On the morning of the 8th, we headed for the airport, where check in was a bit hectic. The other passengers seemed to be Cubans bringing gifts or products wrapped in stretch wrap, so very strange luggage. We got on an XTRA Airlines charter flight to Miami. Our flight was routine. After we got through immigration, we paused in the luggage claim area to regroup, and wait for our bus and Cuban guide, Gulliermo. Guillermo is a former middle school teacher, paid the equivalent of $20 US a month. He decided to be a guide to make life better for his family. He taught us much over the course of the week we spent with him.
The first thing we saw when we left the terminal were many 1950s American cars, kept running by creative Cuban mechanics.
The bus took us to see a modern dance performance by an independent dance company, Malpaso. (Malpaso is a bit of a play on words, as it means misstep).
Our next stop was the Christopher Columbus Cemetery, which was pretty amazing. The mausoleum shown was made of Italian marble, modeled on Italian churches, similar to what we saw on our 2015 trip.
In the photo below, we are going through a popular ritual to request a wish or a child from Amelia, who died in childbirth. She is revered in Cuban culture. First you knock on the grave with the ring, then you reach up and touch the baby, and then walk the rest of the way around the grave backwards, facing the grave. There are many plaques (exvotos) giving thanks for a child or other favor. I have seen this kind of plaque before, but in churches addressed to saints. We heard the following day in our lecture that Cubans are a superstitious people.
We had a lunch in La Moraleza private restaurant, and checked into the Hotel National, built in the 1930s and used by celebrities and VIPs since then, including Fred Astaire and Churchill. It was like stepping back in time. The hotel is run by the government.
Our group is educated and globally aware. Maria likes our group because we are not focused on shopping. Gulliermo likes our group because we are not about piña coladas.
On the 9th we started with a scholar of the history of religion. She took the view that Cubans have never been very religious, but tend to turn to religion in times of crisis. Their Afro-Cuban beliefs are masked in Catholicism.
We walked in the Plaza de Armas and the Plaza de Catedral. We had a nice lunch in O'Reilly's restaurant, and a cup of Cuban coffee for Sandi. Richard bought a book written by Che from a street vendor; he was once a military lawyer, but found that selling used books paid better. This became a theme of the trip, as government employees' wages are only around $30 US per month!
We visited the Fort of San Carlos de la Cabaña, which offered a view of Havana across the bay. We got on the bus, but were then told that the bus was broken, so we would have to take taxis. This was really a trick to get us all in classic convertibles for a tour of Havana. Our group of 24 was treated to a ride along the Malecon (seawall) of Havana.
The driver explained that the owner of the car was a mechanic, and that the driver got 25% of the income. He had a recent LG smartphone. His wife, working for the government, makes $20 US per month.
Dinner was at "1958" restaurant. However, it was somewhat marred by an attempted mugging and a loud Mariachi band. Our guides said that they had not seen a mugging before, so they were not watching out for it. Luckily, the victim was not hurt. Generally, the Cubans are happy to see Americans. They realize that we bring dollars and jobs.
Sunday January 10 started with a talk on the history of US-Cuban relations, focused mostly on the recent normalization of relations. We then went to the Cuban Fine Art museum for Cuban art; most of the art there was dark in color and in theme. We had lunch at La Moneda Cubana restaurant, and stopped by the craft market. Dinner was at the La Fontaine restaurant; entertainment was by an all-female choir. The women are all music teachers by day; Sandi was amazed by their harmonies.
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| Gulliermo, our guide |
On the 11th we walked in the old Plaza and Plaza San Francisco, and got on the bus to Hemmingway's house.
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| Hemmingway's typewriter |
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| Outside Hemmingway's house |
We had a great lunch at La Bonita restaurant, which had only been open a few months, with most of the employees being family. The bathroom was amazingly nice, far superior to most of what we saw elsewhere.
In the afternoon we had an excellent talk from the Architect Pedro Vasquez. He basically preemptively answered all my questions. After the revolution, everyone became owner of their own apartment, but no one owned the building as a whole. No one could be evicted, so no one could be forced to pay for repairs, which means that the buildings have been deteriorating for 50 years. This is still unresolved in terms of the law. They have been working on the old city in recent years, so much of what we saw has been restored. We essentially saw no buildings built after 1959, except for some ugly concrete apartment buildings. All the buildings that we were taken to in the tour were built before the revolution, which suggests that whatever was built after the revolution was not anything to be proud of. Or perhaps that not a lot has been built since the revolution.
Before dinner, we met with a young man with a jewelry business. He rents a table in a market, and has an employee man the table. It sounds like a pretty marginal business by our standards, but what choice does he have? We discussed loans with interest, but that struck him as unfair; apparently credit is not part of their society, only loans from family. His sister is in Miami, but he does not want to leave Cuba.
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