Cuba today: two young people describe how Cubans get by with less.The water in 16-year-old Gilliam Trelles's apartment gets shut off several times a day. Giliam lives in Havana, Cuba's capital. When she and her friends gather in a nearby park to drink coffee and listen to guitar music, they play Battleship battleship, large, armored warship equipped with the heaviest naval guns. The evolution of the battleship, from the ironclad warship of the mid-19th cent., received great impetus from the Civil War. with pen and paper instead of the real plastic game pieces. Giliam, who is in the 11th grade, attends a public high school. (There are no private schools in Cuba.) Her school, she tells JS, "is falling down. The desks are ancient, and part of the roof has caved in." Much of Havana is in a state of disrepair. "There are areas of the city where buildings collapse every few days," Mario Coyula, a leading Cuban architect, recently told the Reuters news agency. Giliam says that none of this bothers her. She hopes that her" country will maintain its Communist ideals as it grapples with a struggling economy and the illness of its longtime leader, Fidel Castro Noun 1. Fidel Castro - Cuban socialist leader who overthrew a dictator in 1959 and established a Marxist socialist state in Cuba (born in 1927) Castro, Fidel Castro Ruz . "Sometimes the lack of materialism in Cuba is the result of a problem, but sometimes it's a benefit too," says Giliam, who lives with her father, a retired government official. For instance, Cubans have to struggle very hard to make ends meet, she says. But that struggle has made them more resourceful, and even more generous. "For me, I'm willing to live with whatever I'm given," she says. "If you can't have something, why torture yourself wanting it?" Making Do Most Cubans own their homes. Everyone is entitled to free health care and education, including college. Rates for water, electricity, and telephone service are subsidized (partly paid for by the government). Cubans also receive food rations. But the average salary for a state employee is just $15 a month, which is hardly enough to cover costs for additional food and other basic needs. Transportation is also a problem, since few people own cars. Buses are overcrowded o·ver·crowd v. o·ver·crowd·ed, o·ver·crowd·ing, o·ver·crowds v.tr. To cause to be excessively crowded: a system of consolidation that only overcrowded the classrooms. and unreliable, and taxis are expensive. Many Cubans hitch rides to work, which means that their commutes can involve several hours each way. People often have several jobs on the side to make ends meet. Many Cubans depend on money and gifts sent by relatives living in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , Spain, and other countries. In Cuba, doctors, lawyers, and economists can make more money driving taxis or working as hotel porters than they can in their own professions because of the tips from foreigners. "Everyone wants to get a job in tourism, to make more money," says Giliam, who doesn't include herself in this category. She wants to become a sociologist, to study human behavior. Changing the World Cuba embraced tourism in the 1990s. It had no choice. Its economy collapsed after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, which had provided significant aid to the Caribbean island. Foreign visitors now have more access to fancy hotels and the white-sand beaches than Cubans do, which has frustrated many people who live on the island. "So much goes to the foreigner," says Giliam, who is fluent in English and listens to Alanis Morissette and American jazz and blues. "So you start to think, 'What about me? What's there for me?'" Unlike Cubans who leave the country in search of more opportunities, Giliam wants to stay on the island to help fix some of its problems. But she is also interested in global issues, and wants to help humanity overall. "I have a utopian idea of saving the world," she says. "I want to change social situations for there to be more equality. I think we could start decreasing the importance of money, which creates so many problems. And I see so many aggressions against humanity, I'd like to start changing that too." Daily Life Ernesto Almaguer, 12, also has a sense of idealism. He wants to become a doctor, even though he knows that he won't make a lot of money. "Here, health care is free, and that's how it should be," he tells JS. Ernesto, who is in the seventh grade, lives with his parents and his 19-year-old half brother, Alejandro, in a residential neighborhood of Havana. "All people have the right for their lives to be saved," he adds. Ernesto loves sports, especially soccer and basketball. Like most Cubans, he eats a lot of rice, beans, and pork. His favorite dessert is ran. He loves listening and dancing to reggaeton, a blend of reggae, hip-hop, and Latin American beats. Ernesto gets a bit tired of Cuba's hot and humid climate, and enjoys the island's short "cold" season in December and January. During those months, temperatures drop to about 60[degrees]F. He imagines life in the U.S. to be quite different. "Kids there can watch more TV channels," he says. "Here, we have about four or five. They also have more money, and more things to entertain themselves with. They can go to more sophisticated amusement parks This page contains a list of amusement parks by
Despite the material advantages of living in the U.S., Ernesto sees a positive side to Cuban life. "Kids are much safer here," he says, "and have more freedom to play in the streets." Ernesto's hero is Julius Caesar Julius Caesar: see Caesar, Julius. , but he also admires Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Argentine-born revolutionary who helped Castro develop Cuba's brand of socialism. Ready for Change? Critics of Communism often disagree with Verb 1. disagree with - not be very easily digestible; "Spicy food disagrees with some people" hurt - give trouble or pain to; "This exercise will hurt your back" the teachings of men like Che and the 80-year-old Castro, who ruled Cuba for nearly 48 years. Last summer, Castro's failing health forced him to temporarily turn over power to his brother, Raul. Observers condemn the lack of freedom of speech on the island, and say that the government controls too many aspects of people's lives. Indeed, some Cubans say that they are ready for change. They want to maintain benefits of the Communist revolution A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism, typically with socialism (state-run means of production) as an intermediate stage. , such as free education and health care, yet have fewer restrictions on economic, religious, and even political activities. If Raul Castro is given full control of Cuba, will he usher in Verb 1. usher in - be a precursor of; "The fall of the Berlin Wall ushered in the post-Cold War period" inaugurate, introduce commence, lead off, start, begin - set in motion, cause to start; "The U.S. a new era of freedom? No one knows, but Cuba remains much the same since he took power last July. Many observers think that change will come slowly. "Even within 10 years, big changes won't happen," Giliam predicts. "It will happen bit by bit." JS Words to Know * Communist: one who believes in a system of government based on state ownership of land and businesses. Under such a system, individual freedoms are often limited. * socialism: a political theory that calls for a more-just and equitable distribution of property and labor. Think About It 1. Compare your life with Giliam's and Ernesto's. What are some similarities and some differences? 2. Do you think that U.S. kids are as idealistic as these two Cubans? Why or why not? Objective Students should be able to: * understand that Cuba's political, economic, and social situations influence one another. Word to Know * Utopian: impossibly, impracticably im·prac·ti·ca·ble adj. 1. Impossible to do or carry out: Refloating the sunken ship intact proved impracticable because of its fragility. 2. ideal. (From Sir Thomas More's 1516 novel Utopia, which described a flawless imaginary land.) Background Fidel Castro has been Cuba's only leader since 1959. With Fidel in poor health and approaching age 81, Raul Castro has been running the country. But he has not made significant changes. Will Raul be able to stay in power after his brother's death, or will Cubans demand change? The U.S. government, long opposed to Castro's rule, is standing by for the answer. Critical Thinking READING COMPREHENSION Reading comprehension can be defined as the level of understanding of a passage or text. For normal reading rates (around 200-220 words per minute) an acceptable level of comprehension is above 75%. : Why has tourism again become important to Cuba's economy? (It brings in money from other countries. Cuba lost its main economic support with the fall of the Soviet Union; also, a trade embargo limits income from the U.S.) MAKING INFERENCES: According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Giliam and Ernesto, Cuban kids have fewer material things than U.S. kids, yet are more content with their lives. Do you think contentment can be more important than having possessions? Why or why not? (Answers will vary.) Activity TIME TRAVEL: Create a chronology of Cuba-U.S. relations since Castro took power. In small groups, have students research and report on specific incidents, such as: 1961, Bay of Pigs The Bay of Pigs (Spanish: Bahía de Cochinos, also known as Playa Girón) is an inlet of the Gulf of Cazones on the south coast of Cuba. ; 1980, Mariel Boat Lift; 1999, Elian Gonzalez. STANDARD SOCIAL STUDIES, GRADES 5-8 * Production, distribution, and consumption: Since Cuba's political status limits economic growth, the people have found wags to live with less. RESOURCES * Hernandez, Roger E., Cuba (Mason Crest Publishers, 2003). Grades 6-8. * Sheehan, Sean, Cuba (Marshall Cavendish, 2005). Grades 5 & up. WEB SITES * Cuba-U.S. Relations Chronology news.bbc.co.uk/1 /hi/world/americas /3182150.stm * Photos of Cuba & Cubans danheller.com/cuba QUICK QUIZ * Use a word from this list to correctly complete each sentence. the Bahamas, businesses, capitalism, the Caribbean, Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, clothing, Communism, Dominican Republic Dominican Republic (dəmĭn`ĭkən), republic (2005 est. pop. 8,950,000), 18,700 sq mi (48,442 sq km), West Indies, on the eastern two thirds of the island of Hispaniola. The capital and largest city is Santo Domingo. , Florida, Georgia, Germany, Che Guevara Noun 1. Che Guevara - an Argentine revolutionary leader who was Fidel Castro's chief lieutenant in the Cuban revolution; active in other Latin American countries; was captured and executed by the Bolivian army (1928-1967) Ernesto Guevara, Guevara , health care, hitchhiking Hitchhiking (also known as lifting, thumbing, hitching, autostop or thumbing up a ride) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people (usually strangers) for a ride in their automobile to travel a distance that may either be a short or long distance. , homes, Jamaica, land, Navassa Island Navassa Island (nəvă`sə), Fr. Navasse, coral and limestone islet, c.1 sq mi (2.6 sq km), in the Caribbean Sea between Haiti and Jamaica. Located c.100 mi (160 km) S of the U.S. , private cars, South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , the Soviet Union, tourism, train, the United Kingdom 1. Cuba is part of this region:-- 2. The closest U.S. state A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States, although four states use the official title "commonwealth". The separate state governments and the federal government share sovereignty, in that an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and is-- 3. The closest independent country to Cuba's south is--. 4. From the 1959 revolution until recently, Cuba has been governed by--. 5. He developed Cuba's style of socialism with the help of--. 6. In the early 1990s, Cuba stopped receiving aid from-- 7. Since losing that source of income, Cuba has become more dependent on-- 8. Cuba's government provides free education and-- 9. Most Cubans own their-- 10. Many Cubans get to work by- ANSWERS Quick Quiz, p. T-5 1. the Caribbean 2. Florida 3. Jamaica 4. Fidel Castro 5. Che Guevara 6. the Soviet Union 7. tourism 8. health care 9. homes 10. hitchhiking 11. B 12. A 13. B 14. A 15. C 16. B 17. D 18. B 19. D 20. C Objective Students should be able to: * understand the significance of an event in the recent past that might have altered the course of history. Background "There can be no long-term living with Castro," wrote General Maxwell Taylor, a chief adviser to President John F. Kennedy "John Kennedy" and "JFK" redirect here. For other uses, see John Kennedy (disambiguation) and JFK (disambiguation). John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in , after the Bay of Pigs incident. From then on, the White House redoubled re·dou·ble v. re·dou·bled, re·dou·bling, re·dou·bles v.tr. 1. To double. 2. To repeat. 3. Games To double the doubling bid of (an opponent) in bridge. v. its efforts to depose To make a deposition; to give evidence in the shape of a deposition; to make statements that are written down and sworn to; to give testimony that is reduced to writing by a duly qualified officer and sworn to by the deponent. the Cuba n leader. Kennedy approved a secret CIA CIA: see Central Intelligence Agency. (1) (Confidentiality Integrity Authentication) The three important concerns with regards to information security. Encryption is used to provide confidentiality (privacy, secrecy). program of sabotage and political propaganda in Cuba, designed to weaken support for Castro. The CIA also reportedly hatched plots to assassinate as·sas·si·nate tr.v. as·sas·si·nat·ed, as·sas·si·nat·ing, as·sas·si·nates 1. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons. 2. him. For Castro and his ally, Nikita Khrushchev Noun 1. Nikita Khrushchev - Soviet statesman and premier who denounced Stalin (1894-1971) Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev , this amounted to a provocation that couldn't be ignored. Critical Thinking CAUSE AND EFFECT: Why did Nikita Khrush they feel justified putting missiles in Cuba? (The U.S. had tried to depose Castro and had placed missiles in Turkey. Khrushchev saw the Soviet missiles as a way to balance the degree of threat.) Activity TICK, TICK, TICK: Have students write an imaginative diary entry around the events of October 1962. How would they have reacted on the evening of the 22nd when they learned of the Soviet missiles? (Built a bomb shelter? tried to forestall panic in their community?) Yon may want to assign roles: parent, teacher, mayor, etc. Impress on students the intensity of hour-by-hour anxiety that the Cuban Missile Crisis Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962, major cold war confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the USSR increased its support of Fidel Castro's Cuban regime, and in the summer of 1962, Nikita Khrushchev secretly decided to instilled in ordinary Americans. STANDARD SOCIAL STUDIES, GRADES 5-8 * Power, authority, and governance: Political differences led to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. RESOURCES * McConnell, William S. (ed.), Living Through the Cuban Missile Crisis (Thomson Gale (Thomson Gale, a Thomson Learning business, Farmington Hills, MI, www.gale.com). A leading information publishing company for libraries, schools and businesses. Thomson Gale was formed in 1998 as a merger of Gale Research, Information Access Company and Primary Source Media, three Thomson , 2005). Grades 6 & up. * Whiting, Jim, The Cuban Missile Crisis (Mitchell Lane, 2005). Grades 5-7. WEB SITES * Memories of the Crisis news.bbc.co.uk/1 /hi/world/americas /2317931.stm * State Dept STATE DEPT Department of State . Photos future.state.gov/educators /slideshow/cuba.html |
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