What do foreigners love about Cubans and Cuba?
Photo by Dorothea OLDANI on Unsplash
Cuba may be the “jewel of the Caribbean” thanks to its history and blue water, but let’s face it, people are a great part of it. If you go through tourists’ blogs and memories and confessions about Cuba, you’ll see what they love about Cubans.
1. Cubans are fun people to spend time with
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Falco Negenman on Unsplash
In a comment on Quora, Faustino Delgado, a retired Cuban, living in Miami points out that what he loves about Cubans is their sense of humor, a real surviving tool.
They . . . have a great sense of humor, which explains how they’ve been able to survive the calamities that have befallen them in the last 58 years. Another quality that has allowed us to do well is our capacity to adapt. Despite our deep Cuban roots, most of us here feel as Americans as the next fellow and would gladly lay our lives on the line for this country (in fact, some of us have.) We love to argue about everything from baseball to politics (I’m not sure if this last one counts as a quality.) We are very family oriented (Cuban families here cherish the famous Abuela Cubana (Cuban grandmother) who raised and cared for each of us until death did us apart.
2. They know the value of music… vibrant music
Bailey, a former tourist in Cuba, who travels with Dan, her backpacker partner, confesses on her own blog called destinationlesstravel.com
Thinking of my time in Cuba the first thing that comes to mind is all of the music and dancing. Everywhere I went there was music and people dancing salsa. I love live music and really appreciated the efforts most bars and restaurants made to have live music each night. Many of the musicians sold CD’s for only a few dollars and they made for a great souvenir to bring home!
Michelle, another traveler, recalls on her blog, livinglikeitsweekend.com:
Being in Cuba definitely feels like going back in time — and not just because of the vintage 1950s automobiles — although those definitely set a specific tone. It’s the music playing on every street corner, the way Cubans know how to dance and entertain like our grandparents’ generation once did. It’s the way everyone grows up with salsa in their blood — literally everyone in Cuba is a “salsa instructor” — and they’ll pull you into a rhythm on the street just to prove it. I loved it all.
Interested in what questions people ask Google about music in Cuba? Here’s our article on this topic >>
3. Cubans promote outdoor living
Photo by Dorothea OLDANI on Unsplash.com
An article on locallysourcedcuba.com reveals something many foreign tourists in Cuba may agree with.
Cubans might huddle up indoors during the so-called winter months, but you’re unlikely to notice this change of season. The Cuban lifestyle is geared towards outdoor living, and you can enjoy outdoor dining followed by a stroll along the water at any time of the year (OK, so maybe not during the rainy season). Interestingly, it has snowed in Cuba… once. This occurred during a freak weather system in 1857.
4. Cubans like simplicity and can be happy with little
Photo by Dorothea OLDANI on Unsplash.com
We’ve heard it several times already from people visiting Cuba. Wait, we can remember some fresh impressions from phone calls we had with UK expats returning from Cuba. “OMG, what I love about Cubans is that they are happy despite their material reality”, “So caliente at heart! So simple and true…” “Extremely deep people, always with a smile on, despite economic adversities.”
Michelle from livelikeitstheweekend.com shares what she loves about Cubans and Cuba, recalling her trip there.
It’s hard to articulate what I love so much about Cuba, because in a way a lot of the things I feel so drawn to are unfortunately a side effect of so much oppression.
Visiting Cuba is a good practice in living more simply and taking things slower. The food is basic, the accommodations are basic; when you want to meet up with friends you have to set a time and stick to it (how foreign!).
5. Cubans go with the flow, including their inventive inner flow
It may sound strange… or not. But if you look at the buildings, the markets, the streets, the fruit, the colors of Cuba, you can see the Cuban spirit at ease. Erase the rusty spots left by the negligence of authorities, and you’ll see the gist. That’s what photographers love about Cubans, their creativity flow in small things, without resources at hand. Because they listen close to their heart.
Photo by Delaney Turner on Unsplash.com
Oh, and there’s the street art, so inventive!
“No one could have invented Havana. It’s too audacious, too contradictory, and – despite 50 years of withering neglect – too damned beautiful.” Lonely Planet, Anthony Epes in citiesatdawn.com
6. Cubans speak the most exotic and vivid Spanish
Sorry, Spain! But the spoken Cuban Spanish is sooo beautiful, that we forget other continents even exist. Many tourists mention it on blogs, in interviews we’ve run into in the last years…
Here’s a proof. That’s why there are so many Spanish courses ready for tourists in Cuba.
The island is considered a top destination if you want to learn Spanish, despiute the fact that Cuban Spanish tends to be more rapid and a little more difficult to learn than Spanish spoken in other areas of Latin America.
7. Cubans are so generous
Photo by Emanuel Haas on Unsplash.com
In 2017, we ran a report about most generous nations according to their support load to folks back home. Cubans were #3 in top 20, after Dominicans and Nepalese.
Today as well, Cubans living overseas continue to send up to 2 times mobile credit to relatives in Cuba. A way to support them, among others, a habit they keep with them from their early life in the Cuban community. Talking about Cubans in Cuba, despite the economic challenges everyone knows about, Cubans are generous with each other, and community help is a must.
Here’s another proof that make tourists say “wow”. Hiking is free. The shared economy is working alright on the island, and that shows the Cuban generous spirit.
Tourists we’ve talked to have told us about Cubans’ generous spirit at home. The locals shared the little they had, the rum they were so proud of, their cigars, their place, their thoughts, their laughter.
BTW, for Cubans we know best, those who send Cubacel credit to Cuba for their relatives, a NEW CUBACEL PROMO coming up on MobileRecharge.com: July 27 – August 1, 2020.
-Top ups from CUC 20 to 60 CUC, get internet data (1GB – 3 GB bonus), as well as extra credit (30 CUC to 90 CUC).
30 CUC order. The person in Cuba gets: 30 CUC + 1 GB + 30 CUC Bonus
40 CUC order. Your relative in Cuba gets: 40 CUC + 2 GB + 60 CUC Bonus
50 CUC order: Person in Cuba gets: 50 CUC + 2 GB + 60 CUC Bonus
60 CUC order. Your family member in Cuba gets: 60 CUC + 3 GB + 90 CUC Bonus
