An Intro to TMi! Cuba
An Intro to TMi! Cuba
But first, welcome to the first ever edition of TMi! If you’ve made it to the TMi! page on my site, then hopefully you already have an idea of what TMi! is about. In case you haven’t, the short of it is this – I am trying to learn everything about everywhere.
So, to kick us off, Throughout October, I will be sharing content all about Cuba.
If I’m honest, I knew jack shit about Cuba before I chose it for TMI. It was a seemingly random choice, guided purely by curiosity. Now, my head is so jam packed full of information about Cuba it’s hard to fathom just how little I knew.
Here’s what came to mind when I thought of Cuba: Funny little cars, rum & cigars. That’s it. If you’re shaking your head at me right now, I get it.
It quickly became apparent that there was a lot more to Cuba than I had bargained for. I had no idea I was about to delve into the realm of corruption, DICKtators & communism. And, whilst I’m sure many countries have a shady past, Cubans are still heavily feeling the effects of theirs. But we’ll get to all that…
Today, Cuba is just one of four communist states in the world. Maybe you already have some preestablished ideas of what this entails. I didn’t really. Having visited two of the other communist states already (Vietnam & Laos) I can’t say I really noticed anything different from the bordering capitalist countries of Thailand and Cambodia. Not at face value anyway.
What I did learn…
Was a valuable lesson in propaganda, or fake news as that old orange twat calls it. In a world where we’re constantly bombarded by unprecedented levels of information, it’s hard to know what to believe. But it’s less so with history. With history, the emotions have calmed, the facts have been recorded and you get the full picture – including how fake news was used to push agendas. You begin to realise that nothing really is black and white, good or bad, right or wrong. Regardless of how polarised things seem. A million factors are affecting the outcome, none of which are ever all good or all bad.
It was none other than Fidel Castro that brought me to this epiphany. A man who set out with a desire to lift oppression & make life fairer for the poor. You can’t argue with the drive, but you can argue the result. Endlessly.
Another thing I took away was that, with enough passion, the smallest numbers really can achieve the impossible. Castro sparked a revolution by empowering others & teaching them to believe in better. In fact, I was struck by the same quote throughout my research.
“if enough people—a stadium full, maybe—were to concentrate on one thing, such as setting a tree afire in the woods, that the tree would ignite of its own accord”.
To Kill a mockingbird
When we hear ‘he started a revolution’, we’re quick to assume the motives & actions of one man. We forget to take into account that these things don’t just happen overnight. There are long periods of disease & discomfort from the masses. If Castro was the spark, the people were the flames. And, the deeper I dove, the more info I gathered from all sides and the more the complex nature of Cuba showed it’s face.
What To Expect from TMi!
There’s an incredibly rich history surrounding the island of Cuba. It’s discovery by Europeans led to the extinction of it’s native peoples and it’s abundant land led it to being plundered over and over again, whilst more advanced societies fought for what was never rightfully theirs.
What fascinated me the most – and frustrated me the most, was the difficulty in pertaining information about how Cubans live today. I wanted to understand the fascination around Cuba and why people like Sinatra & Hemmingway were lured there in it’s heyday. But, I went into this ignorantly – of course, without ignorance this project would not exist. I thought it would be easy to find out what life in Cuba was like, until I promptly discovered that few Cubans even have access to the internet.
OMG Christine, that sounds SO interesting.
I know right. So here we go. From this week I will begin to share my deep dive into Cuba. Starting with ‘The Evolution of Cuba’, a four-part historical journey that will bring you all the way up to present day. I will also share some little facts & findings on social media, so stay tuned.
Until then, take care & remember… No information is too much information!
xoxo
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