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.