January 2002 - 10 years ago this month

Ten years ago this month, I was in Cuba -- January 2002.  It was International Photography Month, and I was there taking a documentary photography workshop.  As always, I had signed on at the last minute, so I had no time to prepare for it or to build expectations.  My best hope for the trip was to get a nice body of work and to learn a little Spanish.

Did I mention it was January 2002?  Only 4 months after 9/11?  The outpouring of global love for our country was enormous, and if you spoke with anyone who had traveled outside the United States at that time, they always came home with stories of international peace and love. 

I had barely left my own house that fall, much less traveled outside the country, so here's what I never saw coming:  the overwhelming Love and compassion from these dear, dear people in Cuba.

I believe our group might have been some of the first Americans they had seen or been able to communicate with after 9/11.  Think about it:  Americans weren't traveling much internationally just after the attacks, and the Cubans had no internet access, no way to phone their own families in America, no way to send a letter.  Yet they did have television and they had watched it all -- horrified with the rest of the world.

The connection with each of them always began with the question of where I was from.  My answer of 'The United States' would be immediately followed with much animation:  huge eyes, loud gasps, hands covering the mouth or arms thrown up into the air, then coming down to demonstrate the towers falling, and in the midst of many words I did not know, I always heard 'the Twin Towers', spoken in English.  There would be hugs and tears and much love, followed by the sharing of espresso and invitations into homes and special places.

That precious connection became the cornerstone for each documentary piece that developed for me there, whether it was titled 'The Dogs of Cuba', 'Behind the Scenes of the National Ballet of Cuba', 'Afternoon in Vinales', 'Real Life in Havana', 'Love on the Malecon' or any of the other many stories.  After spending the entire month of January 2002 in Cuba, I still can't speak a bit of Spanish.  But I know this:  the Cuban people are Rife with Life.

A 10-year anniversary is always a marker, and in gratitude for my time there and  my memories of the lovely Cuban people, I'll begin my diary by sharing those stories and images.  I hope you enjoy the read.