As many of you know, Jon and I went to Cuba right after we were married last October. It was a home coming of sorts both because I hadn’t seen my uncle in over 20 years, and because I was bringing my new husband ‘home’ to meet him.
There is so much to say about those 2 weeks. I’ve written a little bit so far about it over at JonAndElena.com (our travel blog) but I still haven’t quite coalesced all the emotions and thoughts that returning there brought up in me.
I will say that to my disappointment, I didn’t see evidence of a lot of personal food growing. The people of Havana are very enamored of keeping potted plants wherever then can, hanging on balconies, squeezed tight between the security bars on their windows and the window panes themselves, on the steps leading to their apartments, sidewalks… you name it! But never did I see herbs or peppers or food being grown of any kind.
The climate is perfect for year round herbal growth at the very least. The only explanation for this that I was able to get wasn’t a satisfactory one as it was from my uncle who is still quite bitter over the government. His words: “When a man is stripped of the power to be owner of his own domain, he loses the desire to grow or make anything.”
I honestly don’t know that this is the whole of it, but I left unsatisfied with much of the answers that came to me from those I had contact with in Cuba.
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