To Ease the Passing of Time

She was a dancer at the resort where Maria and I went for a vacation in Cuba. Apart from being part of the show, her job was to make the guests dance. She asked me to dance the salsa. I reluctantly accepted knowing that everybody would be watching. I’ve always had problems with the salsa because, even though I know the steps and a few figures, it’s very hard for me to follow the music. I’m okay with the merengue and the cha-cha but the salsa…Forget it! Liu was leading and I was following. I ended up not making such a fool of myself, doing pretty well actually. 

After us finishing dancing, she came to sit with us at our table to chat. She was very warm and friendly. She was mostly talking to Maria holding her hands and looking at her in the eyes. Maria asked her a few questions about her life. She said that she considered herself lucky to be able to do what she likes for a living. During the conversation, Liu asked Maria quite matter-of-factly if she had a few things to spare. The next night, which was our last night in Cuba, Maria put some pieces of jewelry and clothing in a bag for Liu. I threw in a cap and a shirt for her boyfriend who was also a dancer at the resort. We were sitting in the auditorium watching a show when Liu came to pick up her bag. She took off right away to assess its contents. When she came back, I was already gone to our room because the show was too frigging boring. 

I was smoking a cigar on our balcony when Maria came back to our room. She said, “You won’t believe what she asked me. She had a list of things that she wanted: my iPad, my purse, the dress that I’m wearing now, the one that I was wearing last night, jewelry and a lot more stuff.” Maria told her that she was going to get her the dress that she was wearing the night before only to get rid of her. Liu wanted to know where our room was. Maria pointed in one direction and said that it was somewhere over there. 

In retrospect, we realize that the reason why Liu asked me to dance was because Maria was wearing nice clothes and that she is a size 0. (I never understood that size 0 thing. For us men it doesn’t make sense, but for women it seems to be perfectly normal). 

This incident illustrates the changes that have started taking place in Cuba. Before, people were not even asking   for, but only hoping to get essentials things that would benefit not only them but also other members of their families like aspirin, toothpaste or soap. But now some of them, like Liu, are asking for luxury items that they are not even yet able to use. Who needs an iPad in a country with no Internet connection? 

When Maria goes back to Vietnam she can see the changes that her native country’s opening to free market brought to its people. Some of them are becoming more selfish, shallow and greedy. Will the country that is so famous for its friendliness among tourists from all over the world, where people always have a smile on their faces, be able to remain the same in the future? 

Later that night, Maria and I were playing Scrabble. I made the word “damn”.  Maria looked at the word and said, “Damn! And I thought she really liked me.” It made me think of something that I had read a long time ago. It’s from a poem called Desiderata said to have been found in an old church in England, "Never feign affection for someone. It’s the meanest trick you can play.”

To listen to it on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNq_DTmVCWs