The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1941-03-26

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If you want to go abroad ano
see things that are completely
foreign, you don't have to wall
until the war is over In Europe
Cuba is the answer.
AS far as that goes, any OF
Central or South America, any
thing south of the United States
will be as a rule quite as foreign
as Europe, Asia or Africa. But
it happens that | have just been
to Cuba. One of the reasons
that took me there makes it easy
for other Americans to get there
it is so near.
One of the strangest expert
ences of life is to be immersed
for the first time in the babble
of foreign tongue 1t produces
a shock almost like being thrown
into cold water. Somehow 1t
seems that those who go to for
eign countries have prepared
themselves for great changes OF
every kind except the weird SEN
sation that overcomes them
when they hear on all sides a
tongue they do not understand.
So, if you have not had this
experience, prepare for it in a
big way if you go to Havana
For that city of 100000 inhab-
itants is as foreign as Paris,
Rome, Berlin or Shanghai. That
is what makes the visit so de-
lightful for an American who
wants to see new things. Per-
sonally I get a great thrill out
of watching other people meet
this new experience. No mat
ter where they have been be-
fore, Havana is apt to strike
them as something new and diff
ferent.
Many American Women
Like any foreign city that is
much visited by outsiders, Ha-
vana has a path that is prepar-
ed almost entirely for tourists.
Then there is the real Havana.
Lots of Americans never see
anything but the first. To my
mind they might almost as well
stay at home and see a movie
travelogue.
They get panicky the minute
they get outside the sound of
English-speaking voices. They
seem afraid to get far away from
their hotel or the tour manager
or guide or somebody else who
speaks the familiar lingo. Poor
mortals. What they are miss
ing.
One of the facts that struck
us (my wife and daughter were
along) was the large number OF
American girls in pairs or threes.
Sometimes they were on their
own, but more frequently on a
tour that had been planned for
them or with a party taking a
conducted trip.
ii seems that a certain maya
zine published for women print
ed a very enticing story about
Havana early in the winter. APP
parently everybody read it, for
all these girls seemed to know
the routine it suggested for
young women who wanted to
make the trip without male es-
cort. Some liked it and some
didn't. To mary of them the
barrier of language was some
thing very difficult to get over.
The 80 passengers on our
planes to and from Miami were
almost entirely tourists. Prob
ably this line of the Pan-Ameri-
can Anyways gets a larger per-
centage than any other of per-
sons who have been in the air
before. The results are just
what you can imagine.
Once you are in the Cuban
capital-and you get through
the customs and immigration
with a minimum of delay-you
will probably go to one of the
hotels that makes a speciality of
handling the tourist trade. All
the large and medium-sized ones
do.
made the mistake the first
night of trying 20 60 native too
completely Naively thinking
that n hotel that was good when
l worked in Havana thirty years
ago would still be okay. I took
the family there. After we got
located, | realized that although
this place was right in the center
Of the city, il had developed into
a sort OF roominG house. It was
quite an experience for the "a
hours we stayed there. We re-
fer 10 the place now as FL
Dumpo
or course We took a first look
at the same things all the tour
lists see. And the best wav "a
do this is ALWAYS conducted tour
that brushes over the high spots
That is the easiest method &c
get a quick first look al any city
foreign err American
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