back to my ship before shore leave expired. Some times Bill would join us. Once after being gone for several weeks, Bill told us about a trip he had just made to Cuba. That was one of his regular travel destinations. Well, this last trip was a little different. He decided he was going to marry his Cuban lady friend, sell Bill’s Place and buy a home in Cuba. He showed us his photos, both of his beautiful lady and her beautiful country. Of course, not all was perfect in Cuba. But really. Is it perfect any place?
Bill’s move to Cuba just added fuel to my desire to see that country. Did I ever go? The thought of breaking the law was scary, but the thought of finally getting to Cuba and not being able to leave was even scarier. I just knew I would end up having something go wrong and then get arrested at the Miami airport and put into jail for a nice long time. Did I ever go? No, I chickened out. Do I still want to go? Absolutely. There’s even a little glimmer of hope now that Fidel is no longer officially in power. But the Miami Cubans are a tough bunch. They won’t even sell you anything in a shop downtown if you don’t speak Spanish. We’ll talk about that some other time.