Hola Cuba
Journal kept by Sel Yackley on a tour of Cuba from October 31-November 8, 2016.
Hola Cuba October 31-November 8, 2016
Eighteen of Sel’s Sassy Siblings gathered in Miami on Sunday, October 30, 2016. The next morning, we met up with a Vantage representative to receive our visas. An additional six travelers joined us to complete our group. What a lovely adventure we had!
October 31, 2016
Cienfuegos
It took us just an hour and fifteen minutes to fly on American Airlines from Miami to the historic port city of Cienfuegos, Cuba’s “Pearl of the South,” which soothes the eye with harmonious architecture and Spanish Colonial urban planning.
View from my balcony at Jagua Hotel showing the Palacio Valle
November 1, 2016
Cienfuegos
During our walking tour of the graceful Old Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we witnessed the neoclassical architecture and 19th century city planning. We visited the Tomás Terry Theatre, built in 1889 and where Caruso performed; the Government House; and the Cathedral de la Purísima Conceptión. The lush, fragrant Cienfuegos Botanical Garden, with unique species, was a botanical experimental station, developed in the 19th century by a wealthy American sugar planter from Boston, in concert with Harvard University, to develop more productive sugar cane. The university maintained a connection to the garden, using it as a field laboratory for the study of tropical botany until the Cuban Revolution in 1959. In the afternoon, we had a taste of Cuba's strong musical heritage—with a performance by the world famous Cienfuegos Choir, Cantores de Cienfuegos. This group has been together for 14 years. J. C. Combs, retired professor of music from Wichita State University, enjoyed the performance so much that he promised to find a way to invite them to the US.
Teatro Tomas Terry
Vantage representative Ruby and tour guide Ranier in the lead.
Ruby presents the Choir material for new outfits.
November 2, 2016
Cienfuegos and Trinidad
We rode through fields of sugar cane, Cuba’s most important agricultural product, en route to the colonial city of Trinidad. Trinidad and the nearby Valley de los Ingenios – Valley of the Sugar Mills – were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a testament to the prosperity generated by Cuba’s sugar industry in the 18th and 19th centuries. A guided walk revealed the historic city center around the Plaza Mayor, with its wealth of buildings clearly reflecting their Spanish heritage. We also witnessed how traditional crafts are made in workshops and then went to a canchanchara club for some traditional local music. In the afternoon we visited Valley de los Ingenios, actually three interconnected valleys, where up to 50 sugar mills processed cane from the fertile fields into syrup, and where 11,000 slaves labored.
Valley de los Ingenios A UNESCO Site
We visited a two-room country school on the way to the Bay of Pigs
November 3, 2016
Cienfuegos / Havana
On our way to Cuba’s capital, Havana, we stopped in the Bay of Pigs, where the Cuban government maintains a memorial and museum where forces under command of Fidel Castro successfully repelled a 1961 invasion force made up of Cuban exiles trained and financed by the CIA.
Bay of Pigs
We visited the town of Papite, and the Korimaccao Community Project, where students performed for us.
Toward sunset we arrived in Havana, checked into the famed Hotel Nacional de Cuba (built in 1930), which was once the most glamorous destination in the Caribbean, center of gambling and maAia gatherings.
November 4, 2016
Havana
Following a guided walking tour of Old Havana, the historic center of Cuba’s capital city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we visited the Museum of the Revolution, the four main plazas of Old Havana, the Basilica of San Francisco de Assisi, the beautiful Havana Cathedral, and El Templete, a Greco-Roman monument marking the spot where Havana’s first Catholic mass was celebrated in 1599. Continuing on, we visited the studio of a local silk screener and finished the day with a tour of new Havana.
November 5, 2016
Havana
The National Museum of Fine Arts has the most comprehensive collection of Cuban art in the world, spanning colonial times to present day.
Metal teapots glued together form a cave. Your wish comes true when you go through it. Bags of sugar honor those who worked with sugar cane.
We were treated to a performance by Havana Compass Dance and strolled through Calle Hammel, an alleyway that has been transformed into a living work of Afro-Cuban art, with vivid murals covering entire buildings and the streetscape transformed by funky sculptures and mosaics.
At the "Plaza de la Revolución” stands the tallest monument in Cuba is in the form of a star, when seen by the sky. The statue in front is of Jose Marti, a hero of the Independence of Cuba. These monuments were completed in 1958, just before the Revolution, and were made of granite and marble. The monument was designed by the Architect Enrique Luis Varela. In back of both of them is the “White House” of Cuba, not where the Castros live but the offices where they work as well as where the Council of Ministers have their meetings too.
El Capitolio, or National Capitol Building in Havana, Cuba, was the seat of government in Cuba until after the Cuban Revolution in 1959.
“Bicycle Taxis” are eager for customers.
Saturday evening, Renier, our guide, was able to get tickets for the performance of the National Ballet in a grandiose theater where founder Alicia Alonso, now in her 90s, greeted the audience. She was thrilled to receive a scrapbook from Felicia, a member of our group, who lovingly put together play bills, articles, and photographs highlighting Alicia’s 60-year career with the Cuban Ballet. The auditorium filled up quickly, tourists paying $50 per seat, and locals about $5.
November 6, 2016
Havana
Las Terrazas is a planned town and eco-preserve in the Sierra del Rosario Mountains. Begun in 1968 as a project to restore lush jungle that was cleared for Cuba’s first coffee plantations, Las Terrazas has been designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Today, an eco-resort and an active arts community overlook a small lake at the site. Bird watchers and other nature lovers take to the trails threading the lush surrounding hills. We visited the remains of a coffee plantation and learned how this community sustains itself. Slaves, working on coffee plantations, were kept in cave-like headquarters in the 17th century.
November 7, 2016
Havana
Cubans are renowned for their great joy in the traditions of child-rearing, which we witnessed at a local day care center run by Sister Teresa, a Catholic nun, in her 80s. She was speechless when we presented her with two washing machines (money collected among us) that the day care center has needed for the last two years. The center looks after and educates 150 pre-schoolers, many from dysfunctional homes.
Today’s highlight was our visit to Finca Vigía, the beloved home where “Papa” Hemingway lived for 21 years and wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea. The house is maintained as a museum and remains almost exactly as Hemingway left it when he last visited in 1960.
I had no idea that this was a real woman.
We also enjoyed the quaint San Pedro Arts & Crafts Market where we made some purchases.
The Taller Experimental de Grafica is a famous graphic arts studio for printmaking. Below is a note written by Michelle Obama during the Obamas historic visit to Cuba in March 2016.
Mosaic city-Fusterlandia Designed and decorated by acclaimed Cuban artist JosĂŠ Fuster, this Havana neighborhood features hundreds of his mosaic creations.
Humor and Trivia Four most commonly used and understood words in the world: Coca Cola, Taxi, Pizza and OK (short for 0 Zero Kill) On cars: FIAT is abbreviation of “Fix It Again Tory” FORD is abbreviation of “Fix Or Repair Daily” Horses are symbols for freedom, power, eroticism. Wi-fi access is limited. Few people can use air conditioners because electricity is expensive. CNN International and ESPN are available only in certain hotels. Art , music and dancing are everywhere in Cuba. Favorite sport is baseball, bats made out of hibiscus trees. Agricultural goods include sugar cane, rice, fruits and vegetables Oil is of poor quality, so Cubans import gasoline from Venezuela.
Books about Cuba Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire Learning to Die in Miami by Carlos Eire Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia The Sugar King of Havana by Jean Paul Rathbone Guerrilla Prince: The Untold Story of Fidel Castro by Georgie Anne Geyer
Movies about Cuba
Abraham Lincoln is honored as an American hero in Havana.
“Strawberry and Chocolate” “Motorcycle Diary” “Che 1” and “Che 2” “The Lost City” with Andy Garcia”
Our farewell dinner began with a ride in six vintage American cars (four of us were in a 1952 Dodge convertible), honking the horns with various tunes from the 1950s and 1960s. Before the 1962 embargo against Cuba, such classics as 1957 Chevies, 1953 Fords, and 1958 Dodges were prevalent in the island nation. In the decades since the embargo, ingenious Cuban mechanics have kept thousands of these "Yank Tanks,� as they are known, in meticulous running condition, all used as taxi-cabs. They are one of the most distinctive sights to be seen on this vibrant island that in many ways seems frozen in time. time.
November 8, 2016
Havana / Return home
On our way out of Havana to the international airport in Varadero (2 hours away from Havana) we stopped at Morro Castle for a final look at the panoramic views of this iconic city.
Adios Cuba. God bless.
“Everything is possible in Cuba but nothing is guaranteed.” * Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of 109,884 square kilometers (42,426 sq mi), and the second-most populous after Hispaniola, with over 11.5 million inhabitants. Life expectancy is 75-78 years old. Population is aging, birth rate is 1.5 children per family. Prior to Spanish colonization in the late 15th century, Cuba was inhabited by Amerindian tribes. It remained a colony of Spain until the Spanish–American War of 1898, which led to nominal independence as a de facto United States protectorate in 1902. As a fragile republic, Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system, but mounting political radicalization and social strife culminated in the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1952. Further unrest and instability led to Batista's ousting in January 1959 by the July 26 Movement, which afterwards established a government under the leadership of Fidel Castro. Since 1965, the state has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba. A point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, a nuclear war nearly broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Sanctions by the US for more than half a century resulted in economic problems and poverty. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America. It is a multiethnic country whose people, culture and customs derive from diverse origins, including the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples, the long period of Spanish colonialism, the introduction of African slaves, and a close relationship with the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America.
”Everyone should be equal, but some are more equal than others.” * Cuba is a Marxist–Leninist one-party republic, where the role of the vanguard Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. However, Cuban people say theirs is a socialistic country. The reopening of the American Embassy in Havana and Cuban embassy in Washing D.C. in 2016, Fidel Castro’s death and his brother Raul’s more relaxed attitude about entrepreneurship are hopeful signs.
* Quotes coined by our guide, Renier Rodriguez
Cubans praise Castro’s regime for giving them the following: FREE Education, all the way through college (if they are smart enough to get in). The literacy rate is 94%. Art education starts in primary schools. The government pays for boarding schools for rural families. Different color uniforms are worn by different age groups. There are two medical schools in each of the 16 provinces, producing among the best physicians in South America. There are art schools in each province —including boarding schools. FREE Health Care, including burial expenses, but excluding prescription drugs. Most neighborhoods have a health clinic staffed with a doctor and nurses. There is very little incidence of cancer, obesity or diabetes in Cuba. However, there is alcoholism and teenage pregnancies. FREE Housing, 93% of Cubans own their homes. Many mansions left behind by rich Cubans were confiscated by the government after the revolution and divided up into five or six apartments.
“We pretend to work, and they pretend to pay us.” *
Students wear uniforms of different colors, identifying grades. These students are in middle school
All hotels, shops and most businesses, are owned and operated by the government. Ninety percent of employed Cubans work for the government. Unemployment is supposed to be 2%. Average salary is $30 a month, whether you are a doctor, teacher or a construction worker. A lot of bartering goes on. If you want a quick appointment with the doctor, for example, you better bring him a bag of rice. What we call “bribes” Cubans call “incentives”. Cubans hesitate to criticize the Castro regime, especially since we were there before Fidel’s death. When I asked what happens once the Castros die, our guide answered diplomatically, “We burry them, in Cuba” No one is sure what is in store after Raul steps down in 2018. His hand-picked vice president is likely to follow his policies. Tourism is the number one industry in Cuba. More and more American tourists are arriving there. Will the sanctions be lifted gradually as President Obama had planned? I am sure Cubans are worried about changes in US policy under President Donald Trump’s administration. The clash of emotions common in Cuban families is reflected in a grandfather’s loyalty to Mr. Castro and a granddaughter’s glum view of conditions in her country. There are two major religions practiced in Cuba. Catholicism and African Catholicism, which has voodoo influence based on superstitious belief. There are two synagogues in Havana that serve less than 120,000 Jews. We did not see any mosques.
Produced by Susan Hanes, 2017