quote:
Originally posted by chatty lady:
Eagle, how are Americans received in Cuba? As long as they bring in tourist dollars, the Cubans don't care who they are.

Do they hate uslike so many other countries? Wow, what a question! I've been wondering how to answer this one. I'd like to say it isn't true, but the best I can say is that it's getting much better. One thing that rubs people the wrong way is when tourists come into a foreign country expecting/demanding that everything be exactly like home...and then when it's not, they become verbally abusive, equating "different" with "inferior", forgetting to respect the culture and history behind that culture.

We've witnessed this kind of humiliating verbal abuse over and over again in our travels. Americans aren't the only culprits, but for some reason they seem to be perceived as the least tolerant of cultural and racial differences.

Unfortunately it seems to be human nature to paint everyone with the same paint brush, so what a few obnoxious tourists do tends to tarnish everyone else. But like I said, it's getting much better, and as the American tourists continue to show appreciation for other cultures and accept "different" as good and right in their own right, and stop making everyone else feel humiliated and inferior for being non-American, they're opening the door to allow everyone to see other nationalities' tourists who behave even worse, so it's painting Americans in a much better light.

I believe its illegal for us to visit Cuba. Yes it still is, but many do come via Mexico or Canada or other Cuba-friendly countries. They tend to keep a low profile, and seem to greatly enjoy/embrace the Cuban culture, which helps to improve everyone's image of American tourists.