Cuba Diaries: An American Housewife in Havana

I'm loving it so far. It reminds me of "Paris Over the Moon" in that not only does it sort of humorously document the tribulations of everyday life for Cubans (Parisians in Over the Moon) and foreigners in Cuba, but it also documents the naiveté and the "taken for granted" attitudes of Americans in foreign countries. The "what do you mean there's no toilet paper" attidue. What really was...more

I'm loving it so far. It reminds me of "Paris Over the Moon" in that not only does it sort of humorously document the tribulations of everyday life for Cubans (Parisians in Over the Moon) and foreigners in Cuba, but it also documents the naiveté and the "taken for granted" attitudes of Americans in foreign countries. The "what do you mean there's no toilet paper" attidue. What really was interesting to me in the book were the coversations of the narrator with her Cuban servants about her beliefs that while in America there is complete freedom, she noted there is also freedom to fail and live on the street. She seems to believe that they (the Cubans) have is what she refers to as a "social infrastructure" that protects them from such outcomes. Mostly to me it seems they're reduced to stealing from foreigners as a whole in order to survive. In any case, they are documented as a gorgeous, beautifully complicated people and now all I want to do is travel to Cuba and wander the "restored" plazas and the desolate beaches.I was fascinated with the passages about the Cuban art as well. It makes me want to research some of these artists and see where they have ended up.   hide