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Published: December 16th 2008
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houses we live in
Color and more color, The one who writes these lines lives in Cuba. For many people in the world Cuba is not a good place to live for. . . the Cubans. Mainly these opinions move around the politics. Without going into more details, because it would be very extensive, nowadays Cuba has changed in something very important: there are Cubans who can make money by themselves and therefore they can live, although not apart to the political system, with enough space inside of it. This create a flow of parallel money to the one usually received by wages and pensions.
In my work with foreigners, mainly tourists, in the last years, I have arrived to some unavoidable and very useful generalizations. One of them is that nevertheless to have a life very different from ours regarding the conditions of life , and most of the time taken for granted, most of the people are not happy and they continue (although not all) in the search of values such as friendship, solidarity, respect and peace of mind and spirit. They have or enjoy things that for Cubans are, if at all, futurist dreams: they travel every year to different places on vacations, they can have access to all the services, they have abundant food, they almost decide every aspect of their lives. They can choose any place of the world to live or to move.
However it seems they are never satisfied, or at least they don't have that peace that I have seen in the looks of some Cubans when they are able to have 10 dollars for a "good" weekend dinner with relatives and friends.
And maybe the question that I ask to myself is superficial , but, if these people that have the money to move and to live whereever they want don't have peace and they are so stressed, is it possible to be happy being spending most of a life in 20 Km ?
Some days ago, working with a German couple a topic took us to another and of that to another one. German people after all they love to travel, and with money to make it they do it as many times as they want , they have a much wider vision of the world than mine, from my 20 Km. But following the conversation, my thoughts were very revealing.
In our exchange I realized that those people were not happy, but of course, being German as they were they didn't allow to see why. But in my explanation of the life that we have in Cuba some facts began to become clear in my mind, because what I described to them was not the life of an average Cuban but mine (but I am an average Cuban !). From my 20 Km.
I am a teacher and to dedicate a good part of the energy to form people, to educate them in principles and positive attitudes is fascinating. To share days with children from 7 years old up to 15 is something really fascinating. To teach them and to talk to them about a world that waits for them. (and who tells them about this is somebody that just a few times has been able to leave the mentioned 20 Km., says much of the limpid heart and no distrustful at all of the children’s soul), but regrettably not everyone can have a Magellan as a teacher. Then, to continue the week with other children, less fortunate in health and through the possibility that I have of knowing foreigners to get to them and their families what they need to live and to fight against a terrible illness. That they wait every Saturday for people like me to share their hopes and restlessness, and sometimes to say goodbye, leaves a flavor of glory in the mouth. True Glory, not that of the conquest.
Then the family and the friends. Almost all of them live in the perimeter of the 20 kms. Every night, or almost all of them, I return home at the 1 am from talking, sharing and visiting.. As the Cubans say, we sometimes kill ourselves with lies. But it is so pleasant and necessary that I believe that without those moments our life would be very sad. Later I have to spend the weekend catching up on my work!
And finally, I think that I have been able to make myself of an interesting business, although I don’t have all the economical benefits I had wanted, it has been great in an almost completely closed country to what is managerial, capitalist or individual independence. Therewith I have been able to know wonderful, mean, and fascinating people, right wingers and left wingers, from all the continents. I have been able to know “the enemy" and to see that they don't hate me, and the most important thing: to understand that the hate is not living in my heart. I have been able to access to Internet, to know of marketing and sales, to know about so much people that lives much worse and some who live so well and for what is worth to fight.
And , sometimes, and more frequently in the recent times, we find that everything is much more wonderful, well away from our daily 20 Kms? What percent of life do we have and which of it do we lack? Why do we give so much importance to what we don't have? Why do we give so much importance to the material things sacrificing the rest in the search?
But that it is another topic. The important thing is that we still are able of seeing the stars, it rains what it has to rain and we have all the sun that we want, that we have the friends so they help us and we love each other in the difficult moments, and not only one or two, but many. Because for us, the friends are also the neighbors, the friends of the friends and the pals’ pals.
I make the question to you again, but now the other way around: is it possible to be unhappy having almost everything?
Cuban
humbercuba@yahoo.es , cubamigos@yahoo.es
P.S. excuse my English
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