Tuesday, December 27th, 2011

The Kissin' Kind

Varadero, Cuba

There is the parting of the family in John Steinback's novel "The Grapes of Wrath" when the line comes out (I can't even remember the character's name) "we're not the kissin' kind." It's a tragic closing to a story of the Great Depression. In Cuba, it's the contrary. Everyone here is the kissing kind' so welcoming and warm and Latino.

It's my final day in Cuba so for the first farewell in Havana our group circled and sat in front of Calixto Garcia's monument, a replica sculpture of the 19th Cuban hero who staved off the Spanish. The history is interesting. Americans got a footing in the country and opened up Cuba as a summer resort, vacation and gambling destination. That all went on until the revolution in the fifties. Casinos were closed. The US moved on and Las Vegas then became what it is.

Now back to the circle where we expressed each others' association (without kisses) but with some instructions. Our communities in Havana and Matanzas have their humble beginning so all efforts to advance personal and public spirituality need cooperative implementation. If a kiss can take the form of instructive whisper, then that's what we dispatched.

Edelmira from Raidio Taino interviewed me for her show. Her questions were open. "Is ISKCON growing in Cuba?" "What is involved in your initiations?" and lastly, "Are you planning a walk across Cuba one day?" I wish all interviewers were like her - the motherly kissing kind.

Our day wrapped up at the Varadero beach for water fun. Here we created a water circle and discussed the tales of "The Mahabharat" until time rushed us off to the Matanzas group for a healthy meal and discussion with doctors and healers who inquired about my teatro espiritual.

"That's a project I love to talk about - therapy for the youth participants. It gives them a hope and a richness they might otherwise miss." We bid farewell and left the group for my flight. And, of course, there's always a smacking of lips to the cheeks to babies and adults alike, also guy to guy. I left that circle with a more softened heart and an internal tear of hope and prayer that love for Krishna will take hold in this land of loving people.

7 Km