Playa Girón (aka Bay of Pigs)

           Friday, we finally got the chance to go to the site of the Bay of Pigs invasion.  We have a Cuban-US Relation’s class and everything that we have been talking about lately has lead up to this crucial point in the history of the United States and our neighbor to the south.  Literally, for the last two weeks we have only discussed the motives behind the invasion, who planned it, who was involved in it, the whole nine-yards.  To actually be able to go and see where everything happened was a really incredible treat.

            Our whole trip was fraught with unexpected perils and setbacks, the first of which were the crabs.  Crabs?  What could little crabs do to set back a trip for half-an-hour and cause carsickness?  Well, I will tell you.  Near Playa Girón (the actual name of the beach and what the Cubans call what happened) there lives a special kind of crab that the Cubans call cangrejos.  These little blighters have wicked sharp claws that when they stick them straight up in the air will puncture a tire.  So, the carsickness came about because we had to weave our way around all of the crabs while we were driving alongside the coast. 

            When we got to the museum and had stabilized our stomachs, we found out that, in true Cuba style, there was a power outage and the amazing documentary that we were supposed to watch was no longer an option.  Our professor, Raul, was really disappointed because apparently it shows a really excellent view of what the Cuban perspective was on the whole invasion.  The more that I learn in this class, the more I realize how unfair and unjust the treatment of Cuba was leading up to the Bay of Pigs.  When Fidel Castro came to power, he really was trying to find a way to make his countrymen’s lives better.  During the final years of Batista’s reign, 60% of Cuba’s countryside was illiterate.  That was a total of 4 million out of the 11 million on the island.  Havana had 1 doctor for every 250 people, while some of the cities on the east of the island had 1 doctor for 2,500 people! 

            The other professor that we have for the Cuban-US Relations class has a saying that is very indicative of all that occurred during the tyranny of Batista’s reign.  That capitalism in Cuba was like a ham, but the Cubans ended up with the bone and the Americans ended up with all the meat.  Learning about this is really making me question and evaluate the information that I have been taught about Fidel Castro.  Up until the Bay of Pigs invasion, socialism was not what the revolutionary government was proposing.  When the US trained troops landed on Cuban soil, that was the very first time that Castro declared the socialist nature of the revolution while simultaneously calling his people to defend it.  Don’t worry I am not becoming a communist, and he still committed numerous human rights violations, but in the early days, I can see why so many people revered him so much.  

            One of the most interesting personal reactions that I had while we were at the museum was over a story about a young woman named Nemesia.  Supposedly it is a true story about a poem that was written called Nemesia Flor Carbonero.  All of her life, Nemesia had wanted a pair of white high heeled shoes but had never been able to afford them.  After the revolutionary government came to power, with all of the assistance given to the poor people in the region, she was finally able to buy her shoes.  Well, the first wave of attack by the US backed Cuban troops was to bomb the region that they were planning on using as their beachhead.  In the process, Nemesia’s white high heels were destroyed, and are now on display in the museum along with the poem.  For my part, and I am being brutally honest, when I first heard this I thought that it was a bunch of anti-Yankee propaganda and a crock of bull.  But then I began to think about it a little more and realized that we have little stories like that about all of our national monuments and famous places.  Why can’t I appreciate the Cuban version?  It really made me think and question how much I value other cultures and histories, even when they don’t line up exactly with what I have been taught.           

            So, to wrap up the story about the crabs, when we left the museum we realized that we had not missed all of them and that we had a flat tire.  Our drivers went to get a spare and a half-an-hour later we were on our way.  On the way home, we stopped at a little resort type area and, you would never guess it, had crocodile for lunch!  I’ve never had it before, and in the spirit of trying new things ordered some.  While I am glad I tried it, definitely not on the short list of what I want my next meal to be.  Afterwards, we got to go snorkeling in the ocean for a mere $3!  The water was so blue and so clear that when I dove down to the bottom my ears started popping like crazy because it was actually pretty deep.  Overall, I would say that this was the most action packed excursion that we have had so far, but completely worth it.

Batabanó

            Yesterday, our group went on a little exploring tour.  This past week a bunch of professors from the University of Alabama were here and we played host to them so we didn’t get to do a whole lot around town that we haven’t done before.  So in order to make up for that we decided, and by we I mean our professor, that we were just going to drive straight south and see what we found.  Cuba is a very long island but it is not very wide so the trip to the southern coast was only about an hour ride.

            We ended up in a very tiny fishing village that was just barely big enough to be a dot on the map.  It was called Batabanó and was at most 10 blocks square.  This was definitely not a tourist spot and it was really nice not having to see all the same shops trying to sell you souvenirs.  Our adventure took off when we pulled up to the coast and we just started walking.  This was not a developed beach, with pristine sand or beach chairs set up for you to rent.  Oh no, this was driftwood piled up, mangrove trees growing, hiking through tall grass virgin beach. 

            When we had driven into the town, a man had offered us a whole big spread for lunch and he came with us to show us around to make sure that we didn’t get away.  He led us on a trek through what we jokingly referred to as the “jungle” of Cuba.  We got to see one of the sites where the charcoal makers live while they are burning the wood to make charcoal.  It was really cool, but they have to live for months in a glorified swamp burning mangrove trees so that they can float their finished product down to the coast to try to sell it and make a profit.  They build little shanties while they are out working and fish at night to have something to eat.  There is a natural plateau near this village so lobster, crab, and fish are very common. It is a hard and solitary life that they have to maintain for months on end.  I know I couldn’t do it.

            After we had trekked through the wilderness, our guide took us to his brother’s house where we had our giant spread for lunch waiting.  Oh my gosh, I have never had such a smorgasbord of food in my entire life.  We had the freshest, biggest, most incredible lobster I have ever had with butter and garlic, cooked to perfection.  We had rice and beans, tomatoes and cucumbers; it was legitimately one of the most perfect meals I had ever had.  And we ate it right in our guide’s brother’s kitchen!  They were so welcoming and not afraid at all to have seven loud Americans in to eat.  It was probably one of the top three Saturdays I have had while I’ve been here.