Research Intro

Slavery, bondage, servitude all too real in Cuba. We are the highest qualified slave-labor force in the world. "That service is the noblest which is rendered for its own sake"-Mahatma Gandhi. Life is full of ups and down, good and bad, health and sickness; generally with one comes the other, and as a human you experience all the aspects of life. The silver lining of it all, is there are humans who dedicate their lives alleviate suffering of other humans. Amidst these humans are doctors, one of the most respected professions for their duty to society. Doctors dedicate their life to their work ensuring their patients are always taken care of. Doctors relieve the pain and suffering of mankind, they cure illness and disease, and always make every effort to better the life of others.
Why are Cuban doctors some of the most renown doctors with little to no funding? Cuban doctors are the most renown in the World due to excellent free education, exchange for supplies, and Cuba’s social status. Cuba is the one of the few countries to remain a Communist State, making them unique and difficult to investigate. They have some of the most loyal people even under the strict conditions. The government has been working on trying to increase their moral by several Revolutions each is for the betterment of the Cuban people. Cuban Healthcare is among the best in the World. The doctor’s unique mindset on the medical process sets them apart from every other country. They are sought after and should be studied by Countries everywhere.  To look more into the reason why they have such a phenomenal healthcare and renown doctors there are several topics to focus on. Their education and training, the governments operations, and their trade off of supplies for medical training.



Sources:
https://daily.jstor.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/medicalcuba-1050x699.jpg
https://medium.com/@cubanocuba/the-cuban-medical-system-both-myth-and-reality-6aa3aa1a9ebf

Cuba Research

The biggest highlight I've found is their education is completely free, along with healthcare. I, as a paying for school myself college kid, cannot begin to tell you how much stress that would relieve. While I know their reasoning for it is much different than mine, I still find it very interesting. The other most interesting fact I found was Cuban doctors unlike ours, go to other countries for up to two years and train. They mostly do this after natural disasters, but they do it at other times as well. To think of the techniques you could train other doctors on in two years is phenomenal. They also enjoy teaching and helping. That is probably the biggest difference than most other doctors. Being sent elsewhere to train is tedious and sometimes seen as a punishment. To the Cubans any opportunity to help their country out is worth the work. Below is one of the Cuban training hospitals in Qatar.


My main challenge besides Cuba being restricted and closed off, is all the credible Cuban sources are in Spanish. I've also ran into trouble with getting real in depth information. I can find a lead, but when I go to dig more into it the information just stops. This is primarily for information pertaining to government issues. I also find it difficult because even people who went their to research were confined to schools or doctors that the government wanted them to speak to. To me this makes my information from those sources almost biased to the Cuban Government. Other than finding information, finding credible sources has been my next biggest challenger. I've found several that build a decent research paper, but I want a few that counter my argument about Cuban doctors being world renown. If not the best doctors out there. Lastly, my final challenge is my ability to stay on subject. I keep finding information that pertains to part of my argument. Before I know it I've read an article that has nothing to do with Doctors.

After looking at my outline, I think I am weak on my third point. I want to prove or show that their government is the reason why doctors from Cuba are such good doctors. I believe that if you have no pressure for paying for school you choose what you really want to be. You preform your job better knowing you have to come out of school at the top of your game. Almost as though they have to repay for a free education. While I do not have any sources yet to prove my theory, this is just my brainstorming. I also believe if you don't have to be competitive to get into school like we do, you must have to set yourself apart outside of school. What I do know is that Cuban's are very happy to share their education with others. I am not sure their mindset on that but I can only speculate they want others to receive what they got as well. There is a lot more information I need to research before my ideas become facts.

Sources:
https://www.themastonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Cuba-doctors-3.jpeg
http://www.theforeignreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/CubanHospitalQatar-JH.jpg

Short Stories

In "Green Cane and Juicy Flotsam" each story is very unique but insightful. They all have messages that should be applied to your life. From the stories we have read so far, I've gathered that family is very important to the Caribbean culture. Whether they are overbearing and protective, or insightful and nurturing they all have presence of a mother. The other blatant importance in these stories has been tradition. Tradition is highly sought after in the Caribbean. Both stories we are looking at today have these similarities, but they also have unique characteristics that made their stories stand out.   

The story Little Cog-Burt was about a mother empty nest and yearning to fulfill her needs. The story begins with a mother and father in the Christmas holidays. They are reliving their Christmas traditions from England, where they make a doll to top the tree. Each year she cuts her hair to make the hair of the doll. We come to find out she is disgusted by this. Before, this brought her joy because her kids loved to see this doll. Now, she only does this in hopes to remember her children. Moira is a very bitter unhappy women, nothing seems to please her. In hopes to please her and the carry out the tradition of giving parties for "their laborers children"(Allfey, 6) they throw a Christmas party. Moira turns her nose up at the thought of this and the thought of what this would do to her children who are stuck at boarding school. As the party happens, she does realize these kids don't have this type of experience. I believe this made her pleased, leading to her being generous with the doll which was atop the tree. The doll represented her kids and England, so when Cog-Burt saw and admired this art work she was just pleased someone noticed it. Moira was very bitter with giving something with so much sentimental meaning to a "brown" child, but she did oblige. Moira may have been a bitter woman but when it came to someone recognizing what she cared about, she softened up.

Cotton Candy was ultimately about a women's journey for self discovery after her mother caudles her growing up. Lola is a modest woman who is constantly trying to adjust to life as an individual, struggling since a child with longing for someone to share her life with. Lola knits for a living and sells her masterpieces to the people of her town. The customers become her only real friends. Lola is obsessed with childhood fantasies, and sees them everywhere. This short story shows that her obsession with childhood fantasies turn into realities of life. For instance she loves and believes butterflies to represent love ,and that they transform into something beautiful. However, with that transformation is a great cost. It does not necessarily make you desirable and like butterflies it is gone to soon. Lola also admires the butterflies so much because they do live their life to the absolute fullest, while she has to redirect her ambitions due to her mothers strictness. Her mother caged the beautiful butterfly and did not let it blossom. Which made Lola put her reputation out there to get what she believed she needed in her life. This transformation from caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly was the essence of her sexuality.

These stories may seem very different to you now but they both show the power of mothers. They are written in almost opposite views. One has the kids taken away from Moira and the other has the mother taken away from Lola. However, these stories show the lasting effects of mother and children bonds. Powerful when together but detrimentally apart. They each relied on each other for everything. In Lola's case her mother was very overbearing but she could not escape the reality and damage her mother did to her.  This destroyed Lola's ability to blossom on her own. In Moira's case, she took her bitterness out on everyone who had what she wanted. She could not live with the thought of knowing her kids could not be there for the holidays. So, very much like Lola they were willing to throw away anything to get what they truly desired. Moira gave Cog-Burt the doll she idolized, and Lola threw herself at any man that spoke to her.

Sources:
Green Cane and Juicy Flotsam
http://maiaduerr.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Butterfly-Transformation.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTLKxDtx5j-qClHrvWXkWNTkQXHeF9w4vecjyRC4070AMcRRJG9yZLG0xInDm1JWl4xsWG8OGPt_XpiuJxyKBzVP7I8966SkRVsMwegvzcBJlV6rEo-TVcUJCg9TkHDn7Kvkc1JSWpLg/s1600/mother-and-child-bonding.JPG

Analysis

"Tetiyette and The Devil", is a short story on Caribbean funeral tales told by a seventeen year old Guadeloupan girl. You might be wondering what a funeral tale is, well funeral tales are stories that are generally passed down orally from generation to generation. For a story like this to survive and prosper it must be pretty special. While the story itself was very catchy, the tale contained much deeper meaning than a young girl not wanting to marry two farm animals. The author was able to make us endure great emotions and give us a blast from the past on some of our own experiences, making this tale easy to pass along.

We all have heard the saying, I told you so, from a parent. This story really emphasizes the saying and takes it to an extreme. In the book the girl cried out to her mom first and then her dad saying, "Oh, Papa! Oh, Papa! Bel-air drum! The man to whom you've married me, Bel-air Drum! Is eating me up(Tetiyette, pg. 3)! Tetiyette has turned her marrying a devil into her fathers fault, by blaming him for allowing it. She chose to not look deeper into a person, but rather be superficial. She chose to go for a rich man and ignore her mother's advice. This is the reason this story has stuck around and been passed down. Every kid or young adult can relate to this tale. Especially as teenagers, everything their parent says is an inconvenience.

Another reason this story has survived is the authors ability to make us connect with Tetiyette. We empathize with her because we have all been in that position. She also is able to keep us interested in the story by using poetry format to keep us emotionally invested. Her parents reaction to her getting ate by the devil is sad. We know she made the wrong decision, but seeing her parents turn their backs in disgrace was an eye opener. The author is able to show us that even parents have a limit. With their ability to pull such emotion this story is geared towards informing teenagers that their parents do indeed know what they are talking about. She also targets a smaller group being, women whom are dating or getting married. Look past the exterior and get to know the person before it is too late. We are all naïve in our own ways but we all must learn to humble ourselves. Take advice from our elders and use the knowledge to help us succeed.

Sources: Informal
http://www.flagsinformation.com/guadeloupe-flag.png
Green Cane and Juicy Flotsam
http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/cGTA9ivrc0Q/maxresdefault.jpg

What we should know about Cuba

Cuba was original inhabited by Ciboney Taino people from early BC. In the 15th century Cuba became part of the Spanish colonization. Cuba remained a colony of Spain Until 1898 when the U.S. fought the Spanish American War. In 1901 the U.S. and Cuba passed a treaty called the Platt Amendment, which consists of seven conditions for the withdrawal of the U.S. Army. In late 1901 the seven conditions were adopted into their constitution, sealing the Republic of Cuba. The Republic of Cuba only lasted until 1959 as communism took over and the alignment of the Soviet Union fully took place. Which later comes to a close with the Cold War. As you can see Cuba has been passed around quite a bit and that is only a brief summary of it all.

Cuba is the largest Island in the Caribbean. The island is located in the northern sector located just south of Florida and the Bahamas. Cuba's is west of Haiti and above Jamaica. A fascinating fact on Cuba's location is the island is almost centered where three large bodies of water meet; The Gulf of Mexico, The Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.



The main language on the island is Spanish. However with the diversity in ethnic groups there is said to be a "Cuban speech" with many different intonations and accents.

The shift to a socialist state happened in the Cuban revolution (1953-1959) which ultimately severed ties with the U.S. economic dominance in the island. After the dust settled Cuba was now a communist ran nation. Since the revolution Cuba has been riddled with the Cold war and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The cold war was between The Soviet Union and the U.S. in a power struggle after WWII. Ultimately resulting in the fall of communism. This is all just a very brief glimpse into what we will learn on Cuba as we dig deeper into the Blogs!

Sources:

• https://geology.com/world/cuba-map.gif
• https://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba
• https://graphitepublications.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/cuba.jpg

About Me

Usually this is the hardest of all the posts, the infamous "about me". Sticking to the information you may actually care about, here we go. 

In my spare time I coach Gymnastics, well not particular my spare time this is my job. In my childhood I did and competed gymnastics for 14 years and then switched to cheer-leading in college. Do not let that fog your judgement just yet! I also had and still have a huge interest in horses. Along with gymnastics I did 4-h, rodeo, and trained horses all through High school. The older I get the more common sense is taking over and I realized that training horses is fun but not great for your body. With that being said I still love casually riding and enjoying the animals now. 

There are two more things you may find interesting and one of those being I am an ROTC student. My plans are to go into the Army and serve my country. Yes you may think this lady is out of her mind, but I grew up a military brat. There is nothing more Id rather do than make my family proud and carry out the so to say family tradition. 

The last thing is I am a huge animal lover and have two beautiful dogs that are my world. They are my stress relievers and keep me laughing! Below are my babies on the fourth of July. Captures their personalities to a "T". Belle the black lab is goofy and carefree, while Titan is the jealous big brother.