{"id":1460,"date":"2019-04-21T19:40:41","date_gmt":"2019-04-21T19:40:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/?p=1460"},"modified":"2019-04-21T20:22:19","modified_gmt":"2019-04-21T20:22:19","slug":"project-overview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/?p=1460","title":{"rendered":"Project Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our original grant proposal:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When advertising trendy vacations to Cuba, every article describes old cars, bright but crumbling buildings, blissful island vibes, and music pouring onto the Malec\u00f3n. Countless media outlets, including the New York Times, describe Cuba as being \u201ca time capsule\u201d and \u201con the cusp of change.\u201d American tourists, previously unable to visit, lament wanting to visit before the country is \u201cruined\u201d by capitalism. Visitors leave Havana with a distorted view of socialist society, viewing daily hardships through rose-colored glasses. As stated in one opinion article, \u201cFor these Americans, Cuba exists solely as an idealized socialist paradise, in almost complete stasis since the Cold War, which has yet to be befouled by the corrupting influence of other Americans. For them, the island nation is the land of the noble savage on the verge of contact with the advanced but impure outside world, sure to despoil its backward, but charming, ways. These people don\u2019t want to see the real Cuba. They want to be able to say that they were there before it got Americanized.\u201d But what is the reality of Cuban life, and how can we, as visitors, be aware of our positionality and participate in ethical tourism? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a student of CC\u2019s Latin America Program in Cuba, I certainly lived a charmed life in Havana — beautiful island weather, a loving host family, laundry done for me, and meals provided or bought cheaply made life seem simple. It\u2019s easy for me to look back fondly of my time there. I fall into the trap of what psychologists call \u201crosy retrospection\u201d — because my experience as a whole in Cuba was positive, I talk of my time there more positively now than when I first left. This effect only grows with time and distance. The reality is, I confronted daily the harsh truth that my idyllic life was at the expense of constant hardship for the Cubans around me. My host mom Angelita did not serve us spaghetti until my last week because she insisted she needed to serve it with cheese; however, she had not received any cheese rations in ages and she could not purchase it because all the restaurants had been buying it up to serve to tourists. She would not go out to buy food, or \u201ccomprar comida\u201d; she went out to look for food, or \u201cbuscar comida.\u201d While Angelita does reasonably well financially, serving tourists, the reality is most Cubans, on average, earn $24 a month. And because the economy is so reliant on tourism, taxi drivers are earning more money than are doctors or teachers. This has created a paradox that illustrates tourism as a double-edged sword. While access to the tourist economy has greatly improved the lives of many Cubans, it has also made things, like basic food items, even more inaccessible for others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ironically, despite these struggles, tourists still romanticize the Cuban people and their country. There is a strong belief of \u201cresolver\u201d in Cuba: the sentiment that no matter how difficult life becomes, all will be resolved. Thus, hardships are framed in a deliberate way. Long lines waiting for food, internet cards, or money are \u201cworth the wait;\u201d having limited access to internet (which is also highly censored) allows people to be \u201cdisconnected\u201d and focused on face-to-face interaction; as a result of the Revolution, most basic rights (such as healthcare, education, food and shelter) are free, but often extremely lacking in resources. Meanwhile, tourists don\u2019t even realize the underlying stress Cubans endure dealing with these issues on a daily basis, instead fixating on white sand beaches and shiny vintage cars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The romanticization of Cuban life presents a form of cultural imperialism — as Americans, it is easier to view Cuba as a sort of \u201cCold War museum,\u201d rather than assessing our own role and effect on Cuba\u2019s economy. As a psychology student who has studied the phenomenon of \u201crosy retrospection\u201d and had the opportunity to spend several months in Cuba, I hope to examine myself and my own viewpoints in the context of broader experiences. I believe I can learn to engage with the tourist culture in Cuba in such a way that appropriately supports the Cuban economy while also recognizing the problematic role I play within it. Through this, I hope to answer several research questions: <\/p>\n\n\n\n