alan_gomez

To be absolutely clear, political repression still exists to a large degree. In fact, the number of people arrested or detained as political prisoners has increased in recent months. So that's still happening. But on the street, it's amazing how much people are expressing themselves now. Before, people who held the most highly-desired jobs (basically, anything where you have access to tips from foreigners, like bartenders, hotel workers, taxi drivers) would always tell you how great things are. Nowawadays? They'll tell you eeeeeeeeeeeverything that's wrong. It's really stunning.

The most immediate change you might see is in the Cuban Adjustment Act, a U.S. law that allows any Cuban who simply touches U.S. soil to stay. It's more commonly known as the "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy. Cubans are the only immigrants who get that kind of treatment, so now that President Obama is normalizing relations with Cuba, many people want to change that policy.

Changing the U.S. embargo on Cuba will probably take longer.

The Cuban people loooooooove the American people. The disagreements lie strictly between our governments.

For now, the only change that Obama implemented is that Americans can bring back up to $100 worth of rum and cigars when they travel to Cuba. And trust me, I've been taking full advantage of that!

But it's going to be a while before you can buy any of those in a U.S. store. Cuba's private entrepreneurs are now allowed to export their products to the U.S., but the rum and cigars are produced by companies run by Cuba's state government. So as long as the embargo is in place, the only way you're getting your hands on those is by going to the island.

I could spend a few hours answering these questions, so I'll zero in on a couple of things. Combining your first and second question, I think our country has lost the ability to differentiate between an undocumented immigrant coming here looking for work, and a refugee truly fleeing violence at home. We are seeing waves of people coming to the U.S. fleeing gang violence in Central America right now, yet many are talking about them in the same way they talk about illegal immigration. Seeking asylum is not the same thing as seeking a better-paying job, so I wish that was something we could improve upon. Favorite place I've worked out of? Probably Brazil. Nothing like covering a protest march one night and then taking a dip in Copacabana beach the next. And best food? My parents are Cuban, so I'm partial to Cuban food. But believe it or not, I fell in love with Afghan food.