A trip to Cuba
January 31 2016 By Abiodun Giwa
Raul Castro of Cuba
Virginia is a native of Cuba resident in the United States. She works temporarily as a driving school instructor. She is damned proud of her job, because according to her, working as a driving school instructor enables her to contribute to making the road safe for all road users, and that she says reduces accident and death on the roads.
According to Virginia, she is friendly with her students in order to give them peace of mind to gain knowledge without fright. She said that it is what makes her different from other driving instructors.
"I don't have to be hard on students for them to understand what they are being taught, unlike some instructors who cannot accommodate students' mistakes," she said.
The love for her Cuban heritage quickly floats, but she says it is a long time she has traveled to Cuba, while at the same time having a burning desire to go and see how life has changed in her country, after Cuba's restoration of diplomatic relations with the United States, her adopted home. And she prepares to travel to Cuba, she lets her students know the period she will be away and the time she will be returning, programming driving tests to ensure she is available to lend helping hands.
And in the middle of December 2015, Virginia takes off to Cuba and returns towards the end of January 2016. She looks more robust and peaceful than she she been before her journey after her journey back to the U.S. And she has a lot to say about her journey to Cuba, her lover for Cuba and her preference to continue living in the U.S, despite the restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the U.S.
"The truth is that I love Cuba as my country, I will prefer to be here (referring to the U.S). You know that there is no freedom in Cuba. You cannot do most of what you do here in Cuba and you don't have internet and few people have the cell phone."
"Do you mean that there is no internet services in Cuba?"
"It is not common among the people there, but people like us who visit from the U.S have it. But among the Cubans, not many people have the internet. As an American, me and my family enjoy the privilege of being in Cuba and away from the U.S."
"Are you saying that only the rich or the affluent have access to the internet services in Cuba?"
"There are no rich people in Cuba. No one is rich in Cuba. Even the cell phone is not available everywhere. You cannot go to cuba and claim to be rich. The maximum amount that a family of five can take to Cuba is five thousand dollars. Me and my husband and children went with two thousand dollars, because that was the amount we had. We intend to up it to five thousand dollars next time we travel to Cuba."
"Did you see Fidel Castro during your visit to Cuba?"
"No. we did not. You only see Castro on Revolution Day. And now that his brother, Raul, has taken over, Castor is hardly in the picture. Although Cubans are not rich, but the country has the best education and heath care. I have a house there already, but I want to raise it from bungalow to one storied building. It is the next plan in my agenda," Virginia said in conclusion, as she drives toward the test center in Lodi, New jersey, where she takes one of her students for a driving test, radiating joy on her return from a trip to Cuba
.
According to Virginia, she is friendly with her students in order to give them peace of mind to gain knowledge without fright. She said that it is what makes her different from other driving instructors.
"I don't have to be hard on students for them to understand what they are being taught, unlike some instructors who cannot accommodate students' mistakes," she said.
The love for her Cuban heritage quickly floats, but she says it is a long time she has traveled to Cuba, while at the same time having a burning desire to go and see how life has changed in her country, after Cuba's restoration of diplomatic relations with the United States, her adopted home. And she prepares to travel to Cuba, she lets her students know the period she will be away and the time she will be returning, programming driving tests to ensure she is available to lend helping hands.
And in the middle of December 2015, Virginia takes off to Cuba and returns towards the end of January 2016. She looks more robust and peaceful than she she been before her journey after her journey back to the U.S. And she has a lot to say about her journey to Cuba, her lover for Cuba and her preference to continue living in the U.S, despite the restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the U.S.
"The truth is that I love Cuba as my country, I will prefer to be here (referring to the U.S). You know that there is no freedom in Cuba. You cannot do most of what you do here in Cuba and you don't have internet and few people have the cell phone."
"Do you mean that there is no internet services in Cuba?"
"It is not common among the people there, but people like us who visit from the U.S have it. But among the Cubans, not many people have the internet. As an American, me and my family enjoy the privilege of being in Cuba and away from the U.S."
"Are you saying that only the rich or the affluent have access to the internet services in Cuba?"
"There are no rich people in Cuba. No one is rich in Cuba. Even the cell phone is not available everywhere. You cannot go to cuba and claim to be rich. The maximum amount that a family of five can take to Cuba is five thousand dollars. Me and my husband and children went with two thousand dollars, because that was the amount we had. We intend to up it to five thousand dollars next time we travel to Cuba."
"Did you see Fidel Castro during your visit to Cuba?"
"No. we did not. You only see Castro on Revolution Day. And now that his brother, Raul, has taken over, Castor is hardly in the picture. Although Cubans are not rich, but the country has the best education and heath care. I have a house there already, but I want to raise it from bungalow to one storied building. It is the next plan in my agenda," Virginia said in conclusion, as she drives toward the test center in Lodi, New jersey, where she takes one of her students for a driving test, radiating joy on her return from a trip to Cuba
.
