Right now, many Cubans are resigned to peddling in a peleton like those in the Tour de France, with all the cyclists riding together and thinking about when to try a breakaway -- but in this case, no one knows where the finish line is. Many Cubans expect real upheaval -- furious cycling -- to come when Castro dies, but they know that they could end up in prison if they push hard prematurely.

 So the waiting game goes on in ways large and small. One young man in eastern Cuba would love to travel abroad and become a great cook, but the best he can do now is short-order work in eastern Cuba. He once got hold of a bag of 20 frozen crawfish and experimented on cooking each one like a lobster, developing recipes that he hopes to use when things open up.

 One of Havana's many ironies is that just across Havana harbor from Habana Vieja (the Old City) stands a 48-foot-tall statue of Christ, unveiled on Dec. 25, 1958, just one week before Fidel Castro triumphed. Church attendance is growing in Cuba, particularly in casas cultos (house churches), as many Cubans with insufficient faith in either Fidel Castro or Oliver Stone pray for God's grace.