Hi!
It has come to my attention that we’re only one month deep into winter. Winter is the only season where it feels long and excruciating because I anticipate warmer months ahead. It’s going down to -29 tonight and I would like to litigate for inconveniencing me. Unsolicited advice on embracing winter is not welcome here.
The only reprieve from winter is to escape to a warmer climate. That’s what I did last week. I went to Cuba. A quick 3.5hr flight directly south from Toronto. Flying over the bible belt hoping to not crash in some Evangelical Christian town. This would be my first and highly likely my last time at an all-inclusive resort.
Back in October, my friend had mentioned that she was booking an all-inclusive vacation to Cuba for January. I decided to piggyback that idea and also book the vacation. I had no expectations other than that the beach would be beautiful and the food would not be great. With the United States embargo (while under Trump) and an authoritarian government, I proceeded with realistic expectations.
The idea of staying at an all-inclusive never crossed my mind as a good vacation. I didn’t like the idea of unlimited meals and alcohol, in-house entertainment and generally staying within the confines of one place. But with the tumultuous ride it has been the past few years, the aforementioned itinerary was something I was looking forward to. Lying on the beach, having a cocktail and reading a book. Good times.
I booked my holiday for seven days. I figured, seven days would be the ideal length I needed to relax from work, the city and the cold. I was absolutely wrong. Seven fucking days at a resort filled with children, entitled boomers and overall unkind guests was 2 days too long. I am not against a seven-day beach holiday, but a seven-day beach holiday with no where to go outside the resort with unseasoned food felt excruciatingly long.
A perfect segue into one of the most important topics: food. I’ve mentioned the food already a few times. It’s true, the food isn’t great. Generally, most to all restaurants are government controlled and resources on the island are limited to non-existent. All resorts are government owned and in cahoots with other nations. Sanctions have been implemented by JFK since 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis and continue to this day. While things began to ease during the Obama era, they worsened again under Trump. The food is not great for political reasons.
I couldn’t help but develop a saviour complex. From the moment you get off the plane to flying back home, you’re fully educated on how oppressed Cuban people. It’s kind of a weird dichotomy because you’re there to take a holiday, but also don’t want to contribute to the problem. Like, does my holiday help support the salaries of these workers, however at the same time am I taking resources from the locals. I think I took on more of a burden than I should have when the problem is systemic and bigger than myself.
But after exchanging a few words with Rosey who works in PR at the resort, Cuban people are “humble”. How I see it is that if you’re ruled by communism and change is elusive, you accept things for what they are and try to make the best of it. I know it’s very simple (and submissive and not an exhaustive solution), but life is already hard and if you are constantly reminded of how hard life is then you get numb and apathetic.
The Cuba I experienced was that of a resort. Nothing authentic or local. I went to the beach, I had a cocktail, I ate some food and I did it again every day for seven days. It was actually really nice and also very monotonous. Which is exactly what I signed up for. I almost finished a book. The beach was calm, clear and beautiful. It only rained on our last day. And I saw everything I wanted to see except for a starfish.
Life of Gay will be moving towards a bi-weekly schedule. Every other Thursday. Gotta do career shit. Get that money. A new job. Henry deserves a good life and I need to provide for him. Lol. That kind of modern stuff a capitalist society tells us to do. I might sprinkle in some things, maybe?
Thanks for reading. Remember: two weeks!
Perry