Sunday Mail
Rosie Kane
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
WELL, I'm back on Terra McFirma after one of the most amazing weeks of my life.
The flights to Cuba took 18 hours. It was the longest journey I've made - but not just in hours and miles.
Socialism, Cuba, and Fidel Castro may not be everyone's cup of tea - but I'm a coffee drinker and savoured every drop and enjoyed the buzz.
Being in the same room and speaking from the same platform as Fidel Castro was bizarre. But it was the other people I met who made the trip so memorable.
The presiding officer from the New South Wales Parliament, a senator from Trinidad and Tobago and a leading American lawyer, were some of the representatives from 63 countries at the event focussing on the US and their war on terror.
But my encounters with the people of Cuba were the ones that mattered.
My first was with a hotel cleaner who greeted me by saying 'Hello comrade'.
I liked that. Right away I could see there was no 'them and us' between guest and the worker - exactly as it should be.
I met many schoolkids. Most of them were around 12 years old and all spoke excellent English.
I have never seen such confident and gentle young people. They have a thirst for knowledge and did not stop asking about Britain They wanted to know my thoughts on war, poverty and justice. I told them one in four children in Scotland is born into poverty. They were stunned and asked how they could help.
After the conference we were taken to the Karl Marx Theatre where we were treated to music and poetry from all over Latin America and Cuba.
It was a great evening in one of the most amazing buildings I have seen.
Cuba is no utopia. Nowhere is. For instance, prostitution in Havana is typical of any big capital city and every bit as degrading and dangerous.
I took a wee stroll through the streets of downtown Havana, found a bar and popped in for a drink.
Over a rum and ice, I got chatting with the locals. They wanted to know about Scotland, the parliament and Rabbie Burns.
We started talking about 'freedom' and the debate gathered a crowd of about 20people - it was amazing. And everyone had something to say.
Some loved Fidel others did not - and were not afraid to say so.
One man loved Cuba and Socialism but was critical of Castro. I asked if he was free to speak up like this and he assured me the days of silence were long gone.
I chirped up: 'Raise your hand if you have been imprisoned for publicly objecting to your government's policy?'
The only hand that went up was my ownI went to the market the next day and a little boy ran up and pointed at my bag. He was trying hard to tell me something.
I assumed he wanted money and handed him some change.
But he handed it right back and pointed at a pen sticking out of my handbag.
'Stylo?' he said. The wee lamb wanted my pen.
Turns out they are in short supply, thanks to the blockade.
It was a lesson. Never assume anything about Cuba without speaking - and listening - to the people
