aunty- you right that it is not acceptable to
be openly critical of the revolution. it doesnt mean that you would automatically go to jail but it would make things hard on yourself for sure.

if you visit the country, it will be nothing like you imagine. its not paradise, and its not a hell hole. but its nothing like you think. its just run totally different than here and they have different ideas of what rights are most important.... it is opressive in ways and it is liberating in ways...

it may seem oppressive that it is an actual law that any goverment vehicle that passes up a hitchhiker, that has room to take them, can be pulled over and ticketed.... but it may also seem liberating to the poor peasant farmer that needs the ride to get to town for something.

i had the opportunity to go to different many different towns and meet many famillys, some loved it and others didnt. it is opening into a market system slowly...and it only makes it harder for them to do so with the bloquade.... they can start resteraunts or other small businesses but they are heavilly taxed.

but it is a very happy population that has alot of fun in the streets, and the kids go to night clubs and concerts just like everywhere else. i even hung out for a while with the fishermen along the malecon (boaardwalk) in havanna where you see the waves crashing over the wall.... they get some big fish right in the waterway that goes from the ocean right pass the prison where the "prisoners of concience" are held. i didnt see anything big caught though.

i did leave alot of fishing gear with the familly that i stayed with the longest.... some spools and point wilson darts and spoons and they were loving the new gear....
while i was there the big thing on tv was a boxing match between the top two cuban boxers and it was controversial because one was gay. fidel didnt want him to fight but everyone else did and everyone was glued to the tv's for the fight.
also saw the buena vista social club in concert my last night there

its a nice place, id rather live here... buts its not at all a dictatorship in the terms that people think of one