I have a friend and a former co-worker who is Cuban, he came here as a little boy with his mother but his father stayed on the island. His name is Carlos, he's a water treatment technician and is married to a woman from Argentina -- they're both American citizens now -- and about three summers ago they went on vacation to, first Cuba to see his father and other relatives, and then on to Argentina to see his wife's parents.
He's not very political but he said within hours of his arrival he knew he had made a major mistake in spending vacation time in Cuba. His father lived in a small town near Havana, a suburb I guess, and he said it was one of the most deadly boring places he could have ever imagined. Nothing to do. No shopping malls, no movies, no clubs, no restaurants, no nothing. And no one had any money least of all his father.
He said the first morning he and his wife slept late but were awakened by people coming to his father's small house. They seemed excited and as his father hurriedly prepared to leave, he asked Carlos (my friend) did he want to come along. Come along where? To the market, his father explained, they have bread today!
His father had no air conditioning just fans, which helped (it was very warm), but every evening (and sometimes during the day) the power would go off for an hour or two. His father's one extravagance was a satellite dish -- illegal but everyone in his neighborhood seemed to have them (and you can't exactly hide them) -- so he could watch TV from stations in Miami. His father was a devoted fan of the Miami Marlins baseball team and every evening he would join his father and his uncles and they would watch the games. Except he said frequently the picture would break up and the audio would be distorted by a low-pitched grinding sound. When he asked what was the problem, his father and his uncles all laughed. "Oh that's nothing," his father said. "It'll stop." It was the Cuban authorities jamming the signal.
After two days he told his wife, "I can't take this, let's go." His wife was horrified. She said we can't leave, your father will be heartbroken and insulted. Carlos suggested they claim her mother had been in a car accident. His wife said, "We're staying!"
He said eventually he took his father aside and urged him to come to the United States. His father wouldn't hear of it. He said, "I'm Cuban, why would I want to leave Cuba?" He said, "But dad, life here is no good." His father said, "There are problems yes, but that's true everywhere, isn't it?"
Carlos loved Buenos Aires, by the way, especially the shopping district.
