INTERVIEWS I PORTRAITS NEW BEGINNINGS, TP3 SUSTAINABILITY SPRING 2019, CUBA
HAVANA HERSHEY VINALES TRINIDAD
3
NEW BEGINNINGS I TP3 SUSTAINABILITY I SPRING 2019 I CUBA
ABOVE: The traindriver in the door of the train.
ABOVE: Portait of traindriver and me.
4
INTERVIEWS I PORTRAITS
THE TRAIN CONDUCTOR
Time: Monday afternoon 27/2-19 Place: Hershey centre It seemed like it hadn’t run for years. Out of curiosity Emilie and I checked out the train and discovered how it was just about to depart. We chatted a few minutes with the train conductor. I tried to sit in his seat and gave the horn a buzz. It was really loud. He asked if we wanted to ride along. Sadly, we couldn’t because of time. I still regret this.
5
NEW BEGINNINGS I TP3 SUSTAINABILITY I SPRING 2019 I CUBA
ABOVE: Portrait of me and the hairdresser. BELOW: Me getting a haircut.
6
INTERVIEWS I PORTRAITS
HAIRDRESSER - AN UNEXPECTED HAIRCUT ON THE PORCH Time: Tuesday afternoon 27/2-19 Place: Hershey centre Walking along the road on my way back to the center in Hershey I saw at a random porch a boy getting a haircut. To me this seemed strange or at least unfamiliar. I stopped and looked at it for a while. The said to me with their hand gesticulating me to closer. Which I did. I stared at the action for a while. And with gesticulation and a few Spanish lessons from back home I got myself a nice and sharp haircut in Hershey. It costed me only five cuc – that is like 30 dkk. However, I gave him ten and he was very grateful for that. It was the hairdresser’s own house. His children were playing in and out of the living room through the porch to the front yard. I could hear the sound of a pig inside the living room which seemed quite strange to me. The living room was hidden in darkness and I couldn’t therefore see anything. There were many people who greeted while I was sitting at the porch having a haircut. Some even came and joined along or looked at me like I was some sort of local attraction. I think he had two children, however when I think of it, they were playing with some of the neighbor’s children I couldn’t really tell. They were small, maybe between 3 and 5 years old. While I was sitting there, he had to calm his children because the made to much noise with the pig. It hit me when I finally had payed, that I was allowed to skip the queue. Because the guy who stood next to me came after me. Funny enough he was who that took the picture. The following week I was back in Havana strolling down a road in Havana Vieja, and then suddenly I meet this hairdresser again. It was him who recognize me. We talked a bit and I understond little. However he showed me where he worked. We walk like a street or so. Until he stops and points at a sign where I can see the logo of a hairdresser shop. We walked back to where we meet and chatted for a bit and then we high-fived just before we walked lauthing away from each other.
7
NEW BEGINNINGS I TP3 SUSTAINABILITY I SPRING 2019 I CUBA
Julio in his house.cutting i ice cubes
One of his bedrooms
8
His freezers interior
INTERVIEWS I PORTRAITS
THE SECURITY MAN JULIO CESAR HIS ADDRESS: JULIO CESAR HERNADEZ RODRIGUEZ AVENIDA 69 # 8619 %86 Y 98 MUNICPIO GUINEA PROVINSIALISME MAYABEQUE CUBA (OUTSIDE THE CAMPING RESORT) Time: Wednesday afternoon 27/2-19 Place: Hershey centre 43 years old, 1976, worked as intertainer and security gourd in the neighbourhood. It really started with me sitting on our porch and enjoying the sunset in the warm evening. How he came and asked what I was doing. In the beginning I thought he was a salesperson, but since we got a little talk of ours, I got it clarified. The beer we drank was not particularly cold, almost lukewarm, and Julio offered that we could pick up ice at home because he lived close to our camping site. I experienced it very intimidating as the first but I let myself be ripped off. The conversation seemed very eager on his part. Maybe a little intrusive I thought. We went home to him and on the way he told him that besides being a security man in the area, he was also dancing instructor and entertainer at the campsite. We first greeted his neighbor, a trained black man, had a wife and 2 small children. He made necklaces for the tourists. Some kind of boys and another kind of girls. It was a small shed they lived in, with a small kitchen, bedroom and otherwise an outer enclosure in the wire mesh around the house. The same crow for Julio. He had just two bedrooms instead of just one. And a big freezer that I got a picture of while Julio is looking for ice cream. Nothing was wrapped in plastic. Three frozen fish lay on a plate. And in the tied there was a lot of ice cream, which he chopped out on the kitchen table for our beer. And then we sat there on the terrace and enjoyed the cold beer for a while. Around us his only 6 month old puppy ran. Suddenly, a boy looked past. I figured it would be Julio’s son. His clothes were dirty, however, we welcomed nicely, but nothing formal. About 25 residents lived in the area around Julio’s house. What I would call a shed city. Julio told him he had a bad vision. Then we exchanged addresses. To be able to get in touch in the future. Then we went back to campsite and after dinner we again went to dance, where he gave beer and entertained with singing and dancing. Nice man. 9
NEW BEGINNINGS I TP3 SUSTAINABILITY I SPRING 2019 I CUBA
ABOVE: Alexo and me, Marts 2019
ABOVE: Alexo with me in his carrige and his horse.
10
INTERVIEWS I PORTRAITS
ALEXO_ HIS SMILE AND DANCEMOVES
ABOVE: Alexo in his carrige with his horse.
GROCERIES SELLING BOY Time: Wednesday afternoon 27/2-19 Place: Hershey centre We had first danced together for the afternoon farewell party. I had a short ride in his horse-drawn carriage. Alexo was 23 years old. He worked as a vegetable salesman from the horse carriage. Alexo explained that his father had beaten himself badly, how do I know, but he could not go and Alexo had to work and make money for his sister and mother. He couldn’t afford a smart phone. It cost between $ 16 - $ 20 CUC in San Crux. Alexo had drawn his horse in Uyens notebook. We sat talking about the girls who went to the streets. He could name them all. A girl from there went hand in hand with another boy, but Alexo said they had each other’s number with a big jerky smile. We took a picture together before I wanted him the best and said goodbye.
11
NEW BEGINNINGS I TP3 SUSTAINABILITY I SPRING 2019 I CUBA
ABOVE: Paulas home, kitchen, seen from the street and Paula herself.
12
INTERVIEWS I PORTRAITS
ABOVE: Living room and dinning table in the kitchen
PAULA Time: Saturday afternoon 2/3-19 Place: Trinidad centre She had retired. But sat in the chair on the sidewalk and riveted a ribbon and was thus part of the street scene. We (Majken and me) were allowed to come in and see her house. It was a narrow dwelling with a distribution corridor and following small spacious rooms like pearls on a string. On the walls, whose color was delicate orange, hung portraits of her children and grandchildren. Her son was an architectural student in Santa Clara. She was single or maybe widowed. Despite this, she was not alone as her living room became part of the street’s public space as she sat on the sidewalk. 13
NEW BEGINNINGS I TP3 SUSTAINABILITY I SPRING 2019 I CUBA
ABOVE: Mandi and his coleges dancing opon our arrival to the Hotel Ancon, his workplace.
14
MANDI ROMERO - DANCER AT HOTEL ALCON IN TRINIDAD
HOMOSEXUAL IN CUBA Time: Friday evening 1/3-19 Place: Hotel Ancon, Trinidad. I was curious to know how is maybe was to be homosexual in Trinidad. I talked after his dance show with Mandi about him being gay in Cuba and how people took it. He told me that his family was very traditional. And how in Trinidad he had no trouble living his life. There are many aspects to this however it seemed he had a good time being openly gay. Through out the trip I though had different experiences. Either they were protitudes willing to anything for cheap money or not interested. Or opposite some was very desperate to know me and learn all about be.
15
NEW BEGINNINGS I TP3 SUSTAINABILITY I SPRING 2019 I CUBA
ABOVE: Armanio and me at Plaza Vieja.
ABOVE: Armanio leaving
16
ABOVE: Armanio showing his collected bottles.
INTERVIEWS I PORTRAITS
AMANIO - A CIVIL ENGINEER
A TALK ON AN EDGE Time: Monday afternoon 4/3-19 Place: Plaza Vieja. Wearing an old strawhat and a white striped blue t-shirt I sad next to him and we fell in a nice little chat. He was a civil engineer and had worked in the ministerium of reservation. He would come here every day to collect small bottles from the perfume shop. He showed his bag to me and I saw all the bottles he had collected this morning and afternoon. His name was Amarnio. We talked about the edge and how it with an important role defined the construction of the house behind us. Like a line it was a shift. Firstly the street and then the edge, the parth and finally the construction. The bottles was for his friend. And he didn’t came here during midday or night because he had a wife he said with a smile.
17
NEW BEGINNINGS I TP3 SUSTAINABILITY I SPRING 2019 I CUBA
ABOVE: Fieldnotes 13/3/19
18
INTERVIEWS I PORTRAITS
A WALK IN HAVANNA VIEJA Time: Wednesday afternoon 13/3-19 Place: Havanna Vieja.
ABOVE: Sunset lits half of the street.
ABOVE: Courtyard
ABOVE: Narrow street opens up to a plaza.
ABOVE: Coffee selling women from her stair.
19
NEW BEGINNINGS I TP3 SUSTAINABILITY I SPRING 2019 I CUBA
ABOVE: Woman and me
ABOVE: Plan of her house
20
ABOVE: Small girl and me, photo taken by Dinora
INTERVIEWS I PORTRAITS
PARQUE CRISTO Time: Monday evening 4/3-19 Place: Parque Cristo (wifi hotspot) It was an evening I will never forget. I sat in Havana Vieja, Parque Cristo and observed the square, while I was drawing a bit of what I saw around me. I tried to capture the atmosphere. One by one, curious children around me came and looked at me drawing. Step by step we got into a chat. One of the boys was allowed to write his address. Then we could contact each other in the future, I thought he thought. My phone was very popular. Despite the extremely difficult communication, I tried the best I had learned to understand what the children were saying to me. The lady in the picture I never found out what exactly role she played for the kids. I think she was watching them. However she told that it was no problem at all for the kids to run freely around. After a long time talking to the kids, they persuaded me to come down a street to their home. I greeted their family, who didn’t understand who I was and what I wanted. They lived right at the street. It became more and more complicated and because of sunset became dark too. The boy borrowed my phone and took a couple of pictures. One was blurred. But it was extremely difficult to get it from them again. Because I didn’t know if the lady here wanted anything from me. She almost insisted we should meet the night after again. And we agreed on time and place. I of cause got my phone back however I had a very hard time with the situation because I didn’t know what was happening and whether I had accidentally promised anything. We never meet again. 21
NEW BEGINNINGS I TP3 SUSTAINABILITY I SPRING 2019 I CUBA
ABOVE: Daniel and his friends
ABOVE: Daniel at the DJ pult
22
ABOVE: portrait of Daniel
INTERVIEWS I PORTRAITS
DANIEL PUENTES GONZALEZ - STUDENT
STUDENT PARTY Time: Wednesday evening 27/2-19 Place: Campismo Los Cocos and Hershey Disco English teacher student in his first year. I first met Daniel for a party at our campsite. The day after I saw him behind the bar for the afternoon disco in Hershey. That same evening, I met him again for a party at our campsite, where he actually came over and wanted to ask why our group didn’t came and dance with them at the disco. Chris and I went to talk to him and his friends. Daniel could speak a little English and we immediately got into a conversation. It was a bit of a relief after days of many strange gestures and hand-signs in hopeless attempts to come up with something. He told us they came here every night to dance and drink. From Santa Crux to Hershey. Santa Crux was only 2km away from this Camping resort, he explained. I asked if he knew why we were in Hershey. He did, and he though it was a great project we had been given. In addition, I asked him what he thought should be in the old cooling towers. He said disco. I smiled with one of course. Daniel was perhaps a bit colored in that attitude, but it was a bit of a gold bullion. From there I tried to ask until we (us architectural students) had difficulty understanding how they got it all to run around economically. But I didn’t really get that clear answer that night. Then I learned a little about how they danced salsa and tasted of their brought bottle of rum. They had a car and were driven there in Santa Crux. The conversation ended just over midnight and we said good-bye and they talked about going to Havana to party. 23
NEW BEGINNINGS I TP3 SUSTAINABILITY I SPRING 2019 I CUBA BELOW: Marina and me, Marts 2019
ABOVE: Paula Marina and me
ABOVE: Elvys and Marina when young
24
ABOVE: Portrait, Paula Marina, 2018
INTERVIEWS I PORTRAITS
ABOVE: Marina showed that the older tentant who used to live in the apartment was a tv star and this is an old photo of her, 1981
ABOVE: Marinas freshly served breakfast from her terrace with this magnificent view.
PAULA MARINA RAMOS ALONSO I MY CASA MAMA Time: 23/2-19 - 14/3-19 Place: Calle A No. 353 apto 9 e/ 15 y 17 I have never meet a sweeter and tolerant person as she. No matter the time of the day or night she would be there to welcome us home. It obviosly has something to do with her hosting and us paying, however the way we felt us welcomed and how the seem interested in our programme etc. was as having a new mom taking care of me. She lived here with her husband Elvys. He always said hi sitting in they couch or at his way out of the aportment to buy groceries. She had children and portaits of them hang at the wall in the living room. Once in a while they would come by and greeting us. The youngest, Marinas granddaugter came on day and got her hair colored. Marina spend a lot of time in her apartment we could see because of the interior and how clean it was. And a lot of time sitting with her smartphone too. I had breakfast all mornings I stayed there. 25
NEW BEGINNINGS I TP3 SUSTAINABILITY I SPRING 2019 I CUBA
TOP: Siteplan Vedado ABOVE: Siturationplan of Casa Marina
26
INTERVIEWS I PORTRAITS
A WALK THOUGH HER APARTMENT I asked Marina, as I called her, if she by change had any plans or sections of her house and as she just lately had her new bathroom accepted by the municipality we got detailt plans.
ABOVE: Plan of Casa Marina
27