– lots of people in the street / nobody
– 29° C / 14° C
– pretty dirty / clean
– fresh fruits, natural juices but few food options / lots of food options, but waxed tasteless apples, 4 liters chemical juice
– small cars / big cars
– friendly street dogs / dogs in leash in the parks
In Montreal, it looks that the people act in the same place but play in different movies: I felt emptiness, the nostalgia of shared needs.
In Cuba, we got tired to negotiate everything.
Conclusion: we were missing Cuba!
The same “felt emptiness” I perceived in my journeys on my contacts with people around the world.
I think it is about soul matter.
Soul it’s like fire around coal, and body is the coal. A human has both.
Abundance of material life will always diminish this fire, making people like smoldering.
Austerity is like the wind which can quickens fire or extinguish completely.
Quality of life stands in balance between austerity and abundance.
For me the “missing Cuba” is somewhere in East, not far from Romania but outside of Europe.
“Nostalgia of shared needs” is very true.
Poor people spread their fire by sharing needs.
Rich people spread their coal by sharing goods and places.
After almost 2 months in Canada and US, the best surprise are the people, so friendly and helpful. Maybe it’s linked to the tradition of pioneers. Doing so much hitch hikking, we met very interesting people, so this theory, which was mine as well, I’ve found it invalidated. Hopefully 🙂