Cubanaamericana in the motherland
A lot of people have asked me about my trip to Cuba, and I’m afraid my stock response of “it was the best week of my life!” connotes a week spent drinking Havana Club on the beaches of Veradero. Don’t get me wrong, much Havana Club was consumed, but my week in Cuba was so much more than that. My expectations were totally subverted and I left with a newfound love and appreciation for Cuba and its people. This week was also filled with realizations of some of the harsh realities of life on the island, reckoning with the inter-generational trauma of exile and being left behind, but also so much joy and hope and creativity and energy. Every day was packed with amazing women artists, designers, entrepreneurs, and trailblazers. I saw world class art, music, and dance. And of course, the highlight of the trip for me was meeting my extended family that I didn’t know existed until I started planning this trip. In spite of great difficulty communicating, we developed a bond that I am hopeful will last a lifetime. Maybe even longer.
My trip to Cuba was made possible by the CubaOne Foundation’s Tu Cuba program. I’ve been applying to this program since I first learned about it from Therese Jones in 2016 (thanks Therese!). Tu Cuba is similar in many ways to the State of Israel’s birthright program - it’s for young people, it’s free, and it aims to build a bridge to the diaspora. But, CubaOne is a relatively young organization - this Unidas (women-focused) trip is only the 7th trip that they have ever done (and I think at this point they have received 4,000 applications or more!). The bottleneck right now appears to be funding - Tu Cuba is funded by private donations and grants, not government support.
Overall, I’m impressed with how CubaOne is run. As far as creating connections, the model is correct - the connections are stronger when you invest heavily in a small group of carefully chosen people. CubaOne has a liberal definition of what “Cuban” and “young” mean, and they are even open to accepting applications to people who have been to Cuba previously. They made sure I knew that speaking Spanish fluently, or having a certain kind of name, or having an obviously Latina appearance aren’t the things that make you Cuban. They helped us acknowledge that all of our feelings prior to the trip were valid - I can’t understate the level of anxiety many of us were experiencing the day before we left. These are little things, but they matter, and shows me that they are being thoughtful about the choices they are making. That’s critical for something as emotionally and politically charged as the relationship between Cuba and the Cuban-American diaspora.
Ultimately, CubaOne seems to pick trip participants who are going to take their experience and do something positive with it. My trip cohort certainly seems up to the challenge. I can’t say enough great things about the women who went with me. Every single person was brilliant, motivated, kind, generous, and brought a unique perspective from both their family story and their professional background. Being among women facilitated a safe place to discuss our experiences and feelings, whether they were guilt, fear, or sorrow; excitement, inspiration, or love. It’s rare to have “formative” experiences as an adult that facilitate such deep bonding. The whole experience was overwhelming to someone as emotionally unavailable as I can be, but the group helped me open up and be vulnerable too. I’m so glad my first trip to Cuba (definitely not only!) was with other Cuban American women who have similarly complicated feelings about everything that’s happened since the revolution.
Over the next few months, I’ll be posting my thoughts about my trip to Cuba on this blog. I’ll be posting several albums on different aspects of the trip on my Facebook (if we’re not friends…sorry!). I’ll also post selected photos on this blog, my brand-new Instagram (@claireobandlon), and Twitter (@claireeohanlon). I’ll be uploading some videos of my visit with my family to YouTube. And after that, well, you’ll just have to wait and see.