Cuba Essay Example

I chose to write this essay on Cuba, because Cuba is the largest island in the West Indies. Not only because is it the largest island, Cuba is the Country where my step father and his family are from. I also chose to write about Cuba because it is an island that is close to my family's home land, Puerto Rico. Ever since my mother and step father got married I realized that I am going to learn a lot about Cuba. My step father loves his country, so he talks about it all of the time. I noticed that his Spanish was not like ours. He speaks much faster and louder. He also has different names for different things. Like for example, Puerto Ricans call a stove an estufa, Cubans call it the cocina. A cocina to us is the kitchen instead of the stove. I always thought that all the Spanish Islands like the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Cuba were all alike, since they were close by. I thought wrong because as soon as I got to know my step father, I realized his culture was way different.
History
Cuba was first visited by Europeans when explorer Christopher Columbus made landfall there for the first time on October 28, 1492, at the eastern tip of Cuba, in the Cazigazgo of Baracoa. Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar led the Spanish invasion, subdued the indigenous populations, became governor of Cuba for Spain in 1511 and built a villa in Baracoa, which became the first capital of the island and. It also became the seat of the (Diocese) of the first bishop of Cuba in 1518. At that time Cuba was populated by at least two distinct indigenous peoples: Taino and Ciboney (or Siboney). Both groups were prehistoric neolithic, perhaps copper age, cultures. The Taíno were skilled farmers and the Ciboney were a hunter-gatherer society with supplemental farming. Tainos and Ciboney took part in similar customs and beliefs, one being the sacred ritual practiced using tobacco called cohoba, known in English as smoking.

Location The capital of Cuba is called Havana which is also the