Finally Havana. And it is indeed one of the more beautiful cities I have ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of them. I wasn’t prepared for this. How beautiful it would be. How relatively unspoiled by time, how over fifty years later it looks like the Havana of dreams. Or only maybe a little shabbier. Exiled Cubans watching this show missing their country, angry about being separated from family and friends, a world left behind. A lot of them are not going to be satisfied with this show. We can’t show you the whole Cuba. This show’s not about communism, which I generally abhor, or about Fidel Castro.
This show is about the Cuban heart. About everyday things – big and small. Like baseball, children’s faces, buildings, cars, and of course food.
On the one hand, nearly everybody owns their own home, education up to the PhD level is free. Medical care is excellent by most basic standards, and also free. But significantly, there are no internet cafes, no MTV, no Twitter. There is no freedom to speak with the rest of the world or have the same conversation that nearly every else on the planet can. Most importantly, you can’t leave.
But it’s gorgeous. The beer is good, and the rum is excellent. The cigars you know about. And the Cuban people. Cubans wherever they are and whatever path they’ve chosen are proud people. And pride is usually a good thing.
-Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations: Cuba
