I am thinking all about Cuba right now... I think I'll stay 2 weeks - it looks so adorable! And so many bright colours!
Cuba is an island country in the Carribean, comprised not only of the mainland (home to the capital, Havana) but also several archipelagos. Cuba was colonised by the mad-Christian Spanish in 1492 - enslaving thousands of natives who refused to convert to Christianity, and bringing plenty of new diseases that wiped out many thousands more of the natives (yeah... thanks for that).
Throughout the late 1800s there were some independence uprisings, but nothing sufficient to bring down the Spanish strangle-hold on the island. Rebel forces, led by Jose Marti in 1895 sought to overthrow the Spaniards, however the Spanish troops outnumbered the much smaller rebel army which relied mostly on guerrilla and sabotage tactics. The Spaniards began a campaign of suppression, most notably culminating in the herding of the rural population into reconcentrados, described by international observers as "fortified towns". These are often considered the prototype for 20th-century concentration camps. Between 200,000 and 400,000 Cuban civilians died from starvation and disease in the camps, with US and European protests against Spanish conduct on the island following.
Cuba is most famous in history for Fidel Castro (another one big on labour camps) and the Cuban Missile Crisis (when the Kennedy administration demanded the immediate withdrawal of Soviet missiles placed in Cuba, which was a response to US nuclear missiles in Turkey and the Middle East). Ever since these heady days when war seemed inevitable, Cuba has been excluded from regional treaties between the USA and Latin America. Talks last year seeking to include Cuba were still rather tense, with Hilary Clinton walking out at one point! So... The exclusions still apply, so I cannot fly direct from the USA to Cuba as a result. Cuba remains a socialist state and - incredibly - contact between foreigners and Cubans was de facto illegal until 1997 (!!!). These days, tourism is one of Cuba's biggest industries, and truck loads of Europeans pop in to work on their tans and check out the UNESCO site of Trinidad.
Cuban music is very rich, and has been the basis of many other musical styles like salsa, rumba and mambo and an upbeat derivation of the rumba, the cha-cha-cha. Rumba music originated in early Afro-Cuban culture. The Tres was also invented in Cuba, but other traditional Cuban instruments are of African and/or Taíno origin such as the maracas, güiro, marimba and various wooden drums including the mayohuacan. Havana was the heart of the rap scene in Cuba when it began in the 1990s. During that time, reggaetón was also growing in popularity. Dance in Cuba has taken a major boost over the 1990s.
Cuban cuisine is a fusion of Spanish and Caribbean cuisines. Cuban recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish cooking, with some Caribbean influence in spice and flavor. Now food rationing, which has been the norm in Cuba for the last four decades, restricts the common availability of these dishes.[157] Traditional Cuban meal would not be served in courses; rather all food items would be served at the same time. The typical meal could consist of plantains, black beans and rice, ropa vieja (shredded beef), Cuban bread, pork with onions, and tropical fruits. Black beans and rice, referred to as Platillo Moros y Cristianos (or moros for short), and plantains are staples of the Cuban diet. Many of the meat dishes are cooked slowly with light sauces. Garlic, cumin, oregano and bay leaves are the dominant spices. (Yum!)
A friend had this to say of Cuba:
You will love Cuba. People literally dance in the streets and smoke cigars. And they are all gorgeous. And where amazingly bright clothes. And Havana is this crumbling Spanish city with amazing architecture all crumbling away with the salt spray from the sea and boulevards of trees. It is rad. All the cars are from the 60s and have been painted brightly with house paint. And there is a heritage town called Trinidad where the govt gave people money to restore their houses and paint them. It is gorgeous. Do a dancing course.
The food isn't great. A lot of pork and beans.
Anyone wish to join me? I am calling for people to travel around with me, as at this stage it's just me! I'll be doing Cuba in January for about a fortnight, then South America (to be decided) but I'll be in Rio for Carnival in March and doing an overland tour from Rio to Buenos Aires (19 days of adventure!).
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