Two faces: one people

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November 18:  Day 6

People here wear two faces.  One is tired, worn and hopeless.  The other is friendly, tender and always welcoming. Walking the streets of Havana these past few days, I’ve seen so much of both.  There is an undeniable sense of hopelessness here matched with a spirit of acceptance for what is that allows the people here to find peace and enjoy a rich life in spite of their circumstances. 

 In spite of old, decrepit, falling down homes they smile. In spite of the incredible stench of piss and filthy streets that they have to navigate every day to get to the food stalls they smile.  In spite of the knowingness that it is unlikely that anything will ever change for them in their lifetime and that their government has effectively made them prisoners on this island they laugh and enjoy moments with total joy.

The contradictions here are difficult for a foreigner to understand.  Last night, walking home with my new friend, Salvador, I had an AHA moment.  The whole system is so different than what I’m used to in the US.  The way the people think is so different.  The laws and considerations that are created around that way of thinking is often very hard to grasp. 

This is an entire governtmental system that thinks not for the individual but for the entire population and for preserving a certain balance that preserves the whole.  The people think likewise: they don’t think of or just for themselves as individuals but about and for how their community and family is affected in every moment.  It’s almost as if there is no “I” but always and only a “we.”  It’s beautiful, and tonight suddenly so much more made sense to me.

The balance the government is holding them in isn’t necessarily one that all of the people want preserved, nor is it one that is always the most ideal place to exist, but the reality is that in spite of it’s many many problems, people here are surviving and existing in a certain surreal security, of sorts, that we in the US absolutely do not have and can’t understand.

The woman of my Casa Particular explained it to me the other night when we were walking the streets of Havana for hours under the guise of looking for someplace to dance.  “Cheri: Mira.. here, we no pay for nothing like you do.  My house, I no pay rent.  If I get sick, I no pay Doctor.  Lyposuction, I want to get, free for me.  I no pay for electricity, or water. Food is very cheap and some of it free. You understand me?  In your country, you pay rent no?  Doctor is very expensive. You no money, you no house. You no money, you no have food. For you, is very hard. Me, I prefer Cuba.”

And it’s true.  In spite of all the problems, and there are plenty of them, there is a certain stability for the people.  A certain security of at least having the basic needs more or less provided for them.   When I walk these streets all day and all night absorbing the energy, I understand that to be the source of the general feeling of peacefulness that presides here, also perhaps it feeds the apathy and maybe some laziness too if we take it far enough.

People get along well, they are willing to share, and to help each other out, they enjoy the company of each other.  The level of intelligence and savvy street smartness is incredible.  They are always thinking creatively to survive and to find little ways around the system that can benefit them or someone else.

My Aha moment last night was so profound it’s hard to yet put into words.  It was a recognition that somethings here, some “regulations” are put into effect almost to protect individuals from their own human nature or poor judgement, but of course, as with most things in government and systems of control, it is taken too far.  My western Americanized mind defaulted to the “personal responsibility, independent” argument, but then I realized, “wow, this system is saying to me, “Yes, but your personal judgement or mistake can impact the whole, and so we are taking that into consideration, realizing that you can make poor decisions.”  

It’s such a different way of being in the world, it’s a model once again of community, of limited shared resources and a need to consider that one individual can not be permitted to wreak havoc on a whole community, and so regulations are created to avoid this, and perhaps more so to maintain control and keep people disempowered to make change in a system that keeps them down.

This is truly a fascinating culture and system.  I am learning more every day.  My love for this place only grows, and my compassion for it’s people with it.