Taxis in the Cuban capital Havana. Cars, buildings and even the religion
in the country are ancient. PHOTO | MAGUNGA WILLIAMS | NATION
I knew this was going to be a different kind of a trip when one
of the ground crew checking passports at the boarding gate at the Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi asked, “But why are you going
to Cuba?”
She had no business asking me this. I had
already been through it during the visa application process months
earlier, and at the airport's Immigration desk. Her job was to check
whether my travel documents were in order.
Thirty-one
hours later, we were at the José Martí International Airport in Havana.
As soon as the Immigration officer saw my Kenyan passport, she put it
aside and called over a few uniformed officers. She reacted the same
with five other men — four Senegalese and a Nigerian.
I had heard of stories but had never seen, let alone experienced this kind of thing first hand.
We
were kept at the airport for two hours as they questioned us about why
we were in Cuba, where we would be staying, and for how long....
Essentially, everything I had already told the Cuban embassy in Nairobi
as well as the immigration people.
I do not think you
have lived until you are “held” at a South American airport, and your
passport withheld by an interrogator who does not speak English.
So here I was trying to understand what was being demanded of me using the little Spanish I have picked up from watching Narcos and Maria de los Angeles. Good luck to me.
Unfortunately
for me, I travel to explore, which is not a good enough reason for
airport Immigration or boarding gate security personnel. They don't get
it.
Why would an African choose to spend money to fly
around the world instead of helping to feed the starving children in
those Save The Children commercials? Genuine question.
There are a thousand answers to that, but I will tell you why you should go to Cuba.
Think
of a country caught in a time warp. In the 1950s, to be exact. If you
know world history, Cuba's problems started when it refused to accept
the US's “gift of democracy,” and was hit by economic and military
embargoes.
So, they drive around in colourful ancient car models that we only see in old movies and in vintage motorshows.
Oh,
and if you think the cars and building are old, the religion too is
ancient but alive. Cubans still worship the old African gods.
The practice goes back to the days of slavery. Transatlantic slavery.
When
Africans were kidnapped and sold into slavery to work in sugar
plantations in the Caribbean, but they did not forgot their past.
Especially not their religion. These transplanted people were mostly
from the Congo, Nigeria and Dahomey (now the Republic of Benin).
Afro-Cubans
practise a religion called Santeria. One of the friends I made in
Havana took us to the house of a Santeria priest. The moment we walked
in, I was petrified.
Right at the doorstep was a rodent that had been “sacrificed” to the gods for protection and good luck.
The
Babalawo (priest) said that they would ideally use an African rat, but
importing rats from Africa is tricky, so they use whatever they can get.
The gods would understand.
In Havana, it is a daily ritual for people to go to the Malecón — a long stretch of wall by the sea — to watch the sun set.
Families carry boom boxes and dance to reggaetón or salsa or both. Lovers hold each other and kiss under the fiery evening sky.
Somewhere in the distance, ships come and go, as do the waves and the cool evening breeze.
If
there is one thing you will love about Cuba, it is the colours. It is
not only in the way they paint their houses in all the shades of the
rainbow.
Or the way the people can never wear
monochromes, even to a funeral. Or in the way they move their bodies
when dancing to a rhumba beat. But also, in their history, and how they
remember the people who made them who they are today. In every corner of
every city I went to, there is a statue erected in honour of their
heroes.
Cubans
in general appreciate kindness and do not forget how you made them
feel. So you are never far away from a Cuban who wants to kiss you on
the cheek and ask you where you are from.
Many times it is because they want to know how the “motherland” is doing, because satellite TV and Internet is a rumour here.
Sometimes
it is because they want to sell you something, perhaps a bottle of rum
or a roll of cigars. But you have to be careful with the street cigars
because conmen have been known to dupe unsuspecting tourists into buying
rolls of dry banana leaves. You get home, light up and start wondering
why all of a sudden you smell of matoke!
If
you won’t go to Cuba for the warmth of the people, their colourful
heritage, their historic buildings and cars, or to see how they worship
the old gods of our ancestors, then do it because that is where your
doctors come from. Yes, all East African countries have Cuban doctors.
Oh, and for the guavas. They make everything with guavas. Just go discover.
No comments :
Post a Comment