What’s the difference between the streets of Eau Claire and those of small-town Cuba?

I found out as part of a Quaker folk dance peace ministry to Cuba for two weeks last fall. The group, called the Friendly FolkDancers, was from across the USA with Sandra and me from Eau Claire. Equipped with licenses from the US Treasury Department, we flew from Toronto to Holguin, a small city in eastern Cuba – along with a big plane-load of Canadian tourists who love the beach scene in Cuba. Only the USA requires a license to go to Cuba.

Some things about Cuban streets are strikingly different from those of Eau Claire. There’s the lack of ice and snow, of course, with early November highs averaging maybe 85 degrees at midday. It’s hell, I’m sure, in July or August.

Transportation was way different from the Chippewa Valley, including lots of people on foot or bicycle, but I found the “motorized” options most interesting. My impression was that cars were third in popularity (about half of them pre-1960 vintage), horse-drawn carriages second most common, with first place going to bicycle taxis. Just lately I’ve seen some here in Eau Claire – hurray for us, catching up with Cuban technology!

I love our local farmers market, but I expected it to pale in comparison to Cuba’s tropical abundance. Not so. We win hands down over what I saw there! I was there as a religious peace builder, not to critique their economic system, but it sure looks like communism has not helped their agricultural system at all. The farmers market and stands that I saw were paltry and puny compared to our “fiesta of food.”

Our local Hmong are a big part of our dynamic farmers market. Which brings me to another visible difference between our streets – the hues of the people traveling the roads. Eau Claire is pretty pale, enriched somewhat by the Hmong plus is a growing presence of blacks and browns. Every group of Cubans was a delightful mix of Anglo, Hispanic, African, and Native skins. In comparison Eau Claire looks monotonous and bland. Our loss ...

Roads are an important part of any travel experience. Most Cuban roads are all potholed and broken pavement, like ten times worse than after our spring thaw. They do have some nice roads, though – the one’s that go from the airport to the tourist resorts. Gotta treat the tourists right ...

Our Quaker folk dance tour group got accepted into something called the Ibero-American Festival. What a treat for us, performing for and mixing with all kinds of Cubans. Our Quaker hosts told us we were breaking totally new ground here. The American government is daily denounced by the Cuban media and there we were, a religious group from the USA, given a prominent place in a nationally recognized Cuban festival. After being vetted by representatives of the Communist Party, we got the all-clear and were included in four public events.

Two days after we arrived we found ourselves walking the streets of Holguin near the tail of a lively and colorful parade full of marching mariachi bands, people on stilts, and dancers in tights. They had asked us to carry a US flag with us, but that was one thing we had failed to pack for our trip to one of the final bastions of Communism. Imagine that. They didn’t have one either.

But we waved our way around the city in simple costumes till we reached the reviewing stand. We did the South Side Shuffle to the music of I Love a Rainy Night and ... THE CROWD WENT WILD! We were absolute rock stars and they cheered for us like we’ve never heard in the USA. And can you imagine our delight and the astonishment of the audience a few days later when a Communist Party official ended his rant against imperialist USA by extending us a warm welcome and leading the crowd in crying “Vive Los Estados Unidos” (long live the USA) – certainly not heard in Cuba since 1959. 

One last thing. I saw Cuban TV a couple times, and it’s no great treat, mostly, but they did get some news that I don’t think was broadcast here. While we were there the UN General Assembly voted on a resolution to advise the USA to eliminate its economic blockade of Cuba. The vote was 157 for, with only the USA and Israel against. Who would have thought that Fox News and MSNBC would both miss that historic vote? I guess there are some things that you can get in Cuba that you can’t find in the USA, but there’s not much!