COMMUNITY CUBA

Trying to fathom the immensity of community in an island communist nation is nearly impossible. I have seen that although individualism is at times apparent here in Cuba more prominently a sense of belief in fellow Cubans or at least fellow citizens of the same province. I think there is something to be said about people who cannot escape and move from their natal communities to a broader world. In the United States many privileged citizens are constantly transient thus when in conflict or question one can try to migrate away form their past to build a brighter future. This concept of the rebuilt American manifests itself constantly in our relationships with identity and interactions with others. Here in Cuba one has much less of an opportunity to form a new identity especially in a new space. Thus it can be speculated that change in relationships appears to happen over a longer period of time. Today I was surprised to see that my teacher Marcía a native Habanera in her second wedding invited her ex and the ex husband of her sister as well. She made it clear that they were all close and although the marriages did not work out they developed friendships together. Besides the fact that her photos of both weddings were incredibly beautiful and rich with colorful characters throughout the matter that surprised me was how familial all of her relationships with the ex’s seemed. I always try to feign from romanticizing a situation but at least for now my running theory is when people have to deal with each other for long periods of time they figure out how to place each other in less conflicting spaces and the relationships develop and carry on in new ways.