| My parents' 1956 trip to Cuba happened quite by | | | | contraptions, one of which was a metal cage in the |
| accident. They were going to New Orleans from their | | | | shape of a human body, in which the unfortunate |
| home in Fort Worth, Texas. Unfortunately, it rained all | | | | person was placed, only to have the thing closed |
| the way and continued to rain when they reached | | | | upon him, two metal shafts gouging out his eyes. |
| New Orleans. They decided to drive on to Keywest, | | | | The waters surrounding the fortress were infested |
| Florida, where it was raining as well. | | | | with sharks, and there was a chute, down which |
| They learned they could take a 50-minute flight on a | | | | prisoners were forced to slide to their deaths in the |
| DC-3 prop-plane to Havana, Cuba, and that's just | | | | waters below. |
| what they did, landing at the José | | | | This was Cuba in the pre-revolution Batista days, and |
| Martí International Airport. They would stay | | | | there was evidence of much poverty. Dad said you |
| three nights at the old Hotel Colina, right by the | | | | couldn't take twenty paces without being |
| University of Havana. | | | | propositioned, but these women were doing what |
| They took a day tour with a driver named Frank | | | | they felt they had to do in order to survive. Even in |
| (my dad's memory is quite acute these 52 years | | | | those days before the trade embargo, Dad noticed |
| later) and, while riding along in the car, my father | | | | how well kept the automobiles were, because people |
| noticed that the land was so fertile, the fenceposts | | | | just could not afford to buy another one; today they |
| along the road were actually sprouting. They also | | | | are well kept because the trade restrictions prevent |
| went to a cockfight, which was nothing new to Dad, | | | | them from getting more cars from the USA. |
| his having seen them in his youth in Fort Worth. | | | | That was pretty much all my dad had to tell me |
| They went to the Castillo del Morro, a huge fortress | | | | about his and my mother's trip to Cuba. Then I asked |
| that dates back to the days of the Spanish | | | | him if there was anything in particular he didn't like |
| Inquisition. There they were shown torture | | | | about the place. "Not a thing," he said. |