Day 6 – Trinidad

 

   Our guest speaker, Richard Detrich, gave us the quote which is so true, “History is not so much what actually happened, but what people believed happened.” So here is either what happened or people believed happened: I used to teach my third and fourth grade Montessori students that the Spanish came for Gold, Glory, and God. That is probably what really happened. The Spanish were Catholics and today Cuba is about 70% Catholic. The sugar barons needed many slaves to work the fields. Most slaves in Cuba were worked literally to death, so more slaves were needed. The Spanish were careful to collect slaves from different regions in Africa, so no one group could organize and then revolt. So each group of slaves brought their own belief system. After all, it was all they had that was their own. In Santeria, the most prominent belief system, the main god is Olofi, but there are numerous lesser gods to bring messages to Olofi. For example, there is a god of the sea, unfortunately forgot her name but she is known either for peace or anger. I guess the last two cruises she was angry because the seas were very rough. Fortunately for us she has been at peace, and our seas have been the kind one could actually water ski upon.  

    More than 600,000 slaves were forced to come to Cuba.  As I knew the slaves were chained lying down and hundreds were packed onto the slave ships. What I didn’t realize is that if the slave ship was stopped for inspection, most did not have the paper work for the number of slaves they carried, so they quickly threw the extra number of slaves over board. Also, if pirates were coming, they threw the slaves overboard to prevent the pirates from getting their slaves. Keep in mind that slaves were worth a great deal of money.

    In Santiago we visited Le Cobre where we visited the National Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Charity. According to legend, during a storm in the 17^th century, three local fishermen saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary. The slave boy with them had a necklace with Mary on it and the men began to pray. The storm stopped and the men were saved, then they found the statue and even in the storm she was dry. She is referred to as the Virgin Mary of Charity. So a church was built and the statue placed inside. People come from all over the world to pray here. Six different popes have blessed the statue. There is a long flight of steps up to the cathedral. Many people if they have been helped by Mary come up on their knees. We saw a woman doing this. Also if you have received goodness from Mary, people bring a gift back to her. The church has case after case of things brought as gifts. There are many team jerseys, hair from Fidel’s soldiers, rings, crutches, medals, and jewelry etc. Tom did light a candle.

     Back to Santeria, they have a god Oshum, that looks like, is dressed like, and carries an infant and a cross just like the Virgin of Charity, so the Cubans today and slaves of old could worship Oshum while their masters worshiped the Virgin Mary. It was a clever way to have a win-win and blend religions and beliefs.  To be a member of Santeria you must be a baptized Catholic. That one is a little hard to figure but whatever. So 70% of the Cuban people are Santeria. For centuries religion has accommodated local culture. The other % of Cubans are atheists, and other religions. As our guest speaker says this does not add up to 100, but you get the idea that religion is a complicated topic.

    We have also learned that cigar smoking is truly a way for the Cuban people to message their gods. The smoke from the cigar sends the signal. Also beads have different meaning. Yesterday we noticed our bus driver had different colored beads around his gear shift on the bus.

   Fidel Castro said that to be an officer in the Cuban Army one must be atheists. Under Soviet domination, cows were no longer allowed to be eaten, even if you owned the cow. All cows were only to be used for milk. Remember that all children up to the age of seven had to drink milk, and no one after seven is allowed to drink or buy milk.

   In Cuba there are two different currencies. A tourist cannot use a credit card here but must use the CUC as it is called. When a tourist trades for the CUC the government takes 13%. The Cuban people use Pesos. Each peso is worth about 4 cents. This is a method that makes all tourists pay much more for a purchase plus the government has already taken their cut. When we pay our guides in CUCs, they can then buy better quality and things not available to the general public.

 

“My favorite thing is to go where I’ve never been.” – Diane Arbus

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Tom and Holly