I was reading a post by someone recently and they were pining for some tool or another. Next time you think you're lacking think of these two brothers, Vincente and Jorge, that I just met with in Cuba.
http://www.kodakgallery.ca/BrowsePhotos ... 803&page=1
I was recently on a holiday to Cuba and through a group of guys from Vancouver Island, BC, had made arrangements to meet with these Cuban Luthiers in Havana and provide them with as much good as I thought my family and I could carry. I was fortunate to be able to rendevouz with my friend Bob Valine, the older gent in the photos. Fortunately he is fluent in Spanish as there was little English. Between the two us we had a good pile of Spruce and Cedar(provided by (Dan Minard) tops. This was timely. The third photo shows the piano sound board they have been using. We also brought a laminate trimmer with bits, a binding cutter attachment and circle cutter attachment. I spent most of the time there getting them familiar with these. We also brought a palm sander. Ya, pretty much felt like Santa Claus. It was a pretty gratifying experience. These poor fellows had little to work with but produced some nice work. It was not so much the lack of money but the availability of merchandise is pretty limited and what there was, was expensive. A basic 2 hp Dewalt router was about $700 USD. They had a Tres that was ready for finish and looked good. I heard some great tres players and met and played with some great Cuban musicians. A good time was had by all!
So next time you're feeling a little unhappy with your lack of stuff, it could be worse.
And I know all you American amigos are wondering but fear not, I had all my anti communism shots before entering the country.
Adios,
Danny
![[headinwall]](./images/smilies/headbangwalluf8.gif "Mad")
This should work.