HAVANA – Cuba is a nation of about 11 million people on an island about the size of Tennessee, but it has always had an outsized presence in the American imagination.
From the 1961 Cuban Missile Crisis to the battle of five-year-old Elian Gonzalez in 1999, everything about the U.S.-Cuban relationship seems to be viewed through the optics of a fun house mirror. Only it hasn't been any fun.
"I think most international relations specialists thought of the U.S.-Cuba situation as frozen in time," said Dr. Carlos Alzugaray, a Cuban diplomat. "That it would never, ever change."
The former U.S. embassy in Havana hasn't exactly been empty. Once a week, Cubans crowd its gates to learn if they've been granted an American visa. But Friday morning, for the first time in 50 years, it will reopen as a full embassy.
The move doesn't end the death grip embargo, but Cubans hope these few rays of sunlight will lead to a brand new day for Cuba and the superpower just ninety miles to their north.
"It's going to mean a lot of things for all of us Cubans because we've kind of oppressed with the embargo for more than 50 years," said John Élan, a cab driver in Havana.
It will take more than a reopened embassy to mend these fences fully. About 200 yards away and pointing directly at the U.S. embassy building is a statue that, while its relationship to the Elian Gonzalez case is disputed, has a very clear message: you can't take our children.
From its sunny blue skies and seas to the classic Detroit cars on its streets, a wide-open Cuba would not be a hard sell for American tourists. In fact, some want to get in right now before it change.
"In Detroit, I haven't been able to get in these cars," said University of Michigan student Christian Bashi in Havana. "Here in Cuba, I have that opportunity."
But while the reopening of the embassy is a major step forward, it does not mean the runways are clear. U.S.-Cuban relations still have a long way to go.
Just yesterday, on his 89th birthday, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said the United States still owes Cuba millions of dollars for the damages incurred by the embargo.