Hello again all of you that have been reading my blog. I am back from Cuba, but I have decided I must at least write about the last few trips and then maybe some of the people.
Santiago de Cuba
I have been excited about our class trip to Santiago almost as long as I had been in Cuba. Santiago is across the Island from Havana. While Havana may be the only city people here about when outside Cuba, Santiago is arguably historically more important. The Sierra Maestre mountain range is right next to Santiago and it sits on a bay that opens to the Caribbean Sea. Every major war (independence and revolution) started in the east and was generally decided by the time they reached Havana. The essence the movements started in the east in the Sierra Maestre and in Santiago. The July 26th movement is named for the July 26th 1953 attack on the Moncada barracks in Santiago (which we went to while we were there).
There is a lot of Santiago vs. Havana sentiment among people in Cuba, particularly because of baseball. Santiago is the Red sox’s of Cuba to Havana as the Yankees. And I think people in Santiago are much more into baseball than in Havana. At the stadium in Havana when the teams play there are as many Santiago fans as Havana fans, because so many people from Santiago now live in Havana. The weekend we were in Santiago was actually during the playoff (I would say a bigger deal than our “world series’ as it is really what everyone talks about). Unfortunately the first games were played in Santiago while we were in Havana, the series moved to Havana while we were in Santiago, and when we got back to Havana the end of the series was back in Santiago. However, the game did very much affect our time in Santiago. Our second night there a large group of us went out in search of music and dancing, unfortunately every place seemed to be closed (well many of the places) and finally we ended up at a major square that was projecting the game. So while I didn’t actually get to go to a game in the series, I got to have a little bit of feel for the sentiment of the fans and the sheer intensity of it all. Santiago ended up winning the series, but the night we were watching it in Santiago they lost, which meant we had to keep quiet about being from Havana.
I will know back track a little in getting to Santiago. We left Havana at about 10 at night for the 13-20 hour bus ride to Santiago (it took us about 15 hours on this trip) and ended up in the hot hilly Santiago with droopy eyes. We really didn’t think it would be much hotter than Havana, because at that point when it's hot, it's just hot. But there was a definite noticeable difference in heat and almost no shade to speak of, and honestly the hills top it off making it more tiring. The whole group was on this trip again, excluding my darling roommate Elena, and my close friend Kelly, and our fearless leader Marguerite- who were enjoying the quiet time in the house back in Havana, and I missed them, but it made reuniting better. One of my friends from UNC, Laura, and I stayed together at a Casa Particular at the top of a hill across the street from a beautiful garden for a seminary and we ate all our meals on the roof overlooking the city. And don’t worry when we arrived sleep deprived in the heat of Santiago everyone went their separate ways to put our stuff down, but met back up within the hour to start exploring Santiago. Various groups enjoyed going to lunch and then a museum in one of the oldest houses in Cuba off of one of the main squares, and the museum of the carnival, complete with seeing the daily performance that goes on (both museums were actually very cool) and then three of us walked down to the bay where kids were running around and docks were being unloaded, and the light was streaming through the clouds onto the Sierra Maestre and the water, and a loan musician was practicing his trombone. Walking around the first afternoon my friend Derek and I were really noticing all of the signs off buildings, because old photos of Havana has all sorts of light up signs and advertisements in the streets that don’t exist anymore. But some of the major streets in Santiago still have them.
That night we had big plans as it was Derek’s birthday and met up in one of the main squares-that of course had more Frozzens. The guy at this stand asked me if I was of some Latin decent- and in my enjoyment of the conversation the Frozzen was just that much better. There is also this “train” for kids to ride on that a guy on a bike rides around the square over and over. About 10 of us just ended up going to a rooftop patio overlooking the city and it ended up being the perfect thing to do and really nice night just being with friends in a new city (I had had my hesitations because there were only two guys with us and that many girls on that little sleep can at times be a problem, but it was absolutely lovely).
The next day a group of eight of us decided to make our way to the cemetery, which has the tomb for Jose Marti, complete with an every half hour changing of the guard. Many other important Cuban figures are also buried in this relatively large cemetery, which my culture teacher describes as the only cemetery he likes because it has a better feeling than all other cemeteries.
We decided we would take a horse drawn cart to get to the cemetery a few Kilometers from where we were staying in the city. Our plan was to just take it with the Cubans that were waiting. However, when the next horse pulled up, looking in desperate need of a break- the driver came up to me and asked where my group of eight would like to go and we negotiated a price. At this point there were already Cubans at the back of the cart trying to get on and the driver told us to get on. I had to walk by this old man and was the first on the cart. We asked if we could just go with the people that were waiting but the cart driver said no. The people were yelling at the driver asking why we got to go before them and the old man just looked up at me and said, of course-they are tourists. I was absolutely disgusted by the injustice of the whole situation and the fact that I was the injustice putting the distain in the old man’s eyes made it even worse. I was at the point of leaving the cart, but the truth was that was the injustice of any methods of transportation we would have taken. The truth was this kind of thing had already happened countless times; it was just that this experience was so poignant. The driver also couldn’t take any other locals, because it was illegal for him to transport them and us together. The whole situation really brought to the surface how I felt about being a tourist, in a country that protects and depends on their tourists, and how much money even in a socialist country made these divides. I am sure I could right much more on that and the injustices to the horse, but I talked to the driver and he was very aware of the health of the horse so I felt a little better.
The cemetery was very interesting and on our way back four of us broke off and went to a street fair completely devoted to stands on health issues. At this point I was thinking only in Cuba would this happen- but I suppose it happens other places. And then we went to a beautiful old house that housed the Clandestino’s museum. The museum furthers my interest in Juan Almieda Bosque (who led the third front in the Cuban revolution) but is always photoed with this amazing smile)- he is actually back in the government after a brief retirement so I still don’t have as much info on him as I would like.
Then we stopped for a lovely lunch at a restaurant where a girls quince (the coming out party for girls when they turn 15-like a bigger deal sweet 16). We enjoyed the afternoon by catching a cab to the mouth of the bay to the Morro Castle. The location is absolutely beautiful, but the most important part of this visit was the museum part inside with a room devoted to pirates. If you care to read the displays, don’t worry I photographed each one and then I posed next to the drawings of some of the pirates. We explored the rest of the castle and went for a little hike around it to wait for the cannon ceremony at sunset. Actually we had a lot of time before the ceremony and ended up playing some card games and running into more people from a group before the cannon.
That night was the baseball game and the next morning were the Moncada barracks. Afterwards a group of 6 of us spent a good deal of time trying to work out affordable transportation with cab drivers and finally got a van to drive us to the Gran Piedra. Literally a large rock at the top of a mountain and the second highest point in Cuba. I have truthfully never been as dizzy as I was due to the drive up the mountain and hiking the path up to the gran piedra- due to the crazy drive and the sudden elevation difference. It was absolutely beautiful though and don’t worry they sold chocolate and coffee at the top. We also ran into a guy that had seen us the day before at el morro, who convinced me to buy the coffee that was not ground so it would stay fresh longer and he convinced me by saying he remember me by my pretty face (I actually think it was the large camera, but I didn’t want to argue). Turn out I never had a way to grind the coffee and left it as a present for my Cuban friends, because it is illegal to bring home.
After this we went to an artist community and I ended up staying talking to one painter the entire time with my friend Alex, because she had started him on a very intense conversation, that in reality was an intense conversation that covered almost everything in life, as good Cuban conversations tend to do. He was an extremely interesting man and it may have been one of my most valuable conversations in Cuba.
We finished the afternoon by going to El Cobre- which is the site of the church to our Lady of Charity the patron saint of Cuba- so it is a very important pilgrimage sight. And on the way back the driver of our Cadillac cab stopped on the side of the road to buy us coconuts to drink on the way back into town. Luckily none of us really liked it, but had to try to finish them anyway, which Laura and I left to the guys. We ended the evening hanging out in a Trovas bar listening to music, which was horribly touristy and mainly of the mid-life European crowd, but still decent music and very persistent Cuban men trying to get us to dance.
(I hope you are taking this as a short story at this point….)
The next morning I woke up and was trying to get Laura going, until she finally asked me to feel her head and she was burning up with a fever. I decided I would meet to our of friends as planned but then find her more medicine before the 15 hour bus ride back to Havana. I left Laura sleeping and had breakfast with the woman running our casa, who was complaining about it being cold and her bones hurting (it was 70-75 degrees) but I guess that was a cold morning for Santiago. I rushed to the park to get there in time and then ended up waiting. It was a Monday morning and part of me wanted to photograph the morning rush full of kids in uniform and stops at window openings for coffee. The other part of me didn’t want to be bothered and the camera would have made me really stick out, so I decided to blend in and wait for my friends. After a half hour they still hadn’t shown up, so I walked to another square, thinking maybe we had missed communicated. Finally at the hour point, I decided I would go to the house they were supposed to be staying at. Luckily I chose the correct door and the owner of the house happily let me in. The boys were going about getting ready as if they weren’t super late and I was trying to play it cool, but I guess my face doesn’t lie. My friend asked me what was wrong, and I replied I had been waiting in a park alone for an hour. He responded, well aren’t we supposed to meet at nine and I looked down at my watch and sure enough it was 5 minutes before nine, not 9:55. (It is important to note the hour hand in conjunction with the minute hand on watches.) And basically no one had acted strange all morning that I was operating on a very early schedule.
And then I set out for the day again. Made some more stops with them and bought a much-needed orange juice, that I ended up carrying around with me all day, and it prevented me from having enough hands free for more photos. (I realize you don’t need to know such things, but if my friends from the trip ever read this they will appreciate these random comments.) And I ended up wandering off from my friends to track down medicine for Laura, which also gave me some time to wander the city alone (one of my favorite activities when traveling). This also became one of my favorite mornings in Cuba as I got to explore an art gallery and then sit on the floor of a bookstore getting lost in books of Cuban poetry and trying to decide what I could afford and bring back with me, while absorbing what I couldn’t.
The mission for the medicine was quite entertaining as I only wanted a fever reducer, but health care and medicine is very serious there. Everyone wanted to know more symptoms so they could give me the right medicine for my friend, but all I knew was she had a fever. And of course I had to go to multiple places and explain the situation every time and that it was time sensitive as we were leaving about 3 hours later. Everyone was very kind and finally after one man walked me to another store and made sure the woman understood me, the woman settled on getting me the most generic fever medicine she could. I think the medicine worked wonders and Laura got home just fine.
The only way our director could get the whole group back to Havana was to put 25 of us on 4 different buses back. So I was in a bus with 5 of my friends from UNC and at about 7 the bus stopped and we had a half hour break for dinner. Unfortunately everywhere near the bus stop would take about a half hour to make anything- and if this was the time they were telling us upfront we knew it would take longer than that in Cuba. Finally we decided to choose this place and ended up only being able to order essentially cheese balls and fried bananas for dinner. The restaurant we had stopped at was connected to a bigger hall where a girl's Quince was actually going on. I really needed to use the bathroom and asked the owner where the bathroom was to which he pointed into the room full of people and a 15 year old girl lip sinking a song of thanks to her mother in the middle of the dance floor. I tried to refuse, not wanting to interrupt, but he then escorted me through the party and had one of his waitresses guard the door as I used the restroom. As I tried to sneak back out, it had almost been a half hour and the food still wasn’t ready. As it came out we tried rushed to find a bag or something to take it with us. So we quickly grabbed some to shove in our mouths and shoved the rest in a bag to take off running. It was quite poetic as the sun was running and the bus was in that direction, so we were running full speed with a bag full of cheese balls toward the sunset. And somehow not only did we make it on the bus without our seats given away, we also all didn’t get sick from our choice dinner while sprinting.
It was a long night on the rest of the ride and we arrived about 7 in the morning, but it was a great trip.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Art is a lie that doesn't pretend to be the truth. -Helmo Hernandez
I just really like that quote.
I am finishing up my last week in Havana and it is starting to feel a little sureal. I have almost a month of adventures to write about and will hopefully post a lot of it when I return home next week.
Thanks for reading, more and photos soon.
Hanita
I am finishing up my last week in Havana and it is starting to feel a little sureal. I have almost a month of adventures to write about and will hopefully post a lot of it when I return home next week.
Thanks for reading, more and photos soon.
Hanita
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Disclaimer
Well I have been thinking about writing this disclaimer for a little while. First off I generally write these quickly and then send them, so they are completely unedited- which at points is a problem compounded by typing and spelling errors. Second, I have not giving you all the perspectives I have on politics or even my personal experiences. So please understand that these are only glimpses of feelings and events that change frequently here. I look forward to talking to you all one on one and giving you a more full understanding of my opinions.
I hope that was understandable…
Escambray and Trinidad Culture Trip
Well, in the excitement of needing to get ready to go on our group trip two weeks ago, I woke up at about 5 in the morning and couldn't sleep. Which, while I say excitement, is super frustrating, because people function better with a good amount of sleep (by people in this case I specifically mean myself). And so I did what any person would do and I took a shower and then cut my hair by myself. Now I don't think I would have considered this an okay idea had it not been 5-6 in the morning, especially because I can barely see my chin in our bathroom mirror. However, it was just a trim with minor layers and besides a crazy chunk in the back my roommate had to fix, it worked out fine.
And so all of the students in our group (UNC and AU), Fernando who is in charge of our culture classes and I have mentioned before, Milagros and Lourdes from the University, and Devyn and Tracy (the UNC coordinator and fiancé) set off in a chartered bus. The first stop we made (I was not able to nap on the bus despite my early rising) was outside Santa Clara at the Che memorial. As Fernando said, Che was a very attractive man and the monument does not do him justice. Nonetheless it seems like something that must be done while in Cuba. Then we stopped in Santa Clara to see the main square for a few minutes (of course we all stopped for frozzens--kind of like the Cuban soft serve ice cream, that is super cheap, you can find everywhere, and everyone in Cuba and in our group eats a lot) My favorite part was the symbol of the town is a little boy holding up a boot that I was told came from a photo of a boy in the US civil war. There is also a fountain depicting this.
Our main stop for the day was in Escambray, because there is a theatre there that was started as a traveling theatre. The Escambray theater has a very interesting history and as I understand it became important to the company, because they audience of the mountains and rural area was completely different from people in Havana in everyway. We were able to see a very complex show, that incorporated Beetles music and while hard to follow had a very good critique of what happened to the youth generation of the 60's that essentially lost their youth.
Also we stayed at this hotel set on a lake and had a great time exploring and getting to enjoy everyone living in one place for an evening. It was truly lovely and one of our friends and Fernando even caught some fish.
I have already been to Trinidad with a few friends, but going with the large group was quite entertaining and at time frustrating. We were all staying in various casa particulares (kind of a cross between a boarding house and a bed and breakfast, and we generally stay at these when traveling) and I was in a house with my 'roommates'. My technical roommate and the girls that live next door to us, function as one unit most of the time. Our casa had a lovely patio where we were able to dine at sunset and where I could enjoy my favorite part of Trinidad: the very friendly little boy who spends all day, sometimes alone and sometimes with friends, running up and down the street with his kite, made of a long string and the standard Cuban plastic bag that reads, 'Viva Cuba Libre.'
The reason we made our way to Trinidad as a class was actually for the Good Friday procession. Trinidad became a very religious town and the main church has a very treasured crucifix of Christ along with other important statues that are taken throughout the city every Good Friday for this annual tradition. The reason this crucifix is in Trinidad is a story I am very fond of: Sailors from Spain long ago had been carrying the crucifix on their ship. After facing very bad storms and hard times, they decided the crucifix was bad luck and left it in Trinidad when they stopped there. And now it is a very important symbol of Trinidad. I believe somehow linked to this is the fact that historic Trinidad is a UNESCO world heritage site. For the actual procession that huge numbers of tourists and town's people a like showed up for the candlelight procession that really goes on for most of the evening. The heavy tourism and cameras and hoopla of the evening made the religious aspect of the evening hard to focus on at times. But then as I began to see it, all of the people there for so many different reasons and at different times in their lives were actually a very beautiful thing. And why shouldn't faith be like that.
(As always I am getting very lengthy without talking about very much, so I will not get at detailed for the rest.) We also spent time going out to hear the very accessible music in Trinidad. On Sat. We went to the acclaimed 'sugar valley' which we thought would be more educational, but really was just a tourist spot with a tower to look into the valley. And while it was beautiful, it was not what others were acclaiming it to be and I think we thought we would have more of a tour of the sugar industry. Then we had a very enlightening lunch with Fernando, with beautiful Cuban expressions making everything we discussed feel like the deepest ideas for living. The afternoon was spent of the beach and the evening was followed with more exploring and enjoying the city.
About 10 of us went to the main Catholic Church for Easter, with my Jewish roommate professing her love for Easter more than the rest of us most of the day (She is indeed very supportive of other people's religious and cultural traditions and was in no way making fun of the traditions, but enjoyed learning about them.) It was a good experience to have people learn about a Catholic Easter service in Cuba together, when everyone comes from different backgrounds. I also organized a secret Easter Bunny (same idea as secret Santa, but with Easter baskets) so people used to certain Easter traditions at home, could choose to be part of it and feel closer to home here. My 'Easter basket' was a camera made out of cans that pops open and a face springs out at you. It is quite an entertaining toy.
And let us be glad for a bus full of iPods on a 5-hour trip with a tired group of students on the way back. I also had time to discuss my final history project/paper with Devyn on the way back. She is also a PhD candidate doing research on the work of the Revolution from 1959-1961 of racial equality in Cuba and I am going to look at the white Cuban reaction to the speeches and changes at the time for my paper. I decided I would get more out of working with her, than choosing a completely random aspect of Cuban history to write about. (Speaking of which I really need to start setting up more interviews)
If I finish some papers in time I will post another blog about last weekend, but I may not have time as we are leaving for Santiago de Cuba at 10 pm tonight for our last entire group trip. I am sure I will be writing about the city and the cross-country 14-hour trip soon.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Matanzas
Matanzas
The trip to Matanzas was not 100% successful, because we did not find much out about the roots of rumba and major other types of Cuban music that originated in Matanzas. However, it was a very good trip including super good ice cream, a walk through a valley and into a random cave, and entertaining personalities. I will focus on the transit though.
Part of the excitement of going to Matanzas was to get to take the Hershey Train. The Hershey Train (electric) was set up by none other than the Hershey chocolate company to transport sugar in Cuba. It is not one of the most reliable trains as the newest components or cars are about 50 years old. It has multiple stops, but the last stops are in Casablanca (the other side of the bay from Old Havana) and in Matanzas. To get to Casablanca in time for our train we had to be at the Ferry on the other side of the bay at dawn. And notably in Casablanca there is a giant statue of Jesus close to where the Train stop is.
We set off with 6 in our group and 3 other of our friends that were just going to Varadero beach outside Matanzas for the day. The train also cost about approx. 15 cents if converted in US dollars. The train at one point did come unhitched at the main point from the other car. So they stopped to fix it and an old man on the train pulled out a large knife that ended up saving the day. Once we got to another large stop we got off and they disappeared for about an hour to get another train to use for the rest of the way. The first part of the train ride was really cool as we talked to Pesciliano our friend on the Train who wanted to know the meaning of things like 'otherwise' in English. It was also fun to watch the train become packed.
The second train ride I got a seat, but couldn't see outside as well and started to read. Women with small children piled on the train and some of our group started talking to them and all of the sudden a guy walks by me with a white bag that startled me with a crow to alert me of the rooster inside the bag. One of my friends, who is a nanny in the States, offered to hold a woman's baby and she was in heaven as I started a nice chat with the woman. And finally on the ride I took a breath and decided this was perfect and I was excited about the end of the ride. Of course a moment after the breath the man behind us announced we had arrived in Matanzas…
We only stayed one night and one of my friends and I decided not to go with the other four to the beach the next day. A. on principle because it is the nicest beach in Cuba, but mainly reserved for tourists and B. because music was our main goal in Matanzas. The two of us ended up with more time walking around and doing things in the city and then were ready to get back to Havana in time for dinner. After walking around all day it turned out we missed the bus so we walked even farther to the train station (via a town baseball game, that no one batted an eye lash we were literally walking through their game) and then found out this train (not the Hershey Train, but the Trains used for all of the island) was even less reliable and didn't leave for another 5 hours. So we made our way back to the other bus station and decided to try to get on the Astro Bus only for Cubans. By the way I was exhausted at this point and getting home the earliest route became the main objective. After a few conversations with a man at the station we finally got help in figuring out the Cuban system and convinced them that as students with residency cards we were allowed to use this method of transport.
The way waiting for the bus works is, everyone forms a line and waits around until right when the bus comes and then tickets start being sold. Now you need to understand lines in general in Cuba. It is not a physical line, someone could be sitting on a park bench and still be in line, because people keep track of who the last person is. So in a bus terminal everyone just sits around and like all lines in Cuba when you want to enter you shout 'quien es el ultimo' or just 'ultimo' and once you find this person you become ultimo until the next person comes. It takes a little getting used to and you have to remember who is in front of and behind you in line, but Cubans are very good at this. Anyway we finally get in the line and get our tickets and got to enjoy the ride home in a nice bus for under a USD. Actually my entire transport to Matanzas was under two US dollars, until taking the cab for 3 dollars back from the Bus station.
On the ride back I was sitting next to a man who literally knew the words to everyone song that played and would quietly sing along. At about the second hour of the trip Antonio and I started talking, and it may have been the best random conversation I have had with a Cuban yet. He was explaining to me he was a priest, but even more so a Santero- which means of member of the Santeria religion I am interested in here. But we talked about everything from climate to race to school to music and mainly about music. And I knew when he started asking about the man who played the trumpet and was talking about Louis Armstrong he was good people. And then we were all of the sudden making our way back into Havana at dusk and it just felt like I was coming home as we drove through different barrios…
These always get longer than I anticipate and I haven't had a chance to talk about the museum for literacy and the school for children with special needs in the Ciudad Libertad that we toured this week. Real quick, hearing a second grader in a class for children with sight problems start reading to the class in a clear strong voice and than realizing he is the only child that is reading Braille almost brought tears to my eyes. And when the singing group sang for us, with a little Ray Charles singing the solo, the kids all took care of each other. I don't know if I have ever been in a choir or school event where a teacher didn't introduce me, but these kids did it all themselves and man are they just brilliant and focused on their school work. This was followed by learning how to dance in pairs in dance class and then going to a concert in the Anti-Imperialist plaza for one of the biggest bands in Cuba, because it is a huge student week here with the Caribbean games being played at our university between teams form different schools. (I realize that may have been hard to follow)
Happy Easter everyone, I will be thinking about all of you I have Easter traditions with. Our whole group is going to Trinidad and don't worry we did a secret Easter Bunny exchange so people wouldn't miss home too much and get some kind of Easter Basket. All the best!
Hannah
The trip to Matanzas was not 100% successful, because we did not find much out about the roots of rumba and major other types of Cuban music that originated in Matanzas. However, it was a very good trip including super good ice cream, a walk through a valley and into a random cave, and entertaining personalities. I will focus on the transit though.
Part of the excitement of going to Matanzas was to get to take the Hershey Train. The Hershey Train (electric) was set up by none other than the Hershey chocolate company to transport sugar in Cuba. It is not one of the most reliable trains as the newest components or cars are about 50 years old. It has multiple stops, but the last stops are in Casablanca (the other side of the bay from Old Havana) and in Matanzas. To get to Casablanca in time for our train we had to be at the Ferry on the other side of the bay at dawn. And notably in Casablanca there is a giant statue of Jesus close to where the Train stop is.
We set off with 6 in our group and 3 other of our friends that were just going to Varadero beach outside Matanzas for the day. The train also cost about approx. 15 cents if converted in US dollars. The train at one point did come unhitched at the main point from the other car. So they stopped to fix it and an old man on the train pulled out a large knife that ended up saving the day. Once we got to another large stop we got off and they disappeared for about an hour to get another train to use for the rest of the way. The first part of the train ride was really cool as we talked to Pesciliano our friend on the Train who wanted to know the meaning of things like 'otherwise' in English. It was also fun to watch the train become packed.
The second train ride I got a seat, but couldn't see outside as well and started to read. Women with small children piled on the train and some of our group started talking to them and all of the sudden a guy walks by me with a white bag that startled me with a crow to alert me of the rooster inside the bag. One of my friends, who is a nanny in the States, offered to hold a woman's baby and she was in heaven as I started a nice chat with the woman. And finally on the ride I took a breath and decided this was perfect and I was excited about the end of the ride. Of course a moment after the breath the man behind us announced we had arrived in Matanzas…
We only stayed one night and one of my friends and I decided not to go with the other four to the beach the next day. A. on principle because it is the nicest beach in Cuba, but mainly reserved for tourists and B. because music was our main goal in Matanzas. The two of us ended up with more time walking around and doing things in the city and then were ready to get back to Havana in time for dinner. After walking around all day it turned out we missed the bus so we walked even farther to the train station (via a town baseball game, that no one batted an eye lash we were literally walking through their game) and then found out this train (not the Hershey Train, but the Trains used for all of the island) was even less reliable and didn't leave for another 5 hours. So we made our way back to the other bus station and decided to try to get on the Astro Bus only for Cubans. By the way I was exhausted at this point and getting home the earliest route became the main objective. After a few conversations with a man at the station we finally got help in figuring out the Cuban system and convinced them that as students with residency cards we were allowed to use this method of transport.
The way waiting for the bus works is, everyone forms a line and waits around until right when the bus comes and then tickets start being sold. Now you need to understand lines in general in Cuba. It is not a physical line, someone could be sitting on a park bench and still be in line, because people keep track of who the last person is. So in a bus terminal everyone just sits around and like all lines in Cuba when you want to enter you shout 'quien es el ultimo' or just 'ultimo' and once you find this person you become ultimo until the next person comes. It takes a little getting used to and you have to remember who is in front of and behind you in line, but Cubans are very good at this. Anyway we finally get in the line and get our tickets and got to enjoy the ride home in a nice bus for under a USD. Actually my entire transport to Matanzas was under two US dollars, until taking the cab for 3 dollars back from the Bus station.
On the ride back I was sitting next to a man who literally knew the words to everyone song that played and would quietly sing along. At about the second hour of the trip Antonio and I started talking, and it may have been the best random conversation I have had with a Cuban yet. He was explaining to me he was a priest, but even more so a Santero- which means of member of the Santeria religion I am interested in here. But we talked about everything from climate to race to school to music and mainly about music. And I knew when he started asking about the man who played the trumpet and was talking about Louis Armstrong he was good people. And then we were all of the sudden making our way back into Havana at dusk and it just felt like I was coming home as we drove through different barrios…
These always get longer than I anticipate and I haven't had a chance to talk about the museum for literacy and the school for children with special needs in the Ciudad Libertad that we toured this week. Real quick, hearing a second grader in a class for children with sight problems start reading to the class in a clear strong voice and than realizing he is the only child that is reading Braille almost brought tears to my eyes. And when the singing group sang for us, with a little Ray Charles singing the solo, the kids all took care of each other. I don't know if I have ever been in a choir or school event where a teacher didn't introduce me, but these kids did it all themselves and man are they just brilliant and focused on their school work. This was followed by learning how to dance in pairs in dance class and then going to a concert in the Anti-Imperialist plaza for one of the biggest bands in Cuba, because it is a huge student week here with the Caribbean games being played at our university between teams form different schools. (I realize that may have been hard to follow)
Happy Easter everyone, I will be thinking about all of you I have Easter traditions with. Our whole group is going to Trinidad and don't worry we did a secret Easter Bunny exchange so people wouldn't miss home too much and get some kind of Easter Basket. All the best!
Hannah
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
a few things
Well I will try to write mini categories this week to cover more of what is going on.
Las Terrazas
Two weeks ago we took a trip for our culture class to Las Terrazas about 45 minutes west of La Habana. Las Terrazas is one of the communities built up after the 50's that they really got right. It is a natural preserve and the architecture and community are built with the natural surroundings in mind. It is a beautiful place. We spent the first part of the day touring the main area, with a photographer from NYC who is friends with one of the directors at the foundation. The town's population is about 1000. And we ate at this vegetarian restaurant and it was a beautiful change in our normal diets, Speaking of our normal diets mainly consisting of sugar- some people are talking about dentistry needs…The community is actually very cool and we also noticed a good deal of roosters tied up with bare legs-seemingly good for cock fighting.
The second part of the afternoon we spent in a river with tiny waterfalls that has medicinal properties. While, we had a lovely time relaxing and seeing Cubans relax, most of our entertainment came from our culture professor. He is what one would stereotype a Cuban cultural man as, complete with personal heart felt philosophies and extremely tight pants.
Church and Rumba
The next day two of my friends and I decided to try the United Methodist church closest to us. I had been to a catholic church in the area before and the two compared are quite different. We could hear the church from a few blocks away. The services seem to start with a good deal of singing, which was super repetitive like all good church songs so I could pick up on it. The church is also packed full of people and it is a decent sized place and in Cuba. By in Cuba- I mean it is hot and humid! And this was probably one of the hotter days we have been here; all in all we have been pretty lucky with weather, even though I am bracing myself as we move into summer. (The power just went out in the hotel I am writing this, and my friends that are here and I did not bat an eyelash at the fact the power went out. I think we are getting used to it here. It happened in class the other day and our professor didn't miss a beat from her sentence.) Anyway the church: So as people sat down, there are these three women who go around finding seats for everyone standing on the sides and on the back. And they are diligent to their jobs the entire service as people leave. It is also quite beautiful and quite Cuban as men leave their family to go stand on the side and give women their seats. The rest of the service was equally as intense with people talking in tongues during prayer and arms raised. At one point I thought people were taking about pocketbooks, but actually they were bibles of all shapes and sizes. And the minister definitely had a fire to this evangelical congregation. When enough people had sat down I could finally see the sign language interpreter in the front. Everyone was very nice at church and then we had to go guzzle water after the experience.
Rumba
After church we meet two more of our friends on Callejon de Hamel aka the rumba alley. And you know it when you get to it, because Salvador the artist and 'jefe' of the alley has painted the entire thing with quotes and designs and scenes. In my mind it is worth going just for the street art, but every Sunday at 12 there is the rumba presentation. And it s a great assortment of people, from the tourist who either only stay for the first half or by the second half start to assimilate into the group, to the performers that are there every week, and my personal favorites the two dancers that are kids, but are absolutely fantastic. (We have actually been back the last few weeks and have started getting to know the regulars. I got really excited last week, when Salvador came out to talk to some of the musicians last week. I still have the US mentality that really important people are harder to find- but in reality here culture is a little different and closer so that more people relate.) At rumba there are generally the two regular groups. On is entirely made up of women, which is fabulous and the only group I have seen yet of all women. According to my friend who knows lots about music, the main drummer (with the afro) has the best technique of all the drummers we have seen there. And then the other group, where everyone just knows everyone and they pull in more traditional or religious aspects of Cuban culture. They are big crowd pleasers and I generally dance around, without dancing too much, so I don't get pulled into dancing with someone I wouldn't want to. I truly can't describe the energy in this e-mail. But last semester sitting in my dorm room this is one of the things I romantically thought I would find in Cuba.
Cojimar
I am going to skip over our trip to our Spanish teachers house in Cojimar (where Hemingway lived) but it was a glorious day and as I have the best sense of direction it generally revolves around everyone following me- I just really have an affinity for studying maps, that I think comes from my family. She took us on a tour, we cooked with her in her house, met and interviewed her neighbor who had fought in the revolution and who showed us his goats two of which had been born moments before…(how was that for skipping over)
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN's DAY
You may wonder why I put that in all caps, but March 8th was a very good day in my life. Mainly because the entire day I got to just say congratulations to every woman I saw on the street and they would say it back. I mean it got a little annoying when our history professor said he had to take all the females questions first in class, because it was international women's day- but literally everyone recognized it. It was just nice to openly share something in common all day. And it is always nice to have something positive to talk to half the population about and the other half telling you congratulations.
Beyond this, we had our second dance class that afternoon. And dancing for an hour just puts you in a good mood. Our instructors are four of the dancers in the contemporary dance troupe in Cuba and we rehearse in their rehearsal space in the National Theatre off the Revolutionary Plaza. About 15 people out of the 26 students between the two groups are taking the class and it is just a humorous time. It has gotten better sine our first two lessons. I can realize when I am doing something wrong, but my main problem is I don't always know how to make my body do it correctly. Alas, I try and have a great time in-between. The dancers are the sweetest people in the world, but they are also extremely good dancers. We had the opportunity to go to one of the company's warm-ups and then some of us stayed form some rehearsing of dances with our culture class. The warms up are done with live percussion and the singer who actually walks around all the dancers as they are stretching. The music literally fills the space and not only could you feel all the music had to offer we were so much in the middle of it that I could feel the drummer's foot keeping time. As it turns out seeing our dance instructors (who are our age) dance, one of them may be the best in the company and the best dancer I have ever seen. Getting the experience to see the dancers less than a foot away from you at some points is also extremely powerful. I think dance from now on will mainly be a let down. It is also really interesting to think that they only have the space we use for dance even though they are some of the most famous dancers in Cuba. I mean there is not even a mirror in the room, but those are the little things you have to think about in Cuba everyday.
Back to March 8th. I was on an extreme high from the day and then walking into our residence late for dinner I realize Carlos Alberto is back. Carlos Alberto is one of my favorite people in Cuba and one of the guards at our residence. I was so excited from the day and seeing him that I made him get up and hug me (the general greeting being a kiss on the cheek). He had been gone for about a month and I had been complaining on and off about it. Unfortunately he had been very sick, but he is better now and it was extreme icing on the cake to have him back that day. He and the repairman I have decided are kind of like my Cuban uncles.
That evening after looking into a very gaudy Beny More show that was just a little too fake for us Beny More fans, we spent the evening on the Malecon. At first with a trumpet player and then with a Cuban who talked to us for hours about the differences between the US and Cuba.
I am going to cut myself off here as I have to go to dinner but there is always more to say… and next year remember how the greatness of international women's day.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
excerpt from Trading the the Enemy
So the last few days have been very full and I will try to put posts up in the next week. In the mean time here is an excerpt one of my friends just read to me from the book Trading with the Enemy:
"I went to Cuba because I was curious; because no one agrees on its strengths; because I’d read so much about it; because it is forbidden; because it’s heartbreakingly lovely; because so many people have championed it while so many others have abandoned it; because Cubans make great music and aromatic cigars; because they’ve thumbed their noses at their former patron for more than three decades; because I’d grown weary of writing about Latin American ‘democracies’ where forlorn illiterate campesinas sit on city street corners selling combs, nail clippers, and undervalued handicrafts while their malnourished barefoot youngsters turn their palms up and say “gimme” instead of learning how to hold a pencil or read a sentence; because of its rich literary tradition; because my favorite players on the Washington Senators in the 1950s were Cuban; because I’m an incurable romantic; because we still have a navy base there; because Cuban women are astute and alluring; because in the last five hundred years of travel writing few cities in the world have been so effusively praised as Havana; because Teddy Roosevelt led the charge up San Huan Hill; because I liked Our Man in Havana and The Old Man and the Sea; because I got a kick out of Desi Arnaz; because I was distrustful of Cuba’s bashers and its cheerleaders; because I liked the twinkle in Fidel’s eyes; because I’d never been to a Communist country; because I wanted to learn the rumba; because Columbus landed there; because it has hundreds of miles of unspoiled beaches; because of its mystique."
-Tom Miller
"I went to Cuba because I was curious; because no one agrees on its strengths; because I’d read so much about it; because it is forbidden; because it’s heartbreakingly lovely; because so many people have championed it while so many others have abandoned it; because Cubans make great music and aromatic cigars; because they’ve thumbed their noses at their former patron for more than three decades; because I’d grown weary of writing about Latin American ‘democracies’ where forlorn illiterate campesinas sit on city street corners selling combs, nail clippers, and undervalued handicrafts while their malnourished barefoot youngsters turn their palms up and say “gimme” instead of learning how to hold a pencil or read a sentence; because of its rich literary tradition; because my favorite players on the Washington Senators in the 1950s were Cuban; because I’m an incurable romantic; because we still have a navy base there; because Cuban women are astute and alluring; because in the last five hundred years of travel writing few cities in the world have been so effusively praised as Havana; because Teddy Roosevelt led the charge up San Huan Hill; because I liked Our Man in Havana and The Old Man and the Sea; because I got a kick out of Desi Arnaz; because I was distrustful of Cuba’s bashers and its cheerleaders; because I liked the twinkle in Fidel’s eyes; because I’d never been to a Communist country; because I wanted to learn the rumba; because Columbus landed there; because it has hundreds of miles of unspoiled beaches; because of its mystique."
-Tom Miller
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Trinidad
Last weekend I took my first trip out of the Havana province with my friends Joe, Jon, and Kelly. We ended up having a driver take us in his van to Trinidad, a town about 5-6 hours away on the southern coast of Cuba. The ride may not have been the method most suggested to tourists, but I wouldn’t say it is uncommon in Cuba and worked very nicely for us. And driving through the countryside we were all very excited. There is really one main road that goes all the way across Cuba, so we also got to drive through some other major areas. At one point three of us were all trying to take photos from the car of tractors driving by, or people on bikes or horse drawn carts or bus stops full of people. I now have over a hundred photos of blurry scenery or objects outside the car, but just the challenge of getting the photo is exciting. At one point I was just so excited that the sky was the blue a sky should be, and the dirt was the red/brown/orange dirt should be and the greens tied the landscape together perfectly.
My one major comment on the trip was about the amount of cows vs. pigs we saw. Now there are a lot of cows in this country, that I have now seen journeying. I did not see a single pig, however, now with my deductive reasoning skills, I do not understand why it seems that there is only ever pork or ham to eat…
A tree we passed in a field also stood out to me. At first glace there was no way this tree was alive, as it was practically parallel to the ground. It almost looked like it should be some kind of important crooked staff with really cool grayish bark. A good deal of the root system was also showing, but some of it must have still been working, because the end of the tree was starting to grow toward the sky again and had young bright green leaves starting to open on it. I also have taken this tree that looked like it shouldn’t have been alive, yet beautifully was, for a metaphor.
In Trinidad, we ended changing the Casa Particular we were staying in, but it went relatively smoothly and oddly enough the owners of the house we were leaving seemed more friendly as we were departing for a different house, than when we had arrived there. Trinidad is a beautiful city, with houses full of color and cobblestone street, this may be due to the fact it is extremely touristy.
After settling in we walked back into the historic district and climbed a tour to see the late afternoon light over the city. From the tour you can also see the water that is about 15-20 km outside the city. Again I was in photo heaven and we spent the rest of dust walking around the town and listening to wonderful music performed on the street. In a lot of ways it was the romanticized Cuba that was always in the back on my mind when preparing for the trip. We had a lovely dinner in the back courtyard of a home, at a Paldare (Paldares are restraunts run out of peoples homes, some are run illegally). It was a lovely spot and great meal.
The evening was filled with music. As it turns out one of my best friends here, Jon, happens to know a ton about Cuban music and Santeria and Santeria music. All of this knowledge came in handy to the group as we starting the evening with an Afro-Cuban music show and we discussed the traditional influences and Santeria influences in the music. (Santeria is an Afro-Cuban religion, that was begun by slaves desiring to practice their native religion under a Catholic Spanish colony rule, and they incorporated their Gods with Catholic saints to make it acceptable. That is really way too brief of a summary, but hopefully it will do for now.)
After the first show we walked halfway down the block to the main steps of the plaza and heard another show outside the Casa de Musica of Trinidad. The last song they played was actually about six of the Santeria Gods and they had dancers for each part of the song. The actually ceremony process goes through more of the Gods in greater detail both musically and in dance, but as it was a show- it was in no way the religious ceremony. I have mixed feelings on using a sacred ritual to entertain tourists, but this happens to many traditions throughout the world.
Then we ended the evening at a Trovas bar about a block away that played traditional Cuban and traditional folk Cuban music. The music was absolutely wonderful, but I think the highlight was watching the dancing, most notably the 8-month pregnant woman dancing at one in the morning with the skill of everyone else on the dance floor and beautiful grace. She was absolutely stunning and probably the best dressed of the evening, again at 8 months pregnant in the middle of the night.
The next day we went to the craft market, where I still did not buy anything, but tried to help talk through with the guys good gift ideas for their girl friends. (We are also returning to Trinidad with the whole group and our culture professors for Easter weekend, so I knew I would be back if I really wanted something and it was something I could actually try to get home.) And we went to a Santeria house/temple to Yemaya (Goddess of water).
After the sunset in the city the night before we decided to go to the beach in the late afternoon and stay till sunset. If Trinidad had not already felt like a vacation, the beach definitely sealed the deal. And we ended the day at a club inside a cave. Not only was this an experience, because we were inside a cave, but also because the music would shift from English to Spanish songs and from salsa to techno and some stuff in between on about a 6 song rotation. Meaning the group of good dancers would change depending on the song. I however looked at many people’s feet and realized there was no way my feet could do all of that, without being brought up in Cuba.
Trinidad truly was a vacation from Havana, with tremendously less people and the historic part is walking only. Unfortunately one of my friends got sick early the next morning and we had to figure out a plan of how to find him some Dramamine and find our driver in the morning to make the ride back. We were a very good team and he was trooper along the bumpy Cuban roads all the way back. (He is now doing better and has been to the doctor) Unfortunately in terms of sickness one of my other friends from UNC who stayed in Havana broke her foot this weekend, or really if she puts any weight on her foot is in danger of breaking it. For the time being she can’t leave her bed until the next check up in two weeks and only people that live in her residence have the access to the rooms. For now she is being very strong, but in about two weeks she has to decide whether she has to go home or can stay her to heal. Hopefully we will find a way for the AU students to be able to go upstairs in their residence and see her. If not I need to start writing her so very funny jokes.
All in all Trinidad were great and this weekend we have a day trip to Las Terrasas. Also we are supposed to meet with the head of the US Interest Section on Friday. And tomorrow we start a music unit in our Culture class, not that three weeks on architecture wasn’t great. Actually there are some good stories from architecture classes, so maybe I will sit down to write about classes soon.
Hope you are all well! And don’t worry Cuba celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8th.
My one major comment on the trip was about the amount of cows vs. pigs we saw. Now there are a lot of cows in this country, that I have now seen journeying. I did not see a single pig, however, now with my deductive reasoning skills, I do not understand why it seems that there is only ever pork or ham to eat…
A tree we passed in a field also stood out to me. At first glace there was no way this tree was alive, as it was practically parallel to the ground. It almost looked like it should be some kind of important crooked staff with really cool grayish bark. A good deal of the root system was also showing, but some of it must have still been working, because the end of the tree was starting to grow toward the sky again and had young bright green leaves starting to open on it. I also have taken this tree that looked like it shouldn’t have been alive, yet beautifully was, for a metaphor.
In Trinidad, we ended changing the Casa Particular we were staying in, but it went relatively smoothly and oddly enough the owners of the house we were leaving seemed more friendly as we were departing for a different house, than when we had arrived there. Trinidad is a beautiful city, with houses full of color and cobblestone street, this may be due to the fact it is extremely touristy.
After settling in we walked back into the historic district and climbed a tour to see the late afternoon light over the city. From the tour you can also see the water that is about 15-20 km outside the city. Again I was in photo heaven and we spent the rest of dust walking around the town and listening to wonderful music performed on the street. In a lot of ways it was the romanticized Cuba that was always in the back on my mind when preparing for the trip. We had a lovely dinner in the back courtyard of a home, at a Paldare (Paldares are restraunts run out of peoples homes, some are run illegally). It was a lovely spot and great meal.
The evening was filled with music. As it turns out one of my best friends here, Jon, happens to know a ton about Cuban music and Santeria and Santeria music. All of this knowledge came in handy to the group as we starting the evening with an Afro-Cuban music show and we discussed the traditional influences and Santeria influences in the music. (Santeria is an Afro-Cuban religion, that was begun by slaves desiring to practice their native religion under a Catholic Spanish colony rule, and they incorporated their Gods with Catholic saints to make it acceptable. That is really way too brief of a summary, but hopefully it will do for now.)
After the first show we walked halfway down the block to the main steps of the plaza and heard another show outside the Casa de Musica of Trinidad. The last song they played was actually about six of the Santeria Gods and they had dancers for each part of the song. The actually ceremony process goes through more of the Gods in greater detail both musically and in dance, but as it was a show- it was in no way the religious ceremony. I have mixed feelings on using a sacred ritual to entertain tourists, but this happens to many traditions throughout the world.
Then we ended the evening at a Trovas bar about a block away that played traditional Cuban and traditional folk Cuban music. The music was absolutely wonderful, but I think the highlight was watching the dancing, most notably the 8-month pregnant woman dancing at one in the morning with the skill of everyone else on the dance floor and beautiful grace. She was absolutely stunning and probably the best dressed of the evening, again at 8 months pregnant in the middle of the night.
The next day we went to the craft market, where I still did not buy anything, but tried to help talk through with the guys good gift ideas for their girl friends. (We are also returning to Trinidad with the whole group and our culture professors for Easter weekend, so I knew I would be back if I really wanted something and it was something I could actually try to get home.) And we went to a Santeria house/temple to Yemaya (Goddess of water).
After the sunset in the city the night before we decided to go to the beach in the late afternoon and stay till sunset. If Trinidad had not already felt like a vacation, the beach definitely sealed the deal. And we ended the day at a club inside a cave. Not only was this an experience, because we were inside a cave, but also because the music would shift from English to Spanish songs and from salsa to techno and some stuff in between on about a 6 song rotation. Meaning the group of good dancers would change depending on the song. I however looked at many people’s feet and realized there was no way my feet could do all of that, without being brought up in Cuba.
Trinidad truly was a vacation from Havana, with tremendously less people and the historic part is walking only. Unfortunately one of my friends got sick early the next morning and we had to figure out a plan of how to find him some Dramamine and find our driver in the morning to make the ride back. We were a very good team and he was trooper along the bumpy Cuban roads all the way back. (He is now doing better and has been to the doctor) Unfortunately in terms of sickness one of my other friends from UNC who stayed in Havana broke her foot this weekend, or really if she puts any weight on her foot is in danger of breaking it. For the time being she can’t leave her bed until the next check up in two weeks and only people that live in her residence have the access to the rooms. For now she is being very strong, but in about two weeks she has to decide whether she has to go home or can stay her to heal. Hopefully we will find a way for the AU students to be able to go upstairs in their residence and see her. If not I need to start writing her so very funny jokes.
All in all Trinidad were great and this weekend we have a day trip to Las Terrasas. Also we are supposed to meet with the head of the US Interest Section on Friday. And tomorrow we start a music unit in our Culture class, not that three weeks on architecture wasn’t great. Actually there are some good stories from architecture classes, so maybe I will sit down to write about classes soon.
Hope you are all well! And don’t worry Cuba celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8th.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Communist Butterflies
Well last week was a nice combination of things. I actually woke up one morning feeling the same kind of stressed I do some days at home, trying to figure out how I was going to finish my Spanish homework, finish decorations for a party, find a friend coming to town, and buy a cake. However, that is the kind of pressure I do very well under so I enjoyed it.
On the day I am describing, our group was throwing a “Bat Mitzvah” for our program coordinator and the Ludwig foundation. Yes, my roommate and I had decided to have this party when we heard about Marguerite’s first Bat Mitzvah (which I think is one of the most amazing stories I have ever heard) which was a ‘disaster.’ It became a running joke that my roommate’s mom would throw Marguerite a good New Jersey Bat Mitzvah when we got back so she could really become a women. Anyway, it became quite a task for us to plan the party, complete with stand in parents and rabbi. It was also communist butterfly themed, with butterflies with Che hats drawn on Granma (the national newspaper) as paper is hard to find. Her torah portion may have also been from the communist manifesto. I was the ‘photographer’ as we all had parts to play and could not stop laughing/crying (in the style of April Le) during the surprise ceremony. And it was really not disrespectful as it may sound here to Jewish tradition. Anyway, as the first party carried out by the students it was a great success. However, Tuesday afternoon was the only time everyone was free and it had to be sandwiched after Spanish class for most people and a meeting with a representative, Milagros, from the University.
Milagros is a bit hard to describe here, but definitely a distinct personality and style. After our brief meeting with her, Rafael Hernandez came to talk to us. Both groups met him last semester on a book tour in the US, but he is a highly respected Cuban intellectual. The discussion moved over a variety of topics, but most importantly we moved into a discussion about the provision for a leader in the Cuban constitution. Truthfully since about the first week, this is the first time the future of leadership in the country has really come into discussion. Before everyone in the group left, I think the general consensus is most people only asked us about what will happen in terms of Fidel. Living here, this is not what we think about at every moment. Also, what journalists and most people fail to talk about is how the constitution is set up to deal with a change in power and even policies. The Vice President assumes the role of the President in terms of a change, and Raul has been the Vice President since Fidel has been President. So while they are brothers, Raul becoming President is legally legitimate. At this point the leader of the National Assembly becomes the Vice President.
While, we discusses this with Rafael it also coincided with the day I had to discuss Cuban elections in my Spanish class. Rafael also explained while the Constitution is in place the way in which the law are interpreted, as you can imagine, is highly determined by who is in power. I find all of this extremely important and interesting, so I don’t mind sharing it a little here.
Later in the week I met up with Chilo, who some of you have met and others know about. I call her my Mexican mother, because the summer I spent in Mexico when I was 16 I set up through her. She has also been on my mom’s organizations board of directors for 13 years. I took her to the famous Coopelia ice cream parks with one of my friends from UNC after we met her at the Capitolio. (Yes the Capitol building here, not in use in the same way after the Revolution, is based off of the US Capitol) We also had her over for dinner at our residence and I asked her to pretend she didn’t speak and Spanish so we could throw everyone off in the middle of dinner. As it turned out everyone was very happy to talk to her, because her Spanish is much easier to understand than Cubans and she is much more used to speaking to non-Spanish speakers. I had a great time with her in town, because at this point she really is like a family member with all we have been through. It also makes me think about how interconnected the world really is.
On the day I am describing, our group was throwing a “Bat Mitzvah” for our program coordinator and the Ludwig foundation. Yes, my roommate and I had decided to have this party when we heard about Marguerite’s first Bat Mitzvah (which I think is one of the most amazing stories I have ever heard) which was a ‘disaster.’ It became a running joke that my roommate’s mom would throw Marguerite a good New Jersey Bat Mitzvah when we got back so she could really become a women. Anyway, it became quite a task for us to plan the party, complete with stand in parents and rabbi. It was also communist butterfly themed, with butterflies with Che hats drawn on Granma (the national newspaper) as paper is hard to find. Her torah portion may have also been from the communist manifesto. I was the ‘photographer’ as we all had parts to play and could not stop laughing/crying (in the style of April Le) during the surprise ceremony. And it was really not disrespectful as it may sound here to Jewish tradition. Anyway, as the first party carried out by the students it was a great success. However, Tuesday afternoon was the only time everyone was free and it had to be sandwiched after Spanish class for most people and a meeting with a representative, Milagros, from the University.
Milagros is a bit hard to describe here, but definitely a distinct personality and style. After our brief meeting with her, Rafael Hernandez came to talk to us. Both groups met him last semester on a book tour in the US, but he is a highly respected Cuban intellectual. The discussion moved over a variety of topics, but most importantly we moved into a discussion about the provision for a leader in the Cuban constitution. Truthfully since about the first week, this is the first time the future of leadership in the country has really come into discussion. Before everyone in the group left, I think the general consensus is most people only asked us about what will happen in terms of Fidel. Living here, this is not what we think about at every moment. Also, what journalists and most people fail to talk about is how the constitution is set up to deal with a change in power and even policies. The Vice President assumes the role of the President in terms of a change, and Raul has been the Vice President since Fidel has been President. So while they are brothers, Raul becoming President is legally legitimate. At this point the leader of the National Assembly becomes the Vice President.
While, we discusses this with Rafael it also coincided with the day I had to discuss Cuban elections in my Spanish class. Rafael also explained while the Constitution is in place the way in which the law are interpreted, as you can imagine, is highly determined by who is in power. I find all of this extremely important and interesting, so I don’t mind sharing it a little here.
Later in the week I met up with Chilo, who some of you have met and others know about. I call her my Mexican mother, because the summer I spent in Mexico when I was 16 I set up through her. She has also been on my mom’s organizations board of directors for 13 years. I took her to the famous Coopelia ice cream parks with one of my friends from UNC after we met her at the Capitolio. (Yes the Capitol building here, not in use in the same way after the Revolution, is based off of the US Capitol) We also had her over for dinner at our residence and I asked her to pretend she didn’t speak and Spanish so we could throw everyone off in the middle of dinner. As it turned out everyone was very happy to talk to her, because her Spanish is much easier to understand than Cubans and she is much more used to speaking to non-Spanish speakers. I had a great time with her in town, because at this point she really is like a family member with all we have been through. It also makes me think about how interconnected the world really is.
Valentines and Ludwig...
So I thought this was posted a week and a half ago... that can be a longer story for later:
So I have been bad about writing everything down that I had planned on sharing. So let’s tie the Ludwig Foundation into Valentines Day.
“El dia de Enamorado” o “el dia de amor y la amistad” is relatively popular here. Most of the day people would tell us congratulations and all the women we know were pleased with the efforts of their significant others, none of that Valentines complaining. I decided I would try to make Valentines for the group, but supplies in Cuba are pretty hard to come by. The black Sharpie writing was enough to make the group happy, when they found valentines under their door.
After breakfast my roommate, Elena, Chad, and I went to the Ludwig foundation about a half hour before class started. First a little on Ludwig: During orientation week we kept hearing about the Ludwig Foundation and that they would be in charge of our culture class. A German man (Ludwig) started the foundation because he is very interested in the Cuban Arts. They are one of the most connected groups in all of Cuba to all cultural and arts activities. Our first experience with them was at a reception they threw us on our first Tuesday in Cuba, to meet our other professors, some of their staff, and some more University officials. It amazes me how hard people have to work within Cuba to make it possible for us to come and then now that we are here how willing people are to help us make as much possible as we want.
Well our group is told to look nice and meet at the building that is two blocks away from where we live and to go to the 5th floor. The place is obviously artistic when we get there, but you continue from a main room onto the terrace overlooking our part of the city. Not only are we getting culture classes with experts and very kind people, but also as their students we are able to stop by and use the terrace. It is absolutely beautiful and we mingled up their for a while. Then during a brief presentation, a Cuban Photographer is introduced because he had been invited to the party due to the abroad directors talking to Fernando (the coordinator of our culture class) about this photographer they had seen a documentary on and thought was phenomenal. Fernando responded by inviting Rene to the party. So I spent the next bit of my time being introduced and talking to this photographer. I was essentially walking on air. And then I look over and see my friend Joe hamming up all the ladies that have connections at the University to help set up some projects he was thinking about working on. We finally had to leave to get back in time for dinner (few of us are ever late for dinner, no matter how much we are doing in the afternoon) and I was just excited the entire time!
So back to a half hour before class on Valentines Day: We were waiting on the Terrace to talk to Fernando about using the Terrace for a surprise party for one of our Coordinators (which is going to be possible and we are all working on the planning for next tues) and the kids from NYU show up for their class. As it turns out at our last class I saw Kate, an NYU student who is doing a writing project through the center, and went up to her because she looked extremely familiar and I had seen her at the University campus the day before. Well I was right and Kate graduated from Yorktown High School a year before me. So there are at least two Yorktown Alums in Cuba, who have access to an amazing view and some very artistic people.
We finally got up to go our class on Architecture with a woman who works for the project to restore Old Havana. And then we went on a tour to view the architecture she was talking about. During this time, our coordinators were meeting with four dance instructors the Ludwig foundation had set us up with to plan out some dance classes for those interested in the group. Two of the dance instructors are in the world acclaimed Cuban Baile Company…
To continue on about the day: Some of us went to the National Book Fair. This is a very big deal in Havana and a ten-day event. Basically two of the forts protecting the Harbor are turned into fair grounds with food vendors of all sorts and different stalls selling books. And this book fair is pretty much the thing to do in Havana right now. It really does look like a huge fair; just the main attraction is books. When people critique Cuba, now I think: really? They have a pretty fabulous national book fair and this is the exciting thing to promote in the country…. Seems pretty on track to me. There is also a used book section, that was pretty picked over and a craft fair. By the time we left I think just the amount of people and excitement had really worn us out. And to get back to the other side of the Harbor we took a city bus instead of a taxi, it was an experience I had been waiting for. These buses are so packed that when you think no one else can be falling out of the main doors a guy will jump up and put one foot on the first step to get onto the us and then cling to the people falling out of the open door. I thought we had a pretty positive experience.
In terms of the Valentines Day part of the day, my roommate convinced Chad to be her Valentine (the only single guy in our group from AU) so I now have the benefit of flowers in my room. Chad also brought us all Mangos and this peanut treat for Valentines Day and Marguerite got us a cake. It was a very friendly day.
I really hope to some up more of what has been going on soon, but its now getting hard to write about things that happened a few weeks ago. It is hard to think we have been here almost a month. I hope everyone is doing well and Happy Valentines day.
Hopefully next time I will get to telling you about the Cigar factory and Cojimar…
So I have been bad about writing everything down that I had planned on sharing. So let’s tie the Ludwig Foundation into Valentines Day.
“El dia de Enamorado” o “el dia de amor y la amistad” is relatively popular here. Most of the day people would tell us congratulations and all the women we know were pleased with the efforts of their significant others, none of that Valentines complaining. I decided I would try to make Valentines for the group, but supplies in Cuba are pretty hard to come by. The black Sharpie writing was enough to make the group happy, when they found valentines under their door.
After breakfast my roommate, Elena, Chad, and I went to the Ludwig foundation about a half hour before class started. First a little on Ludwig: During orientation week we kept hearing about the Ludwig Foundation and that they would be in charge of our culture class. A German man (Ludwig) started the foundation because he is very interested in the Cuban Arts. They are one of the most connected groups in all of Cuba to all cultural and arts activities. Our first experience with them was at a reception they threw us on our first Tuesday in Cuba, to meet our other professors, some of their staff, and some more University officials. It amazes me how hard people have to work within Cuba to make it possible for us to come and then now that we are here how willing people are to help us make as much possible as we want.
Well our group is told to look nice and meet at the building that is two blocks away from where we live and to go to the 5th floor. The place is obviously artistic when we get there, but you continue from a main room onto the terrace overlooking our part of the city. Not only are we getting culture classes with experts and very kind people, but also as their students we are able to stop by and use the terrace. It is absolutely beautiful and we mingled up their for a while. Then during a brief presentation, a Cuban Photographer is introduced because he had been invited to the party due to the abroad directors talking to Fernando (the coordinator of our culture class) about this photographer they had seen a documentary on and thought was phenomenal. Fernando responded by inviting Rene to the party. So I spent the next bit of my time being introduced and talking to this photographer. I was essentially walking on air. And then I look over and see my friend Joe hamming up all the ladies that have connections at the University to help set up some projects he was thinking about working on. We finally had to leave to get back in time for dinner (few of us are ever late for dinner, no matter how much we are doing in the afternoon) and I was just excited the entire time!
So back to a half hour before class on Valentines Day: We were waiting on the Terrace to talk to Fernando about using the Terrace for a surprise party for one of our Coordinators (which is going to be possible and we are all working on the planning for next tues) and the kids from NYU show up for their class. As it turns out at our last class I saw Kate, an NYU student who is doing a writing project through the center, and went up to her because she looked extremely familiar and I had seen her at the University campus the day before. Well I was right and Kate graduated from Yorktown High School a year before me. So there are at least two Yorktown Alums in Cuba, who have access to an amazing view and some very artistic people.
We finally got up to go our class on Architecture with a woman who works for the project to restore Old Havana. And then we went on a tour to view the architecture she was talking about. During this time, our coordinators were meeting with four dance instructors the Ludwig foundation had set us up with to plan out some dance classes for those interested in the group. Two of the dance instructors are in the world acclaimed Cuban Baile Company…
To continue on about the day: Some of us went to the National Book Fair. This is a very big deal in Havana and a ten-day event. Basically two of the forts protecting the Harbor are turned into fair grounds with food vendors of all sorts and different stalls selling books. And this book fair is pretty much the thing to do in Havana right now. It really does look like a huge fair; just the main attraction is books. When people critique Cuba, now I think: really? They have a pretty fabulous national book fair and this is the exciting thing to promote in the country…. Seems pretty on track to me. There is also a used book section, that was pretty picked over and a craft fair. By the time we left I think just the amount of people and excitement had really worn us out. And to get back to the other side of the Harbor we took a city bus instead of a taxi, it was an experience I had been waiting for. These buses are so packed that when you think no one else can be falling out of the main doors a guy will jump up and put one foot on the first step to get onto the us and then cling to the people falling out of the open door. I thought we had a pretty positive experience.
In terms of the Valentines Day part of the day, my roommate convinced Chad to be her Valentine (the only single guy in our group from AU) so I now have the benefit of flowers in my room. Chad also brought us all Mangos and this peanut treat for Valentines Day and Marguerite got us a cake. It was a very friendly day.
I really hope to some up more of what has been going on soon, but its now getting hard to write about things that happened a few weeks ago. It is hard to think we have been here almost a month. I hope everyone is doing well and Happy Valentines day.
Hopefully next time I will get to telling you about the Cigar factory and Cojimar…
Saturday, February 10, 2007
When it rains...
When it rains…
Monday morning starts like all mornings; at seven for breakfast and getting ready. Then a walk to our history class housed in the International Institute of Journalism (I am not sure why, but it is a classroom they found for us and directly across from the UNC residence and closer for us) Today was the first history class Raul taught. While it is very interesting, a three-hour class is still pretty hard for me to sit through. And the first hour was very hot and stuffy. Luckily the room a joins a large balcony, so breaks from class are very nice and helped me refocus. Raul is an incredibly nice guy and intelligent teacher. However, when it started to rain, my attention was out the window…
When it rains…
Today was also the day of an important group meeting on the mistakes tourists can make and the tricks people use. It was important for the group to hear all as one, as people have already started to make friends and deal with things. Our coordinators were smart to let us experience some of it on our own so we could relate better to their advice today. However, it is discouraging for us to know how hard it is to make good Cuban friends here. You see we do live in the city and tourists are easy targets. So the people that are easy to meet can sometimes try to scam us or can become our friends, but are often the type of friend that liked to be paid for and do what the tourists can do. It is much harder to make genuine friends only interested in friendship, because a. it takes longer for them to warm up and b. people work all day long and then have to feed their families, so they aren't just hanging out waiting to become our friends. The whole ordeal makes sense to me and I respect it. I still hope to make those friends that are not in the 'tourist' industry, its just will take a much longer time.
When it rains….
…eat fried chicken. Yes, Kelly McKinnon, Chad, and I went to buy more notebooks after class then found lunch which was huge pieces of fried chicken and banana chips for about 50 US cents. We discovered a new park with a huge beautiful raised platform/ gazebo and enjoyed out lunch.
When it rains…
…read a book on the porch. The prospect of more rain does not make it the best option for exploring the city or getting some of the other afternoon activities done. So, I had some quality reading time on the porch when we got back. I love feeling the wind go crazy and watching the rain from the rocking chairs we have. However, the staff always thinks we are a bit strange when it is windy and cooler and we still sit outside in a t-shirt and shorts.
When it rains…
…get your sweatshirt. So I finally realized it was a little chilly and came to get more bundled to enjoy more wind and reading.
When it rains…
…sit around with the windows open and have great conversations. I think that is what rainy days are for-the great conversations. There is good enough cover above our room that having the windows open during light rain is fine, as long as the wind is not blowing it directly toward us. We had a lot of good bonding time in our room with some of our friends today and the hours just went by. During our conversation at the mention of Che's name, the double doors to our room blew open! Some may think it was the way the wind was acting up…
When it rains…
…eat dinner and talk so more. A great dinner with more group bonding was followed by another hour of Joe, Kelly, and I talking at the dinner table. We may have continued had we not been asked to leave so the staff could finish cleaning.
When it rains…
…go see the sea. I had been itching to go for a walk, and Kelly agreed. The staff of our residence at this point thinks I am even crazier for going out into the rain at night. In truth it wasn't raining much at all, but the wind was great. We ended up down by the Malecon (the sea wall) and watched the storm at sea. The waves were breaking far off the coast, but we would get huge waves near us and all of the sudden one would crash up into and over the wall. The waves and the crashing became a symphony. (I may have gotten mildly wet…) The waves would 'shout' and hit us and we would shout back. It was moderately violent, but magical. And it being me of course there was dancing around and singing (but carefully, as it is VERY slippery-when wet) and then rating of the waves that smacked over the sea wall. Most important was the craziness of the wind and the way I could lean into it and it would keep me standing.
When it rains…
…ice cream cravings? So we finally decided to leave the Malecon after about 45 minutes and come back to the residence for more socializing and serious changing out of the sea salted clothing. However within a half hour of being back our coordinator Marguerite begins to mention her desire for some chocolate. We knows its getting late, but we finally decide we have to go and try to see if we can run and get ice cream or an éclair from the French bakery a few blocks away, before it closes.
The wind has picked up as three of us set off on our journey. Which really became quite a journey as the craving and frustration grew. Truthfully it was quite comical, with power outages affecting what was open, and then the selection of what was open not having chocolate things, and the rushed speed, and the wind pushing me along. Finally after about a half an hour the movie quality adventure, ended with ice cream bars and some guys thinking we were Canadian. Also with about a pound of dirt on my feet and legs.
When it rains…
…it's a full day in Havana. Never know what to expect, even from myself.
When it rains, it pours… not exactly in the literal sense today.
Monday morning starts like all mornings; at seven for breakfast and getting ready. Then a walk to our history class housed in the International Institute of Journalism (I am not sure why, but it is a classroom they found for us and directly across from the UNC residence and closer for us) Today was the first history class Raul taught. While it is very interesting, a three-hour class is still pretty hard for me to sit through. And the first hour was very hot and stuffy. Luckily the room a joins a large balcony, so breaks from class are very nice and helped me refocus. Raul is an incredibly nice guy and intelligent teacher. However, when it started to rain, my attention was out the window…
When it rains…
Today was also the day of an important group meeting on the mistakes tourists can make and the tricks people use. It was important for the group to hear all as one, as people have already started to make friends and deal with things. Our coordinators were smart to let us experience some of it on our own so we could relate better to their advice today. However, it is discouraging for us to know how hard it is to make good Cuban friends here. You see we do live in the city and tourists are easy targets. So the people that are easy to meet can sometimes try to scam us or can become our friends, but are often the type of friend that liked to be paid for and do what the tourists can do. It is much harder to make genuine friends only interested in friendship, because a. it takes longer for them to warm up and b. people work all day long and then have to feed their families, so they aren't just hanging out waiting to become our friends. The whole ordeal makes sense to me and I respect it. I still hope to make those friends that are not in the 'tourist' industry, its just will take a much longer time.
When it rains….
…eat fried chicken. Yes, Kelly McKinnon, Chad, and I went to buy more notebooks after class then found lunch which was huge pieces of fried chicken and banana chips for about 50 US cents. We discovered a new park with a huge beautiful raised platform/ gazebo and enjoyed out lunch.
When it rains…
…read a book on the porch. The prospect of more rain does not make it the best option for exploring the city or getting some of the other afternoon activities done. So, I had some quality reading time on the porch when we got back. I love feeling the wind go crazy and watching the rain from the rocking chairs we have. However, the staff always thinks we are a bit strange when it is windy and cooler and we still sit outside in a t-shirt and shorts.
When it rains…
…get your sweatshirt. So I finally realized it was a little chilly and came to get more bundled to enjoy more wind and reading.
When it rains…
…sit around with the windows open and have great conversations. I think that is what rainy days are for-the great conversations. There is good enough cover above our room that having the windows open during light rain is fine, as long as the wind is not blowing it directly toward us. We had a lot of good bonding time in our room with some of our friends today and the hours just went by. During our conversation at the mention of Che's name, the double doors to our room blew open! Some may think it was the way the wind was acting up…
When it rains…
…eat dinner and talk so more. A great dinner with more group bonding was followed by another hour of Joe, Kelly, and I talking at the dinner table. We may have continued had we not been asked to leave so the staff could finish cleaning.
When it rains…
…go see the sea. I had been itching to go for a walk, and Kelly agreed. The staff of our residence at this point thinks I am even crazier for going out into the rain at night. In truth it wasn't raining much at all, but the wind was great. We ended up down by the Malecon (the sea wall) and watched the storm at sea. The waves were breaking far off the coast, but we would get huge waves near us and all of the sudden one would crash up into and over the wall. The waves and the crashing became a symphony. (I may have gotten mildly wet…) The waves would 'shout' and hit us and we would shout back. It was moderately violent, but magical. And it being me of course there was dancing around and singing (but carefully, as it is VERY slippery-when wet) and then rating of the waves that smacked over the sea wall. Most important was the craziness of the wind and the way I could lean into it and it would keep me standing.
When it rains…
…ice cream cravings? So we finally decided to leave the Malecon after about 45 minutes and come back to the residence for more socializing and serious changing out of the sea salted clothing. However within a half hour of being back our coordinator Marguerite begins to mention her desire for some chocolate. We knows its getting late, but we finally decide we have to go and try to see if we can run and get ice cream or an éclair from the French bakery a few blocks away, before it closes.
The wind has picked up as three of us set off on our journey. Which really became quite a journey as the craving and frustration grew. Truthfully it was quite comical, with power outages affecting what was open, and then the selection of what was open not having chocolate things, and the rushed speed, and the wind pushing me along. Finally after about a half an hour the movie quality adventure, ended with ice cream bars and some guys thinking we were Canadian. Also with about a pound of dirt on my feet and legs.
When it rains…
…it's a full day in Havana. Never know what to expect, even from myself.
When it rains, it pours… not exactly in the literal sense today.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
first week in havana
Where to begin…
The little things I would have written about four days ago, I am already getting used to (such as blisters, buying enough water, etc.). But the beginning, that seems like the correct starting point. The 44lb question, I am sure some of you are wondering about: they did not check the weight of carry-on luggage. So we didn't have to ditch books for lbs. in the Miami airport. The flight was a little rocky, but then we had one of the most beautiful landings I have ever had. I mean I was still waiting for the plane to hit the ground, when it stopped. My friend I was sitting next to on the plane said my face was priceless when we could see Cuba. Since the flight, I really have not been able to get over how close Cuba is to the US. Intellectually knowing the physical distance is different from actually feeling it and we are just SO CLOSE.
In the first twenty minutes in Havana, driving to our residence, I saw many different uniforms, old cars, old cars being fixed on the side of the road, lines for buses and transport, and Jose Martí and Ché as we drove through Revolutionary Square. The residence is on a street with lots of trees and directly across the street from the Chinese Embassy, which is a beautiful building. I am actually currently on our second floor porch (generally cooler than any other place) looking at the Embassy as I write this e-mail. All of our rooms are on the second floor and no one is allowed to come upstairs, but our group. My roommate, Elena, and I have one of the smallest rooms, but the best view of the group. And not only are outsiders not allowed in our rooms in our residence. The Chapel Hill group is only allowed in our bar or front porch, other tourists the front porch area, and any Cuban friends are definitely not allowed beyond the front porch. It is hard to grasp the Cubans are treated that way, but the government technically runs the residence and it is against the law, even if it is what we want. The staff here is great, especially one of the guards, the bartenders, and the two waitresses that switch off days for serving us. The food is great, guava almost everyday, and I am sure enough fat to equate everyone telling us we will gain weight living here. We have to find lunch on our own and now that we can exchange into the national money (instead of the money essentially for tourists- CUC, convertible pesos) we can find food much cheaper. The duel currency is also another adventure to use and when we get our student/ temporary residence cards it will be easier to use the national pesos.
We live about ten blocks from the Malecon (the 7.5 km sea wall in Havana) and our first day here some of us walked along it (past the imperialist signs near the U.S. interest section) to go into Old Havana. It turns out we don't actually live in old Havana, but Vedado as I have said. And it is a bit of a walk to Havana vieja (hour and a half), but we really do walk most places.
We met the UNC students Tuesday morning at the bottom of the steps at the University and to begin our time at the University we walked from the plaza in front of the school up the steps. In September all of the Cuba students do this on their first day of class. The other highlight of University activities so far has been a tour by the school Historian Delio. He is this little old fat man (calling people out on physical appearance is very common here and can be endearing, not negative) that in a lot of ways reminds me of a cartoon character. He was in Fidel's class at some point of education and supposedly his car was a personal gift. He was a non-stop talker and in between explaining symbols on the Alma Mater statue would stop to read someone's shirt and comment on it. I can't do him justice here, but his arms would flail in excitement and the connections he made were crazy. And then after he left us at one building we were walking away for lunch and all of the sudden he came down stairs with some books. He was one of my favorite people from this week.
This is getting very long and I can't possibly include everything, but the Ludwig foundation was one of my other highlights so I will explain it next time after we have our culture class there this week.
We (when I refer to we it will probably mean both the American University Students and the UNC students, as we have all the same programs) also had the opportunity to go to both the Latin American School of Sports and Health and the Latin American School of Medicine. Both were started within the last ten years for students outside of Cuban and are full scholarship programs. We had a chance to sit down with officials at both campuses. (We also got a chance to play on the obstacle course at the School of Sports and Health) The medical school is right on the water. The Medical school was started after Hurricane Mitch to train people from Latin American countries to be doctors and go back and work in their own countries. They sent a few US students down to talk to us at the Medical school and Jonas actually came back to the residence with us. He is a Hampshire grad and helped us get more of an idea of the city from a more similar background. And he had dinner with us, because while there is free food for everyone at the school, it is very basic.
During all these discussions I am sitting and thinking why is Cuba paying to train other peoples doctors and there are even American Students there now, when America isn't doing anything like this. When Cubans are reaching the bare minimum in many aspects of life, they are giving free rides to thousands of students. And the question really does go deeper into the mindsets and ideologies of both countries. I have been finding it very different to intellectually think about these differences and now actually seeing them.
Our program coordinator, Marguerite, told us on the first night that every time she comes back to Cuba she realizes she understands it less and less. Also on our first night, we were walking down our street, and I was realized there could be a point in time I may not be able to come back here (yes we had only been here a few hours).
This week we also went to the Revolutionary Museum, Revolutionary Square and the Marti Museum, a to scale model of the city (it is really big), the world famous Coppelia ice cream (in a plaza that is on our way to school, essentially 1 US cent) and again lots of walking in the heat. We also have had lots of time to just sit and talk as a group. Last night was JP's birthday (a guy from UNC) so four of us from our group and almost all of their group went to the Casa de Musica to hear Los Van Van a very famous Cuban group, and to salsa dance and dance some more… It reminded me of what clubs in the 50's here would be like, with a little more modern dressing, but definitely the higher-class crowd. My roommate was also bet to dance on the dance floor alone for three minutes, which she did. I think the rest of guests found us Americans pretty ridiculous, but all of us spent the whole night dancing. While expensive, it was amazing amounts of fun and the UNC group is great.
The 28th is Jose Marti's birthday, which is "kinda a big deal" (it is actually the only date our group has been able to remember). So tonight we are going to a concert and celebration for it.
So there are some random thoughts for you, it's hard to only pick a selection of the events and decide how to describe it all. We are excited for classes to start next week, even if they are each three hours long…
The little things I would have written about four days ago, I am already getting used to (such as blisters, buying enough water, etc.). But the beginning, that seems like the correct starting point. The 44lb question, I am sure some of you are wondering about: they did not check the weight of carry-on luggage. So we didn't have to ditch books for lbs. in the Miami airport. The flight was a little rocky, but then we had one of the most beautiful landings I have ever had. I mean I was still waiting for the plane to hit the ground, when it stopped. My friend I was sitting next to on the plane said my face was priceless when we could see Cuba. Since the flight, I really have not been able to get over how close Cuba is to the US. Intellectually knowing the physical distance is different from actually feeling it and we are just SO CLOSE.
In the first twenty minutes in Havana, driving to our residence, I saw many different uniforms, old cars, old cars being fixed on the side of the road, lines for buses and transport, and Jose Martí and Ché as we drove through Revolutionary Square. The residence is on a street with lots of trees and directly across the street from the Chinese Embassy, which is a beautiful building. I am actually currently on our second floor porch (generally cooler than any other place) looking at the Embassy as I write this e-mail. All of our rooms are on the second floor and no one is allowed to come upstairs, but our group. My roommate, Elena, and I have one of the smallest rooms, but the best view of the group. And not only are outsiders not allowed in our rooms in our residence. The Chapel Hill group is only allowed in our bar or front porch, other tourists the front porch area, and any Cuban friends are definitely not allowed beyond the front porch. It is hard to grasp the Cubans are treated that way, but the government technically runs the residence and it is against the law, even if it is what we want. The staff here is great, especially one of the guards, the bartenders, and the two waitresses that switch off days for serving us. The food is great, guava almost everyday, and I am sure enough fat to equate everyone telling us we will gain weight living here. We have to find lunch on our own and now that we can exchange into the national money (instead of the money essentially for tourists- CUC, convertible pesos) we can find food much cheaper. The duel currency is also another adventure to use and when we get our student/ temporary residence cards it will be easier to use the national pesos.
We live about ten blocks from the Malecon (the 7.5 km sea wall in Havana) and our first day here some of us walked along it (past the imperialist signs near the U.S. interest section) to go into Old Havana. It turns out we don't actually live in old Havana, but Vedado as I have said. And it is a bit of a walk to Havana vieja (hour and a half), but we really do walk most places.
We met the UNC students Tuesday morning at the bottom of the steps at the University and to begin our time at the University we walked from the plaza in front of the school up the steps. In September all of the Cuba students do this on their first day of class. The other highlight of University activities so far has been a tour by the school Historian Delio. He is this little old fat man (calling people out on physical appearance is very common here and can be endearing, not negative) that in a lot of ways reminds me of a cartoon character. He was in Fidel's class at some point of education and supposedly his car was a personal gift. He was a non-stop talker and in between explaining symbols on the Alma Mater statue would stop to read someone's shirt and comment on it. I can't do him justice here, but his arms would flail in excitement and the connections he made were crazy. And then after he left us at one building we were walking away for lunch and all of the sudden he came down stairs with some books. He was one of my favorite people from this week.
This is getting very long and I can't possibly include everything, but the Ludwig foundation was one of my other highlights so I will explain it next time after we have our culture class there this week.
We (when I refer to we it will probably mean both the American University Students and the UNC students, as we have all the same programs) also had the opportunity to go to both the Latin American School of Sports and Health and the Latin American School of Medicine. Both were started within the last ten years for students outside of Cuban and are full scholarship programs. We had a chance to sit down with officials at both campuses. (We also got a chance to play on the obstacle course at the School of Sports and Health) The medical school is right on the water. The Medical school was started after Hurricane Mitch to train people from Latin American countries to be doctors and go back and work in their own countries. They sent a few US students down to talk to us at the Medical school and Jonas actually came back to the residence with us. He is a Hampshire grad and helped us get more of an idea of the city from a more similar background. And he had dinner with us, because while there is free food for everyone at the school, it is very basic.
During all these discussions I am sitting and thinking why is Cuba paying to train other peoples doctors and there are even American Students there now, when America isn't doing anything like this. When Cubans are reaching the bare minimum in many aspects of life, they are giving free rides to thousands of students. And the question really does go deeper into the mindsets and ideologies of both countries. I have been finding it very different to intellectually think about these differences and now actually seeing them.
Our program coordinator, Marguerite, told us on the first night that every time she comes back to Cuba she realizes she understands it less and less. Also on our first night, we were walking down our street, and I was realized there could be a point in time I may not be able to come back here (yes we had only been here a few hours).
This week we also went to the Revolutionary Museum, Revolutionary Square and the Marti Museum, a to scale model of the city (it is really big), the world famous Coppelia ice cream (in a plaza that is on our way to school, essentially 1 US cent) and again lots of walking in the heat. We also have had lots of time to just sit and talk as a group. Last night was JP's birthday (a guy from UNC) so four of us from our group and almost all of their group went to the Casa de Musica to hear Los Van Van a very famous Cuban group, and to salsa dance and dance some more… It reminded me of what clubs in the 50's here would be like, with a little more modern dressing, but definitely the higher-class crowd. My roommate was also bet to dance on the dance floor alone for three minutes, which she did. I think the rest of guests found us Americans pretty ridiculous, but all of us spent the whole night dancing. While expensive, it was amazing amounts of fun and the UNC group is great.
The 28th is Jose Marti's birthday, which is "kinda a big deal" (it is actually the only date our group has been able to remember). So tonight we are going to a concert and celebration for it.
So there are some random thoughts for you, it's hard to only pick a selection of the events and decide how to describe it all. We are excited for classes to start next week, even if they are each three hours long…
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Miami
I am going to Cuba tomorrow and it is more than EXCITING. The pressure of only bringing 44 lbs and getting everything ready this week was intense, but I felt great on the plane flying over DC. It was the first chance I had to really think through everything and relax. Everyone in our group met at the hotel and the energy and promise of the group is huge. We went out to dinner and have been hanging out, mainly talking about Cuba and how we are going to move weight around. As of now everyone is over the limit, and we are hoping they don't check purse weight. I think all of my luggage will be fine, because I had master helper packers who got the weight down. However, we are still waiting on one person's bag from JFK.
We will get to Havana tomorrow and then start a week long orientation. For those of you who don't know the basics, I am on an American University program with 11 other students from AU. A graduate student working on her masters in hip-hop is our program coordinator while in Cuba. We are living in a hotel in old Havana and taking classes with professors at the University of Havana. The classes: a cultural Cuban class, International Relations of Cuba, Cuban history 1989-present, and a Spanish class. We will be taking classes with a group from UNC Chapel Hill. (My roommate and I have already decided we would like to take a dance class in the city as well. And actually many of us have a variety of plans to take advantage of our time in Cuba.)
Tomorrow we are flying down with the coordinator from AU abroad and both she and the director of AU abroad will be in Cuba through our orientation. And then we start classes in a little over a week.
We are already forming stories from today, from the guy at Wendy's that asked us to say a prayer with him proclaiming Christ our savior, to a man spending a very long time talking to us when we were waiting for a taxi (and explained with a thick accent that he like to leave before paying for food, then goes back a few days later to pay for it), and then the cat who came into the hotel to be part of our group meeting.
Everyone thank you for all of your support. I will be safe and have an amazing time and think of you often. Also, the Latin on entries before this was just for tests. Aye, voy a Cuba en la manana… Adios!
We will get to Havana tomorrow and then start a week long orientation. For those of you who don't know the basics, I am on an American University program with 11 other students from AU. A graduate student working on her masters in hip-hop is our program coordinator while in Cuba. We are living in a hotel in old Havana and taking classes with professors at the University of Havana. The classes: a cultural Cuban class, International Relations of Cuba, Cuban history 1989-present, and a Spanish class. We will be taking classes with a group from UNC Chapel Hill. (My roommate and I have already decided we would like to take a dance class in the city as well. And actually many of us have a variety of plans to take advantage of our time in Cuba.)
Tomorrow we are flying down with the coordinator from AU abroad and both she and the director of AU abroad will be in Cuba through our orientation. And then we start classes in a little over a week.
We are already forming stories from today, from the guy at Wendy's that asked us to say a prayer with him proclaiming Christ our savior, to a man spending a very long time talking to us when we were waiting for a taxi (and explained with a thick accent that he like to leave before paying for food, then goes back a few days later to pay for it), and then the cat who came into the hotel to be part of our group meeting.
Everyone thank you for all of your support. I will be safe and have an amazing time and think of you often. Also, the Latin on entries before this was just for tests. Aye, voy a Cuba en la manana… Adios!
Thursday, January 4, 2007
test
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nulla ut sapien. In auctor tellus in nunc. Nullam nonummy metus et felis. Suspendisse venenatis ipsum fermentum nulla. In facilisis, lectus nec auctor ultricies, felis augue mollis tellus, sit amet pharetra magna sem eget justo. Nulla quis nisl eu ante ultricies cursus. Suspendisse sed diam quis libero sagittis nonummy. Nam elit tortor, hendrerit a, volutpat sit amet, tristique ut, lacus. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. Cras velit diam, ultricies eget, lacinia eu, mollis ut, libero. Phasellus congue gravida ligula. Curabitur porttitor enim eget ipsum. Nulla facilisi. Nulla tortor libero, ullamcorper et, rhoncus id, imperdiet malesuada, orci. Nunc sagittis fringilla lacus.
Donec volutpat, metus eget vulputate ultrices, turpis ligula elementum enim, in facilisis pede lacus eget pede. In venenatis. Proin porttitor vehicula tellus. Ut posuere hendrerit nunc. Aliquam a massa vitae elit porta placerat. Nullam et sapien non magna luctus sagittis. Morbi pellentesque orci at sapien. Cras justo nisl, scelerisque sed, varius vitae, faucibus vitae, metus. Nunc odio enim, semper dapibus, tristique tempor, laoreet vestibulum, turpis. Suspendisse tortor diam, dictum vel, dictum quis, scelerisque sed, turpis. Cras et lectus ut pede fermentum lacinia. Aenean non risus sit amet eros mollis aliquam. Vestibulum sed ligula. Aliquam erat volutpat. Mauris nulla. Nullam eros sapien, nonummy in, interdum sed, eleifend nec, nunc. Nullam porttitor elit ut nisi. Etiam accumsan, erat et condimentum luctus, eros libero facilisis purus, vitae tincidunt eros massa a metus.
Nullam dignissim. Suspendisse potenti. Sed commodo tempor mauris. Maecenas eleifend diam vitae enim. Vivamus urna. Sed turpis orci, tincidunt sed, vehicula ut, egestas in, sapien. Nullam ac mi at elit laoreet vulputate. Mauris semper condimentum felis. Vivamus porttitor orci nec magna vestibulum sollicitudin. Donec dapibus, mi volutpat consectetuer venenatis, urna dolor sagittis augue, vel egestas orci urna eget massa. Donec sit amet orci ac massa ultrices convallis. Aliquam sit amet est dictum arcu condimentum convallis. Sed euismod vehicula lacus.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
