Cuba Study Abroad

MIAMI

TO

Havana

AN A DVENTURE BY: HAYDEN DONALDSON

A brief but thorough illustration of my experiences and knowledge gained, in the short, but enriched time spent in Cuba.

Index Miami Day 1

1-4

Miami Day 2

5-8

Cuba Day 1

9-12

Cuba Day 2

13-19

Cuba Day 3

20-28

Cuba Day 4

29-39

Cuba Day 5

40-46

Cuba Day 6

47-53

Cuba Day 7

54-62

Cuba Day 8

63-70

Hasta Luego Cuba

71-72

Miami, Day 1 Ahh Miami, the neon lights, Lamborghinis, bikinis and white sandy beaches, emulsified by the pulsating music of latin house and pop music. Pretty much everything I imagined and more. While it’s evident that my preconceived perception of Miami was everything Will Smith had said it would be, there’s clearly much more beneath the sun here.

Miami is a true melting pot for so many ethnicities of tourists, and a haven for one our countries largest Hispanic populations. I knew there was some validity to this before coming to Miami but the reality is dumbfounding. I don’t think I’ve heard more then two or three people passing by speaking English in fact.

1

After checking into our hotel today we made a trek to the Wolfsonian, a once barracks for wealthy Americans to store their valuables while they were away during the hurricane seasons.

So most fittingly the Barracks remains a safe haven for art but solely the collection of Mr. Mitchell Wolfson Jr. The tour was a great educational platform for our trip, in understanding the evolution of Florida as whole, artistically, architecturally and economically, and then highlighting the influence of Cuba, and the impact the Country had on Florida's development and vice versa.

2

We spent the rest of the day exploring south beach, and trying experience as much as we could despite my exhaustion. Our hostile, “Free Hand� inside the Indian Creek Hotel, was the perfect spot to start my trip. Not only was it a groovy place, home to an award winning cocktail bar, but the people who are staying here as well, a majority who are from Europe and South America, are friendly and in the same mindset as myself.

All guards down, and willing to make conversation because why not?

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Miami, Day 2 Today we woke up around 8:30 and made another trip to the Wolfsonian. Our tour guide and curator lead us outside of the museum this time and gave us a pretty in depth historic tour of old Miami. It's fascinating to me what an evolution of economy and architecture had occured in a span of several decades, and was clearly related to Cuba's influence on Florida and its American commuters. After our tour of a few Miami landmarks including the Fontainebleau Hotel, and the Washington Park Hotel, a famous hotel where Miami Vice was shot, we had some additional free time to roam South Beach. We then took a much anticipated trip to the Miami Design and Fashion District.

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For a Kansas City boy from Waldo, experiencing these two districts was a little like stepping into a twilight zone of a regular day shopping excursion in the life of upper elite class. It was a little overwhelming moving in and out of designer brand stores knowing any single piece of attire was probably the bulk of my life savings. A hell of an experience all the same. Finally, we hopped over a few blocks and took a sensory adventure through Westwood Walls and wrapped up the eveining with our first taste of Cuba at the famous MiamiCuban restaurant Versailles.

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Cuba Day 1 I don't think I've been more eager to explore in long time then I was today. We had a bit of a slow start upon our arrival but we soon began our quick assimiliation into our week long Cuban life and things have certainly sped up. We quickly got settled at our host home, met our tour guide Lorraine and made a trip to Mediterraneo for our first group meal. We then ventured to the Memorial of Cuban martyr and revolutionary Jose Marti.

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After a little more site seeing we went to La Guarida. What seemed from the street, the ruins of a century old casa particular once occupied by the wealthy and reoccupied by the revolution, was in reality hidden a floor above, a gorgeously tranformed restaurant with neo-cuban quisine and a beautiful roof top bar with an epic view. This was certainly one high bar set today.

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Cuba Day 2 Today we learned some of the logistical aspects of our trip. Lorraine, our tour guide took us to what could be considered our personal travel embassy. Because of the nature of travel between Cuba and the states, our trip was orchestrated through El Centro de Estudias Martianios, a Cuban research institute that fosters the cuban immersion program most outside Educational institutes utilize. We had some introduction time, met some of the members of the institute and looked over what seemed a pretty regimented shedule. We would be assured however that while it might seem super structured we would be operationg on "Cuba Time" which is significantly different from America's standard of scheduling. The rest of the day was filled with our first tours of Old Havana, a visit to the Cuban Museum of Revolution, and a famous sloppy Joe restaurant from the 20's. My late night excursions don't really have words to describe them but a few pictures should sum it up.

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Cuba Day 3 Today I crossed a few things off my bucket list.. We woke early, had a fresh breakfast prepared by our lovely house mom, Ada, and embarked on a two hour drive into the country. Our first stop was Piñar del Río. A small but famous Valley City in Cuba know for a special liquer made from guavas, called Guayabita. After a tour of the distillery and some mandatory samples, we drove further into the Valley into a region called Viñalles where we took a quick stop to tour one of the many river caves.

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Many fertile valley regions exist within Cuba, all know for their mineral rich soil. ideal for tobacco production.

We stopped at a local farm and cafe situated atop a large hill overlooking ViĂąalles called La ParaĂ­so, Cascading raised beds of every kind of produce, lined the hill sides. While goats, pigs and chickens graised amongst them.

It was a magical authentic culinary experience from start to finish even the casual afternoon monsoon.

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After lunch, we traveled to a nearby local tobacco farm run by a man named BenĂ­to, where we had the pleasure of endulging in house tobacco rolled and cut fresh off the block by Benito's son.

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Cuba Day 4 Today was a bit of a spiritual enlightement. We spent the morning at a religious center that serves as a gathering space for celebrating all African religions in Cuba incuding Santeria, BahĂĄ'Ă­ Faith, and Rastarfarianism to name a few. Our guide led us into the studio of a famous Afrocentric artist by the name of Salvador, and we got to experience a series of African dances each representing a different God. The open courtyard center was lined with works of art depicting different aspects of Afrocentrism brought to the Island of Cuba centuries ago. It was a soul rocking experience to say the least.

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After an energizing morning we took the rest of the day to explore Old Havana. Old Havana, is part of Havana that reflects Cuba's earliest settlers, Spanish and French conquesters. Its truly a relic of a city with its robust, and ornate colonial structures. IYou haven't seen all of Cuba until you've roamed the long skinny streets of Old Havana and found yourself in one of the many city squares.

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Cuba Day 5 Today was a great day. We got to spend the morning touring the University of Arts of Cuba, also know as the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA). Our guide, a famous Cuban TV producer of the revolutionary period, and a man who has devoted his current life to the continued revitalization of this school, broke down every evolutionary part of the school. This was a history lesson as well as an informative reflection on the current social disparities betwen the Cuban people of this generation and the parents of this generation whose lives up until months ago were defined by a revolution.

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Architecturally the school is a bit of an anomaly. The Entrance to the main hall is infact the old entrance to a prerevolution country club in the Cubanacรกn neighborhood. According to our guide, one day when Che Guevara, and Fidel Castro who both frequented this club to play golf, were both finishing up a game when Che said to Fidel that he thought the course was too bourgouis. So when the revolution happened they acted accordingly and transformed the course into a University for Cuban Arts.

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After our tour of the School we took a trip to a famous Cuban Mosaic artists home, Jose Fuster.

Fuster's home which is an ever-evolving Mosaic installation was is massive, spanning three floors and almost an entire city block.

Why not make your home into an art piece though?

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Cuba Day 6 "The fun of talk is to explore."

-Ernest Hemingway. The man had a way with words, the brutal truth, most importantly. He loved his booze, his women, and the stimulation of good conversation. Cuba was a place he found this and much more. We visited his house today in Guanabacoa, about an hour south of Havana. It was crowded with tourists from every walk of life. I couldn't help but think how annoyed Hemingway might be by all this. His estate was situated just as he left it, virtually untouched. We could only peer through the windows but it was enough to imagine what it was like 60 years ago.

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After Hemingway's house we traveled about an hour north from Guanabocoa to Cojimar, the small fishing village Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea" is set in.

We ate lunch there at a small cafe known for their Cuban coffee and seafood. stews.

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To finish off an eventful day, we spent the evening at a Cuban dance hall where watched a group of dancers practice their choreography. We were naturally all asked to join in at the end which was a hell of site.

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Cuba Day 7 Today was certainly the most relaxed day we've had since we've been here. This morning, Ada squeezed some fresh guava juice and made pastelitos for breakfast.

We all ate together and had a few laughs about our previous nigh, which was a nice change of pace.

We traveled to the Havana School of Photography where we met some very down to earth insightful people who proceeded to take us on their own tour of Vedado, the neighborhood we'd been living in, but knew very little about.

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After watching a little highschool baseball, and touring a local movie theatre/concert hall, we went to lunch. We went to Cocinero, a turn of the century soap factory turned into a beautiful rooftop restaurant. The food was different then anything we had had thus far.

It was light, and different from the traditional cuban cuisine we had eaten so much of.

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After lunch, we were on our own to explore, to nap, to just relax in whatever fashion we saw fit. Myself and few others decided to make another trip to Old Havana to get souvenirs and check out the antique vendors that set up every Thursday and Friday evening. We decided to walk a few miles there along the Malecon, the famous Havanan sea wall; a place we spent many a nights drinking rum and reminiscing of the days activities.

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To finish off a day spent in relaxation and freedom to do what we pleased, we came together to enjoy some famous Cuban Jazz. Our group of 17 American Tourists waltzed up to the front of the line half a block long and were escorted to the front of the stage. It was an uncomfortably exhilarating experience and was certainly well worth it.

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Cuba Day 8 Our final day and night in Cuba was certainly one to remember. We were givin another day to wander and do some more discovering of our own.

A few of us made another trip to Old Havana and walked the entire 4 mile journey from Vedado along the Malecon into the city, enjoying the seaside breeze and various bars that lined it. We traveled to the city bazaar where we did some bartering for some last minute souvenirs, and then into the city center to the boutique shops including a hundred year old perfume shop.

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Finally we made a trip to a local boxing club where a team of boxers were training. I did my best to converse with a few of them, expressing how my great grandfather was a professional boxer back in the day. That of course resulted in me having to put my dukes up and throw a few fake jabs.

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After a much needed siesta, we embarked on our final night in Cuba.

We dined at a place called Atelier for our final send off dinner.

Afterwards we took a taxi back down to the city center to a rooftop club we had ventured to earlier in the week. The emphamis Habana Libre.

Once the headquarters of the revolution was now home to worldclass salsa dancing.

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A few hours of dance, and a couple cigars later, I found myself wandering the Habana Libre hotel looking for the group. As I waited for a taxi, I struck up a conversation with a Cuban rock band from Trinidad who were just finishing a gig in town and were heading to another club. They asked if I wanted to join, and before I could say no I was sharing a Taxi with four Cuban rockers into Old Havana.

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The rest of the night seems more like a dream then anything.

I managed to get one good pic of us finishing my last few sips of Rum in Cuba along the Malecรณn.

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Hasta Luego, Cuba I'll never really be able to put into writing or depict in pictures the magic this Country impressed upon me even in the short time I was there.

Like many people's time abroad I was stripped to my most vulnerable, open self and allowed every aspect of this place to absorb into my body and mind. I had romanticized it to every extent possible with the smokey voice of Ibrahim Ferrer and the Buena Vista ringing in my ears and it rings even louder now that I'm home. But I took with me a newly created piece of myself, and I intend to return to the Island to nurture it.

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Apolulu mis amigos.

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