Tuesday, June 1, 2010

one too many t-shirts

lulu is going to lose it. she's going to snap, and some poor guy is going to have his head bitten off. but, she's going to at least wait until we get to cambodia. perhaps i should explain.
lulu is cuban-american. her parents came over from cuba, and settled in florida. she has family that still lives there. her cousin was executed, her uncles and grandfather were in political prison, her father was in a labor camp, several other relatives were in camps or executed, all in cuba, all by the communist government. because of che's actions and the precedents he set while in charger of la cabana fortress prison, thousands of people were sentenced to death in cuba, and many more imprisoned.
and there are shirts with che guevara's image everywhere here. EVERYWHERE. we've seen dozens of t-shirts with che on them, worn by dozens of tourists in south-east asia. we've been seeing them since we got down here. and che's image is in laos on stickers on tuktuks, and lulu is about to lose it. but, we have to get to cambodia first.
laos is communist, so, saying anything negative about che would be not good. now we're in vietnam, and che actively and vocally supported northern vietnam during their struggles to make vietnam a communist power. saying anything here would likewise be bad. but, in cambodia, she doesn't need to worry about creating an international incident.
and the first tourist she sees in a shirt with che guevara on it once we reach cambodia is going to all of a sudden wonder why an irate woman is screaming at him, first in english, and then in spanish, while her friend is laughing hysterically, recording the whole thing on her camera, and then trying to calm her down and explain why to the poor tourist.
i will post the video on you tube.