Makenna Morgan - May 20th

Today is the day we left for Veradero. We left about an hour later than expected, but our group is so good with rolling with the punches so we were all still in good spirits. We just sat outside at our normal spot that we wait for the bus at and listened to music and joked around with each other. I think that everyone was just super excited that we get to go to this amazing all-inclusive resort. We set off for the weekend with the attitude of “do not have high expectations, so when then you can be pleasantly surprised.” When we got there, our rooms were not ready for another three and a half hours, so we some of us went and hung out on the beach and some played card games on the patio. Nobody complained, we just found a way to pass the time, which was easy at a place like this. Once we got our rooms, everyone put their stuff up and came out to the beach. It was the perfect day to spend at the beach. There was not a cloud in the sky and there was an amazing breeze. You could find people playing spike ball, swimming in the ocean, laying in the sun, or by the pool. The pool had an inflatable climbing mountain that a lot of us messed around on. It was even just entertaining watching people try to climb up the hardest side. 

The hotel is so beautiful and is located just off the beach, with pathways leading through an area that is filled with plants and palm trees. It has a very open concept and has a ton of natural light. No matter where you are in the hotel, you have an amazing view. After dinner, we walked back out to the beach and watched the sunset. It was the first one we have been able to watch and it was a good one. A lot of us hung out in the lobby at night because there was a nice breeze and it was a beautiful night. There was a concert near the beach that people went to and enjoyed. 

As I reflect on this day, I feel so thankful to go on a study abroad experience with the group of students that I am with because everyone is so positive. If things do not go as planned, we are able to just shake it off and go with the flow.

The beautiful beach we spent our time at.

Our beautiful sunset.

RJ, Stanley, and Jordyn enjoying the pool.

Savannah Belt - May 19

This morning started off with bang! We had a free morning and our translator Orlando was kind enough to take us to a fort that had cannons set up everywhere. As we were walking up to it, Orlando ran ahead of us all to the nearest cannon, jumped onto the pedestal holding it and shouted “FIRE”!! Everyone then proceeded to get their photos taken in various poses with the cannons, with mostly comical and a few cool results. Once we were satisfied with that we headed to the walls of the fort, which overlooked the ocean. At this point everyone was climbing around over everything and Orlando started getting a little panicked that someone was going to fall off the ledge into the water (and rocks) far below. To magnify his fear, Stanley, who was sitting at the very edge of the wall with his legs dangling over, decided to scare everyone by jumping onto a tiny hidden ledge and making it seem like he had fallen. While the majority of us found it funny once we realized what was happening, we were told to stay far away from the edge after that.

After a little more exploring at the fort, we went to the statue of Jesus and the house of Che. This was relaxing because the statue was in the midst of a small park, so there were trees and most importantly shade all around. A few of the students went into the house of Che, which was right next to the statue, and thought it was pretty interesting, but most of us, myself included, stayed by the statue and chatted. We did not stay for too long and by about 12 P.M. we were on the bus heading back to Vedado for lunch and then class time.

The topic of today’s lecture was Cuban Education and I really enjoyed it. The education system in Cuba is a point of pride for the Cubans, so I appreciated hearing from a person who is a part of it. Not only did she describe to us the logistics of how the system works, but she also did a wonderful job expressing how important it is to her. I think that this quote from the professor does a wonderful job of summing it up: “Education begins in the crib and ends in the grave”. From my experience here in Cuba so far, this certainly seems to be true; they absolutely love learning and sharing knowledge about anything and everything.

Once the lecture ended we had a group debrief, which is always a good time to process the day, and then rode the bus back to our casas for dinner and free time for the rest of the night. Overall it was a really fun day with a good mixture of learning, adventure, and relaxation. 

Orlando “firing” the cannon

Makenna, Chelsea, Amber, and I standing on the ledge that caused Orlando much anxiety

The giant statue of Jesus blessing us all

Lisa Le - May 18th

My first alarm pierced the calm at 6:30 and was unsuccessful at luring me out of bed. The second one rang at 7:00, but it wasn’t until the arrival of the scent of Cuban ham that I could pull myself out of bed. Breakfast is at 8 every morning and normally, I readily get up looking forward to Esmeralda’s specialty pineapple jam, but today, the weariness was heavier than normal. I planned to wake early to enjoy a walk/run around the neighborhood because I felt guilty about the naps I took after the scheduled activities, but after failing to wake up, I was disappointed with myself for wasting what time we have in Cuba. The day turned out to be quite eventful though.

We hopped on the bus to go visit an Afro-Cuban museum at 9:15. I think there was a slight change of plans and we ended up going to a different one in Havana Vieja, but it didn’t ruffle my feathers. After an interesting, yet patchy tour (because it could be difficult to understand), we enjoyed a performance of an Afro-Cuban dance for the second time; the first at el Callejon de Hamel¹ a couple of days prior. We were strongly reminded that this was not a mere dance, but a present-day practice of the Afro-Cuban religion, and the words of our first tour guide echoed, “Don’t try to understand, just enjoy”. Both times, the dancers performed the dance like a recital, following up with solicitation to buy their CDs, which seemed to diminish the integrity of the cultural experience, but it’s also understandable since artists need to make money in whatever way they can.

Afterwards, since we were already in Havana Vieja, we unexpectedly and pleasantly had a free afternoon to further explore the historic center of Havana. I walked with Orlando, our beloved Cuban translator, and he took us to a cafe/hotel named Ambos Mundos². This location is known to be a hotspot of author Ernest Hemingway who spent a lot of time writing there, but also home to the oldest elevator in Latin America. After an unexpectedly smooth ride, we stepped out onto a veranda as the sounds of lively restaurant chatter washed over us accompanied by the leisurely notes of an acoustic guitar. We marveled at the city below until our thirst set in, then Orlando brought us to a juice shack where I put my 2 cents in (literally!) for a glass of rich mamey³ juice.

Later, I was peering in between the bars of a cage where puppies were being sold in the middle of a park. I was reflecting upon how cruel it was to have an Arctic dog like a husky in the tropical latitudes when I heard familiar intonations. A group of girls had approached the vendor and in between their excited squeals, I realized that they too spoke Vietnamese. After a short yet energetic conversation, I learned that they were first-generation Vietnamese-Cubans like I was first-gen Vietnamese-American, and as I went on my way, I wondered at how humans and our social interactions can be the best and worst things on Earth.

¹refer to May 15                                            ²Both Worlds                                     ³A fruit native to Cuba

A panoramic view of Havana Vieja from the rooftop restaurant of Ambos Mundos.

An in-action shot of the Afro-Cuban dance at the museum.

A Pekingese puppy that was being sold for 35 CUC.   

A chocolate-filled churro I enjoyed as we left Havana Vieja. 

Cat Lee - May 17th

Today we went to the Antonio Guiteras Polyclinic. We received a lecture from a doctor who is working to get his master’s degree in endocrinology and has an administration position at the clinic. He gave us a lot of information on the healthcare system. The polyclinic has 8422 patients under its care. The clinics are an integral part to the healthcare of Cuba. The group’s questions ranged in topics from the education of the doctors, mental illness, and the positives and negatives of the healthcare system. One question highlighted the fact that the citizens receive care for free and medications from a pharmacy are received at an affordable cost.

After lecture, we were given a tour of the facility. The bottom floor is used for emergency care, x-rays, and other trauma related care. The first floor is more general care as in geriatrics, vaccinations, and ultrasounds. Upper levels get more into schooling of medical students, administration, and specific departments like optometry. The building was very different from a clinic or hospital you would see in the US. Unlike the pale clean colors you might expect in the United States, we saw brightly colored walls with chipped paint and elaborate decoration around doors and stairwells all following in suit of the uniqueness in structures we have seen all over Havana.

During discussion, we talked about how we were feeling being half way through this study abroad program. Throughout our experiences, we’ve all been pushing ourselves and gaining a lot of personal growth. We all expressed gratitude and happiness to be having such an incredible experience. At the same time, we had an intense discussion that allowed the group to continue to bond and share that such personal experiences can also elicit strong emotions that can be difficult to understand and process. Such an open group makes this experience what it is and is what allows each of us to push ourselves so hard to learn about global leadership and what it means to appreciate the importance of cultural diversity.

Following our discussion, the group split off to get lunch and find something to do for the afternoon. Jess, Sydney, and I initially tried to eat at a Mandarin restaurant, but encountered some difficulty in understanding what our waiter was telling us about how we needed to order. Despite our efforts, we felt that we weren’t going to be able to figure it out and decided to eat somewhere else. We found ourselves at ‘Restaurante el Polinesio’ which was across the street. In the third photo, you can see Jess and Sydney smiling as we discuss what to order. I ordered Polynesian barbecue chicken. After a walk, a nap, and dinner most of my house chilled out talking and writing our journals. 

Antonio Guiteras polyclinic

Floor organization of polyclinic.

Jess (left) and Sydney (right) waiting to place our order.

Polynesian barbecue chicken!

Emmanda McKenzie - May 16th

Today we got a little bit more amerced in the Cuban way of life. We were exposed to the harsh realities that are associated with feeding families. Cuban citizens depend on the use of ration books in order to provide majority of their food for their families. Our tour guide, Orlando, (seen holding up the ration book) tried to give us a brief rundown on how it all worked. Orlando explained a socialist system basically states that if you give the leaders the power that they will take care of you. Every few blocks in each providence, there are bodegas with all the allotted food for Cuban citizens. On the first day of every month, citizens can go and purchase food for their families at extremely reduced prices. The major items provided are rice, beans, and sugar. Sometimes there is noodles, maybe milk or fruit puree. But, there is a limit to the amount a single person or family can receive for the entire month.

In regards to ration books, there is a designated leader for each house hold. That person is responsible for making sure that every person, child or adult, is accounted for. Once everyone is officially represented as a member of the house hold, they are designated a certain amount of food. For example, each person can have 7lbs of rice a month, 5 lbs. of sugar a month, and 1 package of coffee a month. Depending on how large the house hold is, this could seem like enough to sustain a family. But it is barely enough. There’s also the issue about the age of the children and the providence the family lives in. Some places, for example, have different restrictions on how much fruit puree is allowed, or what age a child will stop receiving milk. You also have to consider fruits and vegetables. Those are not things that are provided by the ration books. Even though they may seem cheaper in price, or easier to come by, there are so many restrictions on who can produce what and who can sell to who for how much.

Today we got sort of a reality check on the Cuban way of life. This program has been awesome in regards to seeing sights and teaching us about global leadership, but today we encountered a more humbling experience. I know a few of us walked in expecting something similar to a grocery store you would find in America. So to come across something similar to a warehouse with a chalk board that listed all the available items and prices was shocking. Ultimately I think a lot of us will take this experience into consideration when purchasing things at grocery store or monitoring our food waste in the future.  

Chelsea Shafer - May 15th

Today started like any other day with an amazing breakfast made by my casa mom, Angelita, and then we drove to the Jose Marti Center to have class. After that we went to La Luecita for a lunch that was made right in front of us. One of our own, Jordan, even got to help the chef prepare the vegetables for a beef and veggie stew sort of main course that was paired with a chicken dish and then rice and beans and banana chips. Everyone loved the banana chips, including me, but the next course wasn’t as welcomed by the majority. In Cuba, they like to pair sweet and sour things together. For dessert, we had sweet papaya with grated cheese on top. Papaya generally is not very sweet, in my opinion, but here they prepare it by picking and slicing it before it is ripe and boiling it with honey, sugar, and cinnamon to make it sweet and mushy. Its similar to fruit cocktail. Now can you imagine fruit cocktail with shredded cheese on top? I couldn’t either. Cubans apparently love it, but a lot of us just couldn’t get into it!

Then we traveled to Callejon de Hamel. Callejon de Hamel is an alley in Havana dedicated to the afro Cuban culture. Something I noticed immediately was all of their seating and some decorations were made of bath tubs! I found that to be so creative and practical, the decorators found use of a bathtub beyond what I’m sure many people would have. Actually, I’m not so sure about the practicality aspect… I asked RJ to take a picture of me sitting on one of the bath tubs, so I plopped down and immediately my bottom and legs started burning! I jump up and told RJ how hot it was and he told me he would take the picture quickly so I braved the heat for a few seconds for the sake of commemorating the bathtubs benches. If I would have thought it through, I would have realized that the sun had been beating down on it, so of course it would be hot, but that didn’t register ahead of time! Luckily, I fully recovered from the surprise and the heat! The alley was very colorful and had quotes in Spanish and unique decorations posted throughout. One of my favorites said a phrase along the lines of the bad actions of a man are never forgotten and the good actions live forever. If you think about it, they really mean the same thing, the different actions are just framed differently, but I just took it as everything you do matters. Your actions show people if you are good or bad. Callejon de Hamel was very festive and overall a very interesting place to spend time. I still have some plans for tonight, but it has already been an exciting day! 

Jordyn Tucker - May 14th

Even though it was gloomy out today, we still enjoyed our first time at a Cuban beach. We went to playa (beach) Santa Maria across from the Tropicoco hotel. Despite the gray the weather still felt perfect. Most of us spent our time swimming in the water, which was extremely warm and salty.  We woke up around nine for breakfast and gave gifts to our host mom Esmeralda for Mother’s day. For breakfast we had scrambled eggs with a bunch of different fruits including pineapple, papaya, and mango. The taste of Cuban fruit is so much better than the taste of American fruit for some reason.

Today was also the first time I’ve ever rode in a taxi and it made me nervous especially because I wasn’t sure if it was going the right way. Once we got to the beach, we immediately put all of our bags down to go swim. We stayed in the water for about an hour or so, then went to grab food. We found a little stand right off of the beach where you got a box of rice, cabbage, and a meat for $35.00 CUP, which is $1.50 in CUC or USD. I was so excited that food so great was so cheap. After eating we headed back to the beach where we found a bunch of other students heading back into the water. Eventually I got out of the water and was hanging around the beach before it started to get especially dark. We all knew a big storm was coming, so everyone began to get out of the water to get ready to leave. Far out across the ocean we could all see that it was raining heavily, so Sydney and I quickly took a picture before leaving. We then caught a taxi back, which felt like such a long drive in the rain.

We arrived back at our casas and I quickly jumped into the shower before noticing how sunburned I was. It was worth it. I fell asleep for a couple hours before dinner. Tonight we had dinner “Cuban style” which means you just set all of the plates out across the table and everyone goes around to grab what they want before sitting. Esmeralda and Alexander had dinner with us tonight, which was nice because it has gotten easier to talk with them since we arrived. We all shared jokes when eating before cleaning up.

Look at that sailboat!

The Calm Before the Storm. Sydney and I

Pork Kabob with cabbage and rice