. >> for more than 35 years, john lee anderson has been reporting from conflict zones such as syria, lied about my age and traveled around africa. when i was 13, i told people i was 26. >> in the early 1990s while researching a biography, he and his family moved to cuba and ended up staying for three years. you lived here during the special period which was not so special. that was the bad times. the russians had pulled out. soviets all done. >> the economy went like this. 90%. it just tanked. >> cuba lost 80% of its import goods which led to widespread hunger, malnutrition, and a nose dive for the already difficult quality of life on the island. >> there was one place where we could buy food which was a soviet-style place with food that was flown in. quite bad food. under fidel's rule, that's the way it was. >> it's like a cargo cult version of chinese food here. dumplings. the szechuan chicken dish that's about as szechuan as i am. what's going to happen next? >> the uptick, when raul and obama said we decided to make friends again, the surge in tourism and american interests in cu