Juxtaposition is the best way to describe walking through Cuba. A stray dog licks at a raw lesion under a massive Buganvilia, a woman bounces a child on a crooked knee while sitting on the rubble of a collapsing building, a homeless man, covered in a fine layer of dust with a messily bandaged foot, takes rest from the heat under a billboard proclaiming the victory of the revolution.
I do not know if it is my American mind, filled with preconceived prejudice from years of leftover messages from an ideological war that far outdated my birth, that selects these images out of all the rest. Maybe it's because I am not familiar with these images, too long consumed with the privilege of prosperity to be able to recognize familiar things in an unfamiliar place.
I do not think this should negate the power of what I have not seen before, yet it is also important to recognize that this is not a place of apocalyptic ruin that some recognize it to be. When you compare two images, it's crucial to regard both sides equally. That's the point of experiencing new things, to learn more and therefore be able to judge these images with increasing clarity.
Reaching the end of this trip, I still feel as though I am not satisfied with the way I am able to process these images. Maybe it's my limited knowledge about this place and it's people, however I don't think that's something that can be mended by a six day stay at luxurious hotels and a guided tour.
I strongly believe this will only be something that can develop over a longer period of time, with more conversations about the history of this country.
-Lily Ray Darling
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