All right, this is it!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Today we celebrated a Cuban Thanksgiving. Yes, in of all places we could have celebrated Thanksgiving, we decided to celebrate it in Cuba. Rather than look at this holiday in a historical context, I just decided to think of it as a day of Thanks—and it was. For the whole day, the staff of Hotel de ANAP helped us prepare all the food. I made mashed potatoes and a tomato and onion plate. It looks like I may be somewhat domestic after all. And for our dinner, our professors, SLC students and staff were present. I have to admit, though, I’m glad my mom had the idea of doing a mock Thanksgiving dinner after I get home.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Today I met with a film professor. What I thought was going to be a short conversation alongside the Malecón, turned into a 2 ½ conversation about Cuban and American politics (what’s new?). He fears the effects American consumerism will have on Cuban identity after Obama takes down the travel restrictions and remittances. I’m curious as to how it will affect Cuban identity as well. I guess we’ll all have to wait to see, now, won’t we?

Sunday, November 30, 2008: Andrea’s Birthday!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Earlier today, I was talking about the embargo with one of the heads of management at La Universidad. Anyway, we were both discussing what will not only become of Cuba after Obama is inaugurated but, also, what will become of the United States. He, like many Cubans I’ve spoken with, mentioned how much of a consumerist nation we are. It looks like Harvard lost 22% of its endowment recently. The weight loss is showing, no? He also mentioned this thing we, Americans, love to call “Black Friday”. For those who don’t know what this doomsday is, it is the day after Thanksgiving when all shoppers love to go out to their local malls and outlets to buy their families and friends discounted Christmas gifts. He said he heard of people tackling one another over buying algunas cosas (some things). I don’t know whether or not any of you have ever seen images of this fighting so, if you haven’t, I highly recommend watching the documentary, “What Would Jesus Buy?” I know, it sounds silly, right? Look up the trailer online and you will realize why you have to get your hands on this doc as soon as possible (I know I always say that but I speak the truth!). It truly does go to show how much of a consumerist nation we are, which is something I’m truly ashamed of—especially after living in such a humble nation for almost four months now. What I’m not ashamed of, though, is the following:

Washington Post: “WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama should start soon to loosen five decades of trade curbs on Cuba and begin a comprehensive review of U.S. policy toward the communist-run island, U.S. business groups said on Thursday.”

"We support the complete removal of all trade and travel restrictions on Cuba. We recognize that change may not come all at once, but it must start somewhere, and it must begin soon," the groups said in a letter to Obama.

They recommended the United States start by holding talks with Cuba to discuss how to repair nearly 50 years of distrust and by allowing Americans to visit the island.

Washington should also consider exempting agricultural machinery, heavy equipment and certain other goods from its embargo to help in the rebuilding of Cuba in the wake of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, the groups said.

The groups included American Farm Bureau Federation, Business Roundtable, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Retail Federation and Grocery Manufacturers Association, whose collective membership comprises a broad cross-section of American industry and agriculture.

"We are pleased that you support suspending restrictions on family remittances, visits and humanitarian care packages from Cuban Americans. These are excellent first steps, but we urge you to also commit to a more comprehensive examination of U.S. policy," the groups said.

The United States expanded an arms embargo on Cuba in 1962 to include other goods after the Cuban government under the leadership of Fidel Castro seized the properties of American companies doing business on the island.

The Cold War-era restrictions were codified into law by Congress 1992 under the Cuban Democracy Act.

Efforts to loosen the embargo remain politically difficult because of the influence of Cuban-American exiles living in Florida, a key presidential swing state.

But with Obama's election, the outlook for change has improved, said Jake Colvin, vice president for global trade issues at the National Foreign Trade Council, whose members include Boeing, Caterpillar and Microsoft.

"There is a growing optimism that taking the kinds of small steps that President-elect Obama has promised, like diplomatic overtures and relaxing travel restrictions, could lead to more substantial changes later on. Companies want to be ready for that moment," Colvin said.

Obama could take some steps on his own, but completely removing the embargo would require congressional action.
Can you believe it? I can. And I’m thrilled. I’m only going to be in the US for the first week Obama will be in office. That’s the only unfortunate thing about this. But, I must admit, I’m excited to see what will have changed by the time I get back. Vamos a ver…

As for what I’ll be doing while out of the country, I’ll be filming in Cochabamba, Bolivia for four months and then will head onto Lima and Cusco, Perú. I can’t believe by that time it will have been four years since I’ve been back!

P.S. Just got back from seeing one of Argentina’s largometrajes (feature-films) of this year and am amazed. Please see “Leonera”, a truly brilliant film, as soon as possible.
Thursday, January 1, 2009

A friend sent this to me the yesterday to not only wish me a Happy New Year but also to remind me of the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution:

Revolución Cubana: 50 años
Nosotros, los yumas

Joseba Macías
Zazpika-Rebelión

Entonces, completando el corolario local, aparecimos nosotros-as. Es cierto que ya desde 1959 había pasado por el Archipiélago un crisol de razas y compromisos, pero nosotros-as, cuestiones de los nuevos tiempos, éramos distintos-as. Hasta en la denominación. Muy pronto el imaginario insular pasó a definir como yuma, por extensión, a todo extranjero supuesto poseedor de “moneda dura”, argonauta llegado de Occidente y convertido, por mor de las circunstancias, en un gran billete fula-verde con brazos y piernas que deambulaba entre calles, cayos y hoteles llenando los parques de colorido (supuesto) y contradicciones (reales).
Nosotros-as, los yumas, aprendimos pronto que la conga y los mojitos se suben a la cabeza (y no siempre por este orden), que los atardeceres en el trópico son otra cosa, que la prisa es un término sin conjugación posible en determinadas latitudes o que todavía existen lugares en el mundo donde una mirada o una palabra tienen más valor real que los dividendos y fluctuaciones de toda la banca internacional. Pero también aprendimos, prueba empírica y contrastada, que la necesidad genera heridas en el alma, que no son lo mismo los turs que los ladas, que los fulas abren puertas y cierran conciencias o que la burocracia puede llegar a ser un mal tan perverso y extendido como el virus de la gripe en frente frío.
Nosotros-as, los yumas, hemos descubierto aquí familiares perdidos en el álbum de la historia, lugares comunes, surrealismos propios y genuinos, el sabor de la picaresca hecha cotidianidad, el valor asere de la amistad, el difícil equilibrio entre lo épico y el relajo, la tranquilidad de los paseos nocturnos sin sobresaltos o el sentido exacto del tiempo mientras esperamos, es un ejemplo, que aparezca un panataxi solicitado por teléfono. Aquí hemos compartido hasta el amanecer hablando de la pelota que no entendemos, de la nueva América Latina que emerge pese a quien pese, de la vieja Europa que perece digan lo que digan, del último presentador que se quedó o de los cambios que se intuyen en una Isla siempre en tránsito y sorpresiva. Cosas del querer, en definitiva, que ocurren en este pequeño punto del mapa terrestre que sigue siendo centro neurálgico de encuentros y sensualidades a flor de piel mientras busca, sigue buscando, su particular e intransferible modo de ser y de pensar.
Es por eso, precisamente por eso, que entre terminales, aduanas, bitácoras y sorpresas nunca previsibles, miles y miles de yumas en tránsito hemos conocido esta Isla, sus luces, sombras, brillos y apagones en las últimas décadas. Y ahora que evocamos este homenaje 50 contra viento y marea reflexionando sobre la curiosa condición de extranjeros en una tierra hermana, nos entra así como un vértigo vasco-criollo, una sensación extraña de compartir vivencias mirándonos a los ojos y quién sabe, una miscelánea de ternuras y complicidades que contribuya mutuamente a la socialización de futuros por desgranar. Aprendiendo y compartiendo. En fin (el mar), en eso estamos. Relajados-as. Y cooperando. Revolución Cubana: 50 años Nosotros, los yumas.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

For the last week I was in Havana, I attended the New Latin American Film Festival for the first time. I saw at least 12 films in a matter of a week (which was a lot considering the fact the majority of them were long feature films—and also because I joined the party a bit late because of exam week). I have to say, as much as it was absolutely draining, I loved it. It made me realize that this is what I want to be a part of even though, at times, it can be pretty superficial. As I told my roommate, though, I’m glad that film festivals last only about a week…otherwise I think I’d go bonkers. That reminds me: I met someone that did. I met a man who watched 33 films 2 days before the festival ended. Yeesh!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

I’m sure that the last thing a Cuban (revolutionary or not) wants to read or hear is the words of José Martí but I have a reason for posting this. I was reading The Norton Anthology of American Literature (7th Edition) the other night while my friend, Sam, was out at work and while flipping through, I found this:

José Martí

“Cuban poet, essayist, journalist and political leader, José Martí (1853-1895) became a symbol of Cuba’s fight for independence from Spain. Martí envisioned a panhemispheric “America” at odds with the Gilded Age mentality of an imperialistic United States empowered by big business, government corruption, and worker unrest. Martí’s pan-national and antiracist manifesto, “No man has any special right because he belongs to any specific race,” helped define the nature of the Cuban revolution against Spain, known in the United States as the Spanish-American War, and is sharply at odds with then-prevailing Anglo-Saxon norms of American cultural identity. Martí focuses on New World nations’ indigenous cultures and calls on all American republics—those in the North America as well as Latin America—to embrace one “America” based on native uniqueness that would reject racism in favor of native pride. “Those born in America” should not be “ashamed of the mother who reared them, because she wears an Indian apron.” Instead of setting European civilization over New World “barbarism,” Martí characterizes devotion to the European tradition as a slavish, false erudition lacking direct knowledge. He demands the Americas’ recognition of identities as mixed cultures, united by common humanity. Martí hoped that through understanding, without hatred or racism, “new Americans could rise together (pp. 1868-1870).”

Here is the excerpt I recommend reading: http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/marti/America.htm

Monday, January 26, 2009

This is the part I’ve been avoiding, guys. I’ve been avoiding finishing up this blog for a reason (not only because my internet was down for the majority of the time I was actually in my house).

This has become, in a way, my final way of saying goodbye to Cuba for a while. To be perfectly honest, I haven’t had much time to get over the cultural shock of Cuba never mind say goodbye as I admitted to my friend, Ella, earlier this afternoon. I’ve been too busy getting ready for my trip to Bolivia, really. But, over the past week or so, I’ve been talking with more and more friends and family about my time there, realizing I had to had some sort of closure with Cuba before I left for yet another “reality check”.

I figured going to inauguration would help a little bit so, as it turns out, I went and got half way up the mall. Surprisingly, it did help. It was nice to see that everyone is so hopeful and energized right now. And to see that here makes me, once again, hopeful for Cuba. This past week, in case some of you didn’t hear, Obama signed to close the prisons on Guantanamo within a year. I’ll take it for what it’s worth, I guess. It may not be much but, hey, it’s a start.

Now, let’s get to the important stuff…and most likely the reason why some of you will not be pleased with me: I was able to use the internet before that big snowstorm came to MA about two days after I got back from Havana and was able to upload about 400 photos to Facebook…obviously not here on this website…sorry! I will do it when I get home, I promise!

Anyway, if you create a Facebook of your own, I’d be happy to “friend” you. As for the professors and teachers that are on this list: don’t be ashamed, I won’t tell anyone. ;)

I add this small Public Service Announcement since I got a few requests to discuss studying abroad while at SLC this past weekend:

IF YOU ARE GOING ABROAD FOR THE FIRST TIME NEXT SEMESTER:

IMPROVOSATION IS EVERYTHING: This is what my wonderful director, Shanti Pillai, told our group since the beginning of the SLC in Cuba Program: “Things are subject to change, with or without notice.” One could apply this philosophy to life, but I now see that this phrase has a special attachment to life in Cuba. Traveling around from place to place requires patience, but, also a good sense of humor. That’s probably the best advice I can give you to. Best of luck with applications to those who are applying for the SLC programs next week!

Obamarama Time (Part 2)

This deserves its own blog post. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. As one of the SLC girls nicely put it, “a 5-foot Sarah Lawrence graduate” is Obama’s Chief of Staff. One of my best friends from Germany, Teresa, told me the good news the last time I logged online but then my internet card ran out.

Obamarama time Part 2:

This excerpt is from the article, “The Death of a Red State” by Matt Taibbi from Rolling Stone magazine. I know, it feels a bit weird quoting from a rock magazine but I thought this writer could really identify with what Cubans here are saying right now but in, you’ll find very quickly, a more radical way. Maybe America forgot about the Civil Rights Movement for a little bit until Obama came along but Cuba didn’t.

If you can, look for the Cuban documentary on the Civil Rights Movement, now!, narrated by Lena Horne. This not may sound like a familiar name to some of you, since Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James are better known than Horne but they are for a good reason. When Horne was trying to move up in her theatrical career in the States after becoming a famous jazz singer, she, one day, refused to take a role as just another African-American stereotype. Subsequently, she was essentially banned from Hollywood, music industries and Broadway. So, she moved on to Paris, where her career skyrocketed with the help of her songwriter husband. There is a great PBS documentary out there on her and I highly recommend that you try to find it. Her performance of “Stormy Weather” at the end of this film will make this search worthwhile. Go to pbs.org right now! Well, after you read this:

“All across America, if you scratch the surface of the current political jousting between the blues and reds, you’ll find race underneath. In America it’s always about race. Vietnam ended decades ago, but the civil rights movement never had a declared end—at least not according to conservatives, who have been running against it for 40 years, camouflaged in dog-whistle catchphrases like “law and order (Nixon), “welfare queen” (Reagan) and “border security” (every Republican today). There isn’t a half-literate white person alive who doesn’t know what Palin is talking about when she says about Obama, “This is not a man who sees American as you and I do.”

“And that, folks, is why Obama’s candidacy is so important. He is a living referendum on the civil rights movement—one might even say he is calling the bluff of the civil rights movement. He has been everything white American said it wanted from black America: Stay positive, work hard, go to Harvard, be more Martin and less Malcolm, and all obstacles will be cleared.”

“It’s happening because on college campuses like the University of Northern Colorado and every other place where progress has been allowed to penetrate, there now lives a whole generation who have been raised to believe implicitly in the virtue of a multicultural society. The election of Obama will prove once and for all the futility of using racism, camouflaged or not, to win elections. If Obama pulls this thing off, it might be a long time before you see a white candidate making transparent, panic-stricken appeals to “you and I” in weeks before Election Day.”

P.S. Rumors that need to be clarified: I’ve heard that Obama is going to try to put Cuba at the top of his priority list (from Wall Street Journal) and that he is going to shut down Guantánamo Bay (German source…aka one of my friends from Germany). What is going on over there?! Is any of this (even slightly) true?! If so, tell me! I haven’t heard about any of this here (surprisingly)!
P.P.S. I’m coming home in essentially a month. What? Oh, and let me know whether or not any of you are going to be in the Massachusetts/New York/Vermont/D.C. area this winter break. If so, let’s get together. ☺

It's OBAMARAMA time!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Tonight the Harvard students and I headed over to the Melia Cohiba, a ritzy hotel right along the Malecón, and got down to business with Sarah and Joe with the help of a few Bucaneros (Cuban beer), mojitos and milkshakes. Every time Palin said “maverick” or “family” or Biden said “Scranton”, we had to take a drink. Needless to say, we ran out of money to get drinks, the reason being that the drinks were on Harvard.

One thing that impressed me was the amount of American students that showed up: over 20 students (none of us had planned this, by the way).

So, after you watched the vice presidential debates, what did you think? Is the Obama/Biden campaign a “white flag of surrender”, as Palin would put it, or what?

P.S. When Palin mentioned “the Castro brothers”, did you start cheering? If not, we made up for it.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Earlier today we had our CEDEM class as usual. The topic for today was the goal of a local university, La Universitaria de Cerro, and how their mission of having their educational system nothing short of excellent is executed. The dean of this university spoke about subjects studied (same as ours), their matriculation process and their scholarly faculty. Their educational paradigm is the following: “Universidad para todos durante toda la vida.”

After two hours of discussing how the Cerro educational system functions here versus in the US, we went to lunch and then headed over to our neighboring town, Cerro, to meet up with six students to discuss their educational experience over the past four years.

They said that balancing their educational duty to themselves and also contributing to the betterment of Cuba after school was incredibly overwhelming at first, but that then, over time, they got the hang of it.

Our visit was cut short by an hour because of some heated discussions that randomly popped up, one about Cuban identity, and another about America’s perspective on Cuba.

“No no no, todos somos humanos.” I wasn’t doubting that, I just wanted to make sure she knew where she was from—where her ancestors are from. Just because I’m American doesn’t mean I’m no longer Peruvian. National and individual identity can both be embraced.

The University dean, literally standing between us to end this conversation, then essentially asked us, “was it all that you imagined?”

We couldn’t even respond. Since there was about a 30-second silence, one Cuban student repeated the question condescendingly in English. One of bilingual students of our group said that we understood them, as we all had said many times before, but that, like all of the other overwhelming questions they asked us, that it was very difficult to respond succinctly.

Although this was, overally, a difficult day I, at the least, met a new friend. Her name is Niuua. She gave me her phone number and told me to give her a call next Tuesday so I can get into that research center I was telling all of you about (she has apparently worked there before with the woman I spoke with this past week). Furthermore, I found out that Niuua’s leaving tonight to do hurricane relief in Pinar del Río. Now, in case you haven’t heard, that’s where Cuba was hit hardest when it came to both Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike. When she told me what she was doing I told her that I’d like to help, if possible, and that I’ve been down to New Orleans twice now to help rebuild. She said that a group heads down every 15 days but, since I have my first Biology field trip in two weeks, I told her I’d be able to go with her in a month. She said she’s going to check in with her friends and get back to me on Tuesday. Crossing my fingers…

Monday, October 6, 2008

The assignment of the week for the director of my program was to see Cuba’s new big film, Kangamba, which is an overview of Cuba’s military involvement in Angola back in the 1980s. To see this major event at 8 o’ clock, I showed up at 7:55, thinking I was saved by the bell. Little did I know that on a Sunday night in Cuba a crowd was capable of growing so large that the po-po’s had to show up to regulate lines for the 10 o’ clock showing. I was fifth in line for about an hour and a half. When it came time to race to get our tickets, I was taken by the hand of the woman in front of me (I had been talking to her and her family earlier) and squashed up against the ticket booth’s window: “Seis boletos, por favor.”

Was it worth the wait? Heck. Yes. I know it’s already down in Miami. Who knows, maybe you can get your hands on it.

P.S. Tonight we have a meeting to discuss Kangamba. Sorry, Alexis, but I really want to discuss “Lucia” because she’s downstairs. Yes, the famous Adelaida López Legrá (the “third Lucía”) is downstairs on our porch and she still is as stunning as she was in “Lucia”.
P.P.S. I finally got my carnet! But, you want to know what’s messed up? I’m considered to be white here.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Last night, the last presidential debates happened. I understand why everyone’s freaking out over ACORN but don’t take up so much time on it during an 1 ½-long debate. Education took about the last 15 minutes and that, in my opinion, is one of our biggest issues. What is going on with our priorities? Confusion…

A few interesting facts that need to be reiterated:

-We’re spending $10 billion a month on the war. I remember being shocked when I heard it was $2 billion a month back when I was in high school.
-We’ve already spent $700 billion on the war.
-McCain was narrated by a woman from a telenovela on CNÑ en español…why was that?

One thing I didn’t mention about tonight was the fact that, for the first twenty minutes of the debate, we had to watch the debate in Spanish because two Cubans came to the Melhía before us. I guess they could tell we couldn’t understand everything and, therefore, were a bit annoyed, so they changed it. It was nice to know this event was a priority of someone else who wasn’t an American, though.

Thursday, October 9- Saturday, October 11, 2008: Trip to Baracoa

Day #1

On the shore next to our hotel, Hotel Porto Santo, is supposedly where Cristobol Colón planted his first cross in Cuba.

Museo Matachín

(“insert pictures that can’t be posted yet…”)

Day #2

While searching for a good spot to relax at the beach, I was offered marriage with a few grapes and a coconut. We unfortunately/fortunately spent the entire day at the beach close to my future husband.

Day #3

Visit to the first church ever constructed in Cuba, la Iglesia Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa. Apparently Hernan Cortés was married to his first wife there. He later married the famous Malinche in México. If you have yet to read Octavio Paz’s “Hijos de la Malinche”, that is very unfortunate. I can change that for you if you’re interested. ☺

Our visit to a Finca del Cacao (Cocoa plantation) later that day was “gift after gift from nature” as one of my friends put it. First of all, we got to see and taste cacao, from which the oil to create cocoa comes from. The process to make chocolate is, in fact, quite simple: one has to put a cacao half face down to let the oil drain out into a wooden box. This fermentation process takes three days, each day a different box to ferment in. The last bits of oil go into a box that is about an inch tall though about the size of a pool table. That is where the cocoa begins to form. Once given to opportunity to buy two balls of 100% organic cocoa for $2(CUC), I couldn’t resist.

We were later offered fresh grapefruit. Now, I’m not a huge fan but, since the farmer essentially risked his life climbing a tree to pick several grapefruit for our group, I figured I’d try it. It was amazing! Not only that, but the farmer also put mariposas in our hair. No, he didn’t take butterflies and put them in our hair! He picked white mariposa flowers to put in our hair. We were adorned and well fed by this sweet farmer—who, by the way, looked very similar to the great comedian, Mr. Dave Chapelle. Before we could be taken over to the coffee plantations we were whisked off to go to Río Toa, where we managed to fit 9 girls and a tiny 80 some odd year-old fisherman into a 15-foot boat to get to a nearby shore where it was safe to swim. It was SO beautiful. I can’t wait to go back at some point! I must make this happen somehow!

Tuesday, October 12-14, 2008: Trip to Santiago de Cuba

The following day we headed out to Santiago de Cuba. Since we were in the Guantanamo Province, we could barely see the Guantanamo Base off in the distance. What we did see, though, was the border that divided US and Cuban territory.

Other visits we made were the following locations:
-Santuario de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre, Patrona de Cuba
-Cemeterio Santa Ifigenia: this is where Cuba’s national hero, José Martí is buried. His memorial as well as the guards who protect him are quite impressive (we got to see the changing of the guards—I recorded it).
-A traditional folkdance performance del Conjunto Folklórico Cutumba, Teatro Galaxy: I was in heaven for two hours. I bought their CD and, as always, am glad to copy good music, (ahem…Sarah).
-To make visits to a club at night and a bookstore early in the morning, I went via moto. Yes, Mom, I had my first two rides on a motorcycle in Santiago de Cuba. Hey, at least I didn’t go skydiving and then call you up to say: “hello, family, I just wanted to let you know I just jumped out of a plane”. This is a true story, by the way, and those who know who I’m referring to: I hope all of you are laughing because I know I am.

Anyway, while traveling around Santiago de Cuba, I kept bumping into this group that supposedly were in Cuba to do humanitarian work. When I asked one woman, who sort of resembled Susan Lucci, from California what organization she was with, she couldn’t even tell me. If Bush tightened licenses to Cuba back in 2003, how did this bimbo get in?

Thursday, October 16, 2008

I thought this part of the instructions inside the 2008-09 Voting Assistance Guide
was interesting: “Provide the complete street address of your Massachusetts voting residence. A post office box is not sufficient. If your address includes a rural route, describe its location in Block 6. For example: “on Highway , 2 miles past Highway , across the street from gas station.”

This just goes to show how much this country relies on gas. As we’ve heard a billion times in the news, we have 3% of the world’s oil and use 25% of it.

Anyway, I just voted for the first time in a presidential election. Go me.

Friday, October 17, 2008: Trip to ELAM w/ CEDEM

Today, after a discussion on Cuban healthcare at CEDEM, we had a quick field trip to ELAM, a medical school for students who cannot afford an education in medicine in their own countries, which extend from all around Latin America, Europe and Africa to even the US. Apparently back in 2000, Fidel made an offer of 5,000 scholarships to American students to attend this school. We didn’t meet any of the graduates from that year but we did meet some 3rd- and 4th-year students. For those who aren’t one of the 106 American students currently attending ELAM, I’ve heard that students from other parts of the world can apply to this school through certain left-wing political parties or their ministry of education in their respective countries.

What does this 6-year medical program entail, though? Well, if you’re not bilingual, you’ll be provided with a crash course in Spanish. The program also gives you your uniform, books, food and boarding for free. Students also receive a monthly stipend. As for what they study, it’s not a typical medical program. As one student told me, she “had to learn how utilize certain medical tools or medicines if she doesn’t have the right ones”. She also mentioned that she’s studied natural, as in herbal, practices as well. Considering the goals of the program, which is to be able to help in impoverished communities, this makes complete sense.

Although we weren’t able to talk with the ELAM students for long about the details of their studies, one girl and I decided to get together at some point in Havana. Hopefully I’ll have more to tell you after that. Until then, here’s what we did after our visit to ELAM:

Friday, October 17-Sunday, October 19, 2008: 1st Biology trip to Canasí

Day #1

At around 5 or so, right after our six-hour class (with three breaks) at CEDEM, we crossed a river to get to our campsite in Canasí. Perfect weather. Perfect sunset. Couldn’t have been better. We settled down right next to the ocean where we made hotdog and mayonnaise sandwiches—which were surprisingly good—and talked for hours. We lived off this same meal for the rest of the trip, which also sometimes included canned Chilean fish, tuna, fruta bomba (papaya), peanut butter and saltines.

As always in conversation, we made our way to Cuban politics. Fortunately, there were no problems. I thank a dragonfly for coming right in time as I was discussing what I’d like to film over in Bolivia next semester. My Biology professor, who specializes in butterflies and moths, got distracted so he forgot about my fieldwork instantly and proceeded to tell us about this dragonfly’s wings. Phew…

Later that night, like I’m sure that dragonfly had, we froze. I thought I was so smart for having brought a long-sleeve shirt, jeans and heavy socks but that apparently wasn’t good enough. I guess it was a good thing I didn’t sleep too long into the morning because I was able to watch a few fisherman head out to sea at sunrise.

Day #2

During the day we hiked for a few hours with the Bio grad students and hunted for insects which included butterflies, dragonflies and, later that night for two hours—with the help of a white bedsheet and a generator—moths and beetles. For those who are not nature fans: to be perfectly honest, I’m not one who goes out “into the wild” very often, either, but this trip made me want to more often. My bio teacher made me grateful for the bosque I live in…oh, Lincoln, Massachusetts. “Lincolnites: Drive 20 in Lincoln”.

Once we got back to our campsite, we decided to go for a swim. I include this story to explain exactly how bad my English has become:

I spent a couple of hours wading in the water by a cave with a few of the grad students and discussed different types of fish endemic to Cuba. I don’t know whether or not the jellyfish we hunted for were endemic to Cuba but, at the least, I knew they weren’t poisonous. Hence, that gave me reason to not be afraid of collecting them with the rest of the students. When one of the grad students realized how long we had been in the water for, he looked down at his hands and asked me, “Why do my hands—wait, Christine, how do you say these in English?”
“Wait…just give me a sec…this can’t be happening.” He told me how to say it in Spanish, and I remembered that, but why not in English? It was pretty sad how long I was looking at my hands for, trying to figure out this word. I had forgotten how to say wrinkles. It seems I’ll only have a little over a month to polish up my English at home. I’ll be heading out to Bolivia earlier than expected: I’m leaving on January 27th!

Day #3

The following morning I woke up and found that my sneakers weren’t in front of my tent. I thought one of the guys had hid them as I joke so I went looking for my bathing suit instead so I could get ready to cross that river again. I looked behind me and saw that there was no clothesline. Irlán, one of the Bio grad students, said he couldn’t find his trunks and asked our profe where he put the clothesline. We were robbed, he said. Towels, boxers, bathing suits, shorts and some tent equipment were stolen. I’m just glad no one was hurt, to be perfectly honest, not that anything happened the last time but that’s another story for another day.

I absolutely refuse to leave this entry on a bad note because, despite the fact our belongings were stolen, we had a fantastic weekend. I’ll conclude this entry with a statement from one of the girls I spoke the night before this incident:

We both realized that we had been here for two months as of that day and couldn’t believe how we were leaving in just under two months. So, she told me, “The only way I will be able to leave is by telling myself that I’ll be able to come back soon.” Ditto.

P.S. Zak, third and fourth cliff jumps. YES!
P.P.S. For the first time today I heard that English is pleasing to the ear from one of the Bio grad students. He thinks English is a “beautiful” language and then congratulated me for speaking it. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008: Officially done voting!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008: Happy Birthday, Becca Seatle!

Thursday, October 23, 2008: Happy Birthday, Kimberly Howard!

What do you think of this? I don’t even have anything positive to say…right now, that is… This is from the magazine that comes along with the Sunday New York Times, by the way.

“The Cuban Way”
Turning a blind eye to your neighbor, as you would have her do unto you
By Rachel Kushner

It was six years ago around this time that my mother, my aunt and I arrived at the house of their childhood friend Alina, in a town called Nicaro on the northeast coast of Holguín Province. This was after flying from Havana to Santiago de Cuba and then driving a few hours. It was the first time they’d seen her in almost 50 years, since all the Americans left. To celebrate, Alina went out to get beer, though I wondered from where. Getting anything that wasn’t a weekly government allotment meant going to Mayarí, 14 miles away. But Alina returned in seconds with the beer; it was even cold.

It turned out she got it from a jinetera, or prostitute, next door. She shrugged, saying she takes “la vista gorda” with her neighbor, who entertains local mineworkers in her home. Literally, “the fat view.” What did it mean? “It’s like—what’s the expression?—live and let live,” Alina explained. “It’s the Cuban way.”

The next day—so much for live and let live—someone reported Alina for having us as houseguests, suspecting she was renting rooms to tourists. Never mind that no tourist would come to Nicaro, a dust-covered mining town 500 miles from Havana, with no hotels or restaurants. There’s a bakery, but they only government vouchers.

“They know because of the rental car,” Alina said. No one really owns a private car in Nicaro. People wait for the rare bus or hoof it. The only vehicles are government trucks that rumble to and from the mine. When my mother lived here before the revolution, shiny new Buicks lined Alina’s street, a managers’ row of the mining operation, which was owned and run by the American government. I’ve heard endless stories about my mother’s idyllic childhood here and also about the poverty of the mineworkers and servants, who lived in a poor village called Levisa. Alina’s father was one of the few Cuban executives in Nicaro, which was why she went to the private American school with my mother and aunts.

The upshot was that we had to go to Mayarí and get special amendments to our Cuban visas. We waited for hours and were finally admitted to an office where an unfriendly man sat at a desk tapping a manual typewriter. the middle of the floor had been excavated, and we stood on one side of a three-foot hole. The man said we had to pay $200 to stay at Alina’s house. This would use up a lot of our money, and I voiced my frustration, “Raquel,” Alina said to me, “if you don’t pay, I’ll hang.” She wasn’t kidding, though I wasn’t sure what she meant by “hang.”

Now that we were legal, Alina wanted to be seen as much as possible in the car. We motored all over town. Alina stuck her head out the window and waved like the May Queen of a one-car parade. We stopped at the bakery, where the clerk gave her more than her share. “She takes pity on me,” Alina said, “because I’m the only fat person in Nicaro.”

That night, as we were eating, a neighbor knocked on the door. Alina said it was the woman who turned us in; Alina had arranged to borrow her cassette player so we could listen to music. The neighbor set the player on the counter. Alina handed her a plate of food, and she disappeared through the back door. There was only one response: la vista gorda.

The next morning we visited a Jamaican man named Cleveland, who was a servant in my grandparents’ home an my mother’s first crush. He still lives in Levisa, which had been converted into a kind of revolutionary showcase, with modest but solidly built homes. He was reading the newspaper in government-provided bifocals when we arrived, and he served us fresh coconut juice. We met his grandchildren, a teenage girl, pretty but sullen, and a boy who was in college studying engineering. It was clear to me that the revolution had improved things for Cleveland and his family. But as we were saying goodbye, the granddaughter pulled me aside and quietly handed me an envelope. Inside was a photo of her with a note asking me to post it on a mail-order-bride Web site.

It was sure it was wrong for me to do what she asked. My allegiance was to my mother, whose allegiance was to Cleveland. But back home in New York, it dawned on me that this girl might know what was best for her. I decided to post her photo. When I got to the site and scrolled through the pages, I saw that she had already figured out how to do it herself. La vista gorda, I thought at the time.

Last month, Hurricane Ike devastated much of Holguín Province. I don’t know whether the granddaughter is still in Cuba or not. I’m told that Cleveland’s home survived, miraculously. But Alina lost her roof. She has no money to fix it and no other place to live, and legally, we can’t send assistance. And now la vista gorda doesn’t seem like the right phrase at all.”

Saturday, October 25, 2008

My singing trio had our first unexpected performance in the dining room this evening. We sang for an hour and a half to the kitchen staff—dance moves and all. Our set included Disney tunes, Lauren Hill, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5, Destiny’s Child and a selection of Sister Act 2 songs. According to one of the guards, we should make an album. According to the cook, we should all receive muzzles for Christmas. He didn’t have to say it, his eyes simply told me so.

Monday, October 27, 2008: Happy Birthday, Jeff Higgins!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: Happy Birthday, Ella Scott!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Yesterday’s discussions in and outside of class morphed my day into a Conference on gender studies in Cuba. In film, which is a 3 ½-hour class, we discussed 90s Cuban film and then watched, Fresca y Chocolate.

I watched this movie this past spring after reading Senel Paz’s novel El lobo, el bosque y el hombre nuevo, which is what this film is based on. Since I had to write a comparison essay in my Spanish class contrasting these pieces, I ended up critiquing whether or not the film really did the novel justice. I believe it did but I felt as though a very important part in the novel was left out: when Diego and David hit Havana together in the end. Of course, to those who have read the novel and have watched this film: we can debate this at another time

What does matter, though, is that this film opened up a lot of doors when it came to gender identity in Cuba. I just wanted to let all of you know how important Fresca y Chocolate is in Cuban history but also in the history of Cuban cinema. It was the film that had the international community turning their heads towards Cuba in 1993. Please watch it. As for Sarah Lawrence students, it’s in the library. It’s VHS, though…so, just watch it when you have a couple of hours to spare. I highly recommend Chinese take-out from Sun Xing’s as well but that’s just a personal opinion. The film’s not actually two hours but you’ll want a bit of time to discuss it afterwards.

A random fact about this film: according to my film teacher, this year was the first year Fresca y Chocolate was broadcasted on Cuban public television. Let me know what you think if you get around to watching it. I’d love to hear your feedback.

Friday, October 31st, 2008: Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday, Sara Leatherbarrow!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Can you believe it? It’s November! And, for Halloween this year, I tried to go to an outdoor ballet (it got rained out) and then went to Club Turf. We’ve been getting rain and windy weather for the past week. The last time we had weather like this, we got Gustav and Ike. So, I can’t say I’m enjoying the rain much anymore (splashing around for one day is enough for me) but I can say I love the cool breezes. The entire staff has commented how nuts some of the Harvard students and I are, wondering why we sit out on the porch wearing a sweatshirt and boxer shorts. Our response is that we’ve lived in Massachusetts for too long to be phased by the weather—never mind cold weather—anymore.

It’s finally beginning to feel like fall. Apparently this won’t be lasting for much longer, though. I’ve heard that this is just a “cold front” and that it will be even warmer than it was before within the next week. I guess we’ll all just have to go to the beach next weekend. I know, pobresita (poor thing). That reminds me: I have to find a new bathing suit.

P.S. My roommate, Andrea, just pointed out to me that we have a centipede in our shower. Now, this wouldn’t have worried me so much if we hadn’t analyzed animales del suelo (literally ‘floor animals’) last week in our Biology class: our teacher took a centipede the size of a stick of margarine out of a Coffee mate bottle and said it was cute. Needless to say, I am more afraid of what cute things I’ll encounter in my shower than I will while walking in Havana late at night.

Monday, November 3, 2008

I finally went to El Museo de la Revolución yesterday. At around 2:30, I realized I had already spent two hours in the museum and still hadn’t made it to the third floor. I decided to head downstairs and asked the guards if I could grab a bite to eat and head back in about 15 minutes or so. They said it was fine and, that if I didn’t come back for some reason that day, I could come back the following day.

Little did I know that I would bump into Mireya Sosa on the street right outside of the museum. I didn’t know who this woman was. I just asked her where I could get a sandwich or something. She said sure and asked me where I was from. I told her that I was from the States. Of course, she then asked me what I was doing here. I told her that I study Anthropology in New York but not so much here since it isn’t really possible. So, I told her that I was studying Film and Spanish.

It seems that Mireya Sosa and I have a lot more in common than I thought. She has a son studying medicine in New York. She invited me over her house and I stayed there for somewhere over two hours. Needless to say, I didn’t have time to finish off the third floor of the museum yesterday so I headed back today for another two hours earlier this morning before attending a lecture on Cuban art during the special period. Do a bit of research, you’ll be amazed at what you find.

A few hours later, the rest of the SLC girls and I were swept off to La Havana Vieja. Remember how I told you way back when that the drinks were on SLC at the Bacardi Building? Well, as we all know, history tends to repeat itself. So, in La Havana Vieja, our directors essentially bought us a beer bong that was trying to compete with the Tower of Babel. Surprisingly, it wasn’t very hard for a group of 9 to finish this monstrosity a little over an hour.

During this weekly meeting of ours, we discussed the Thanksgiving dinner the Harvard and SLC students will be making together this year at the end of the month. If you are rolling your eyes right now, I completely understand, as the history of Thanksgiving is not necessarily something to be celebrated. But, let us see this day as a day of thanks. That’s what I’m going to try to see it as, even though we are Americans in, of all places, Havana, Cuba.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008: Barack Obama wins 2008 Presidential Elections!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Yesterday morning I woke up and realized that I finally needed to go to the doctor. My throat had been bothering me so much for the past five days that eating had come to be a truly unpleasant experience. So, I headed to Cira García where I met Dr. Espinosa, the same doctor who treated one of my friends a couple of weeks ago (I went with her to translate her digestive issues). He prescribed me three medications for laryngitis, two of which I don’t really need, and told me that he’d like to see me next week to make sure the antibiotic works.

Taxi rides to and from hospital: $0.50 CUC (the second ride was for free since the driver realized I had a bag of medication in my hand)
Medication: $73.50 CUC
Consultation: ~$40.00 CUC
Both of the aforementioned in Cira García for Christine: Priceless.

I went home and went to bed for a bit and, a little after 12, decided to head out with the girls to get a bite to eat and then go over to the Melhia Cohiba Hotel to watch Barack Obama win the 2008 Presidential Elections and, of course, call my Mom.

After the most expensive phonecall I’ve ever made in my life, $2.50/minute, it was time to settle down in the bar. For the next ten hours we shouted, waited and watched CNN try to distract us: “Thanks, Jessica (Yellin), you’re a great hologram. Thanks very much.” No, Wolf Blizter, thank you for making me laugh so hard I thought I was going to cry. Either way, in the end, I did. At 9:32, according to my watch, Obama won Ohio. My friend, Harry, took out a cigar to celebrate. As we all know, no candidate has ever won an American presidency without Ohio. I didn’t want to celebrate too fast, though. I wanted to be sure. At 10:20, McCain broke 100 and, by that time, Obama was already at 201 and, McCain, at 127.

People around the world in Kenya, Australia, New York (represent) were watching this event. All our group had to say was that they should’ve had a camera on Havana, Cuba at 11:00.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

I had a phone date with my sister earlier today and, while I was Facebook chatting with her, I heard a man having some communication issues with one of the staff members. I asked him where he was from since I noticed he had an interesting accent and, as it turns out, he’s a pilot from Minnesota.

I asked him, “So, what do you think of our new president?”
“He’s an interesting choice.”
The way in which he said this made me realize Stu (I’m just going to call this man “Stu” for “Stupid”) and I were not going to be the best of friends.

We later, by mistake, met up next to one of the three bars at the Melhía Cohiba. He asked me right before I left what I was doing here.

“I’m a student.”
“No, what do you study here?”
“Anthropology, Spanish and Film.”
“A filmmaking anthropologist…you wouldn’t happen to have any connections to that Michael Moore, now, would you?”
“No, I like his work but he’s a bit too radical for me sometimes.”
“Oh, ok.” He gave me a austere look.
“I try to be as moderate as possible, but still open-minded…have a safe trip home!”

Right after this, I headed over to a Model UN Conference with my friend, Diane. It was, unfortunately, the last one of the semester but, nonetheless, it was still very interesting. Today’s subject was nuclear proliferation. Talk about tough stuff. At the least, though, I met a journalist and an aspiring lawyer. They lawyer represented the US and, the journalist, Iran. Maybe Stu was right, maybe I am a tad too “rad”.

Digestible Chronology of Cuba from “The First and Second Declarations of Havana: Manifestos of revolutionary struggle in the Americas adopted by the Cuban people”

This may not be the most ideal overview of Cuban history but it gives an interesting perspective...and, well, it’s the book I was recommended to read by my program. Although it is not necessarily the goal of this book, the editor, Mary-Alice Waters, does explain the “serious politics”, as she put it, which occurred between the First and Second Declarations of Havana. See for yourselves:

1952: March 10- Former Cuban president and military strongman Fulgencio Batista organizes coup d’ état, ousting elected government of Carlos Prío. Batista establishes an increasingly brutal military dictatorship closely allied with many of the country’s wealthiest families and U.S. business interests in Cuba, and supported by Washington.

April 9- Revolutionary upsurge in Bolivia topples military dictatorship and installs bourgeois government. The armed uprising is led by tin miners in vanguard of a trade union movement allied with peasant organizations. The largest tin mines are nationalized, unions are legalized, land reform initiated, and a literacy requirement effectively denying the ballot to Bolivia’s indigenous majority abolished.

1953: July 26- Aiming to initiate insurrection against Batista tyranny, some 160 revolutionaries organized and led by Fidel Castro launch attack on Moncada army garrison in Santiago de Cuba and garrison in nearby Bayamo. Combatants fail to take either military headquarters, and over 50 captured revolutionaries are murdered. Castro and 27 other fighters are subsequently captured, tried, and sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

July 27- Armistice ends three-year-long Korean War. Korean workers and peasants and Chinese People’s Liberation Army inflict first military defeat on U.S. imperialism, blocking Washington from toppling government in north Korea and attacking workers and peasants regime in China.

1954: May 7- French forces surrender to Communist-led Vietnamese liberation fighters at Dien Bien Phu, signaling defeat of French colonialism in Indochina. At conference in Geneva, Moscow backs U.S., British, and French imperialist proposal to partition Vietnam. A U.S.-backed regime is imposed in south.

June-September- Seeking to crush worker, peasant, and student struggles in Guatemala and turn back initial steps toward land reform, mercenary forces backed by CIA invade country in order to oust government of Jacobo Arbenz. Rejecting popular demands to arm population to resist, Arbenz resigns June 27 and soon flees country. Rightist forces organized and backed by CIA enter Guatemala City in August.

October 31- Algerian war for independence begins, as fighters organized by National Liberation Front (FLN) challenge French colonial rule.

1955: May 15- Following a nationwide amnesty campaign, Fidel Castro and the other imprisoned Moncadistas are freed. Within weeks Castro leads unification of several revolutionary organizations to form June 26 Revolutionary Movement. In July he and others leave for Mexico, where they prepare to relaunch revolutionary armed struggle against Batista tyranny.

December 5- Bus boycott begins in Montgomery, Alabama, announcing opening of mass proletarian-based movement led by Blacks to bring down “Jim Crow” racial segregation across U.S. South. The boycott ends over a year later, with elimination of policies forcing Blacks to move to the back of the bus.

1956: July-December- In face of mounting anti-imperialist sentiment and actions in Egypt, government of Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes Suez Canal, largely owned and controlled by British and French capital. Asserting U.S. dominance in Mideast at expense of former European powers, Washington condemns military intervention in Egypt by British, French, and Israeli troops, forcing withdrawal.

December 2- Eighty-two members of July 26 Movement, including Moncadistas Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro, and Juan Almeida, and the Argentine doctor Ernesto Che Guevara, land in Cuba from Mexico aboard the yacht Granma to initiate revolutionary war. Rebel Army is born.

1957: September- In face of 1954 Supreme Court decision barring racial segregation of schools, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, admits nine Black students. Governor of Arkansas unleashes racist mobs to assault Black youth. As international outrage mounts, U.S. president Dwight Eisenhower bends to growing pressure at home and abroad to respond to call by supporters of Black rights, sending in federal troops to protect students.

December 14- On behalf of July 2 Movement, Fidel Castro repudiates Miami Pact, an attempt by bourgeois opposition forces to take leadership of anti-Batista struggle.

1958: January 23- Popular rebellion in Caracas overthrows regime of Venezuelan dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez.

May- Demonstrations in Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Perú, Venezuela, and other countries protest tour of Latin America by U.S. vice president Richard Nixon and denounce U.S. domination of region.

July- Batista military offensive against Rebel Army command center in Sierra Maestra mountains is defeated, opening war for revolutionary forces to drive across island to final victory.

1959: January 1- Triumph of revolutionary war. In face of Rebel Army advances and broadening popular insurrection and general strike led by July 26 Movement, Batista flees Cuba. Over next few days Rebel Arm takes control of all military garrisons and police headquarters. Former judge Manuel Urrutia becomes president. July 26 Movement cadres head several ministries, initially as minority in new government.

February 16- Revolutionary mobilizations of workers and peasants deepen, leading to resignation of Prime Minister José Miró Cardona. Fidel Castro becomes prime minister.

March 6- Cuba’s revolutionary government approves law imposing rent reduction of 30-50 percent.

March 22- Fidel Castro announces measures to outlaw racial discrimination in all public facilities and in employment.

May 17- Cuban government signs first agrarian reform law, limiting size of private landholdings of 1,000 acres. Mass mobilizations of peasants and workers confiscate landed estates of foreign and Cuban owners who exceed limit. Land titles are distributed to 100,000 landless peasants.

July 16-17- In face of Urrutia’s opposition to revolution’s measures, Fidel Castro resigns as prime minister. A massive popular outpouring forces Urrutia to resign, and he is replaced as president by July 16 Movement cadre Osvaldo Dorticós. Castro resumes responsibilities as prime minister on July 26.

July- Civil war breaks out in Laos between Pathet Lao liberation front and U.S.-backed proimperialist forces.

November 1- Some 2,000 Panamanian workers and students cross into Canal Zone to plant Panamanian flag. Tear-gassing and assaults by club-wielding U.S. forces spark further protests demanding Panama’s sovereignty over canal.

November 26- Che Guevara becomes head of National Bank, replacing Felipe Pazos, one of last bourgeois representatives in the government.

1960: February 1- Sit-in by Black students at whites-only lunch counter at Woolworth’s department store in Greensboro, North Carolina, opens wave of sit-ins across U.S. South demanding desegregation of public facilities.

March 4- La Coubre, French ship carrying Belgian arms bought by Cubans for their defense, explodes in Havana harbor, killing 101 people.

June 29-July 1- Oil workers backed by revolutionary government take over Texaco, Esso, and Shell refineries following refusals to refine petroleum bought by Cuba from Soviet Union.

June 30- Congo wins independence from Belgium. Patrice Lumumba becomes prime minister.

July 6- U.S. president Dwight Eisenhower, as punitive measure, orders sugar imports Washington had agreed to buy from Cuba reduced by 700,000 tons, slashing sugar quota for the remainder of 1960 by 95 percent.

July 9- Soviet Union announces it will purchase all Cuban sugar the U.S. refuses to buy.

July 26-August 8- First Latin American Youth Congress in Cuba is attended by nearly 1,000 young people from every Latin American nation, as well as United States, Canadá, Soviet Union, and other countries. Many participants are won to perspective of emulating Cuban revolutionists’ example.

August 6- In face of increasing U.S. economic aggression and sabotage, Cuba’s revolutionary government responds to workers’ initiatives and decrees nationalization of major U.S. companies. As workers mobilize across island to combat economic disruption by capitalists, virtually all large-scale Cuban-owned industry is nationalized by end of October.

August 22-29- Organization of American States (OAS) holds foreign ministers meeting in San José, Costa Rica, which issues Declaration of San José condemning Cuba’s revolutionary course. The OAS includes every Latin American country except those that remain colonies plus the United States.

September 2- One million Cubans, constituting themselves the National General Assembly of the Cuban People, condemn OAS Declaration of San José and adopt First Declaration of Havana.

September 26- Fidel Castro, addressing UN General Assembly, denounces U.S. attacks on Cuba and declares solidarity with struggle against imperialism worldwide.

October 13- All foreign (except Canadian-owned) and Cuban banks are nationalized, as are 382 Cuban-owned companies.

October 14- Urban Reform Law enacted, barring landlords from renting out urban real estate. Under law most Cubans become owners of their homes, with others paying maximum rent to state of 10 percent of family income.

Late December- Revolutionary militias mobilize in response to U.S. military threats against Cuba made during its final days by Eisenhower administration.

1961: January 1- “Year of Education” begins in Cuba. In a year-long literacy campaign, more than 100,000 teachers, overwhelmingly youth and students, fan out to every corner of the island. By end of effort, nearly one million workers and peasants of all ages had learned to read and write. The nationwide mobilization wipes out illiteracy.

January 3- Washington breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba.

January 16- State Department announces that U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba must obtain specific authorization.

January 17- Patrice Lumumba, ousted as prime minister of Congo in September 1960 coup, is murdered on orders of Joseph Mobutu, with direct participation of Belgian officials and backing by Washington.

March 31- U.S. president John F. Kennedy halts all remaining sugar imports from Cuba,

April 17-19- U.S.-organized mercenary invasion is defeated in less than 72 hours at Playa Girón on Bay of Pigs by Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces, Revolutionary National Police and popular militias. On eve of attack, Fidel Castro for first time explains socialist course of revolution at mass rally in Havana mobilizing Cuban people to face impending invasion. Victory of Cuban defenders in crushing mercenaries marks U.S. imperialism’s first military defeat in Latin America.

May 4- First Freendom Ride occurs in U.S. South, as activists take buses across state borders in attempt to desegregate interstate public transportatio.

May 31- Rafael Trujillo, longtime dictator of Dominican Republic,, is assassinated. His protégé Joaquín Balaguer, the country’s president, assumes fulls control, with U.S. backing.

August 5-17- At meeting of OAS Economic and Social Conference in Punta del Este, Uruguay, U.S. government announces “Alliance for Progress,” aimed at propping up compliant capitalist regimes and enriching U.S. bankers and investigators. Plan allocates $20 billion in loans over ten years to Latin American regimes in exchange for cooperation in opposing Cuba’s revolutionary government. Che Guevara, at head of Cuba’s delegation, uses meeting as platform to expose character of imperialist-dominated “Alliance” and mobilize opposition to it.

August 30- President Kennedy orers 148,000 National Guard and reserve troops to active duty during Berlin crisis, in which U.S. and Soviet military forces face off.

November- Amid a growing popular rebellion in Dominican Republic, Washington deploys warships off Dominican coast to bolster Balaguer regime.

December- Cuban ship Bahía de Nipe leaves Havana for North Africa, carrying weapons and ammunition to aid Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) fight to overturn French colonial rule. Ship returns in January with 76 wounded Algerian fighters and 20 war orphans.

December 2- Announcing unification of July 26 Movement with Popular Socialist Party and Revolutionary Directorate, Fidel Castro delivers speech, “I Will Be a Marxists-Leninist to the End of My Life.”

1962: January 22-31- Meeting of foreign ministers of Latin America and U.S. sponsored by OAS in Punta del Este, Uruguay, expels Cuba from OAS and supports military moves against it. Cuba’s delegation, headed by President Osvaldo Dorticós, uses meeting as platform to condemn imperialist exploitation of Latin America.

February 3- President Kennedy orders total embargo on U.S. trade with Cuba.

February 4- National General Assembly of one million in Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution adopts Second Declaration of Havana, proclaiming Cuba’s support to revolutionary struggle for popular power throughout Americas.

July 3- Following eight-year national liberation struggle, Algeria wins independence from France. Workers and peasants government led by Ahmed Ben Bella establishes close ties with revolutionary Cuban government.

October 22-28- Kennedy administration orders naval blockade of Cuba, places U.S. armed forces on nuclear alert, and demands removal from island of Soviet-supplied nuclear missile defense. Missiles had been installed following a mutual defense agreement between Cuba and Soviet Union in face of Washington’s preparations to invade Cuba. In response to U.S. aggression, millions of Cubans mobilize to defend the socialist revolution, pushing back U.S. nuclear threats. Following exchange between U.S. and Soviet governments, Premier Nikita Khrushchev, without consulting Cuban government, announces removal of missiles.

1963: April-May- Black rights fighters in Birmingham, Alabama, conduct mass marches and sit-ins to desegregate public facilities. As they defend themselves against brutal assaults by cops employing billy clubs, dogs, fire hoses, and tear gas, the events become known as “The Battle of Birmingham.”

May 24- Algeria welcomes fifty-five Cuban volunteer doctors, dentists, nurses, and other medical personnel, the first such internationalist mission of the Cuban Revolution.

August 28- March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom draws 250,000 people demanding civil rights. Coinciding with march, a call for a break with the Democratic Party and formation of a Freedom Now Party is issued, with support of a number of figures in Black rights struggle, as well as Nation of Islam.

October 3- Cuba enacts second agrarian reform, confiscating private holdings in excess of 165 acres. Property is seized from some 10,000 capitalist farmers who own 20 percent of Cuba’s agricultural land and constitute a base for counterrevolutionary activity organized by Washington. Measure brings social relations on land in harmony with state ownership of industry, strengthening worker-farmer alliance.

October 22- Battalion of almost 700 Cuban volunteer troops arrives in Algeria to defend newly independent revolutionary regime against imperialist-inspired attacks by Morocco.

1964: January 9- U.S. troops kill some twenty Panamanians and wound hundreds during protests against refusal of U.S. officials to fly Panamanian flag wherever U.S. flag is displayed. Over following week, thousands of Panamanians mobilize to demand sovereignty over Panama Canal.

March 31-April 2- U.S.-backed military coup in Brazil overthrows elected government of João Goulart, inaugurating years of bloody terror.

June-August- Thousands of youth participate in “Freedom Summer” to register Blacks to vote in U.S. South. On June 21st, three volunteers—James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner—are murdered in Mississippi by Ku Klux Klan gang led by local deputy sheriff.

August- Using an alleged naval incident in waters off Indochina as pretext, U.S Congress passes Tonkin Gulf resolution. Bombing of North Vietnam and rapid escalation of war against Vietnamese liberation forces begins. By 1969 some 540,000 U.S. troops are fighting in Vietnam.

December 11- Che Cuevara addresses UN General Assembly. Citing the revolutionary perspective of Second Declaration of Havana, he affirms Cuba’s solidarity with worldwide fight against imperialist exploitation.

1965: February 21- Malcolm X, revolutionary leader of struggle for Black liberation and against U.S. imperialist oppression and exploitation of working people the world over, is assassinated in New York City.

March 13- Condemning split between the governing parties of Soviet Union and China, Fidel Castro declares that “Diversion in the face of the enemy was never a revolutionary or intelligent strategy” and calls for united front to defend Vietnam from U.S. imperialist attack.

April 1- Che Guevara delivers farewell letter to Fidel Castro resigning leadership duties in Cuba in order to freely participate in revolutionary struggles abroad. While awaiting preparations for revolutionary front in South America’s Southern Cone, he goes to Congo at head of column of more than 100 Cuban volunteers assisting popular forces fighting that country’s proimperialist regime. A second column of Cuban volunteers goes to Congo-Brazzaville to constitute a reserve force and to aid independence fighters in Angola.

April 17- 20,000 march in first nationwide demonstration in Washington, D.C., to protest U.S. war in Vietnam. Initiated by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), it is organized as a united-front action together with Young Socialist Alliance, W.E.B. Debois Clubs, and others.

April 28- Some 24,000 U.S. troops invade the Dominican Republic to crush popular uprising against Washington-backed military junta.

June 19- Revolutionary government in Algeria led by Ben Bella is overthrown in military coup.

August- Rebellion by Black community drives police out of Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. Some 13,000 National Guardsmen assault Blacks in area, leaving 36 dead, 900 injured, and 4,000 arrested. First of numerous explosions by Blacks in major U.S. cities over next three years.

October 3- During public meeting to introduce Central Committee of newly founded Communist Party of Cuba, Fidel Castro reads Che Guveara’s April 1st letter announcing plans to join struggles against imperialist exploitation in other parts of the word.

1966: January 3-14- Tricontinental Conference of Solidarity of the Peoples of Asia, Africa, and Latin America is held in Havana, attended by anti-imperialist fighters from around the world.

November- Che Guevara arrives in Bolivia to lead a revolutionary front in South America’s Southern Cone. Guevara is wounded and captured October 8, 1967, in a CIA-organized operation by Bolivian troops. He is murdered the following day by Bolivian armed forces after consultation with Washington.

1967: July 31-August 10- Organization of Latin American Solidarity (OLAS) conference is held in Havana, attended by revolutionary forces and left political parties from throughout the Americas, including the United States. Under banner citing Second Declaration of Havana’s call to action—“The duty of every revolutionist is to make the revolution”—the conference proclaims support for popular struggles throughout Latin America.

P.S. Random fact for all of you: In 2001, Maine became the first US state to pass a resolution calling for a complete trade and travel ban against Cuba.

Sorry about the long wait...I've been wicked busy...

I’m sorry my previous entries aren’t exactly…what they were supposed to be. My goal was to show all of you Cuba through images but, right now, it’s not even possible to upload one picture here at the Melia Cohiba Hotel. And that’s the best internet connection around here. So, I will be sure to fill this visual void once I get back to the States in mid-December. ☺
P.S. If you’re forwarding this e-mail/blog link to anyone else, please send me their name(s) and e-mail address(es) so I can put them on my e-mailing list and keep track of who’s receiving these e-mails. Hermana, this does not include you because I know you’ll just be sharing this information with your students in CT. Thanks!

Friday, August 29, 2008

Class registration is not an easy task in the States—especially at Sarah Lawrence since we have to interview for our classes for almost a week—but the process that we had to go through to register for four classes was absolute madness. We were told early this morning that we had to go to all three faculties to confirm our classes. For those who were only registering with one or two faculties just had to stick it out for the day. The registration process ended after a little over three hours. That was not what bothered me at all, though. I’ve taken the bus out of the New York Port Authority to Riverside in Newton, MA on many a Friday night and you don’t see me complaining.

It was just the fact that our group of eight students blatantly got preference over all other students that were outside our meetings with these department heads. I think if I had been in any other country studying abroad, I would’ve said to myself: “we’re just students who are simply trying to adjust into a new learning environment in a different language so we need a little more help than the locals with this registration process.” But, whether or not you want it to be, this is already a political situation. Standing before at least 20 Cuban students, it was obvious we were American not only because of the fact that not all of us look Cuban, nor do we dress in Cuban attire (I mention this because apparently spandex is the new black) but we were speaking in English.

This partiality I speak of is not new to us here, though. We live in Privilege Village. I could spit from where we live and hit one of several embassies. It just bothers me so much how much attention and perks we receive. Once again, this was expected, but I have an aversion to it.

It is now difficult answering the question, “where do you live?” but “where you from?” is, by far, the worst. I sometimes reply to the latter question, “I’m from the United States”.
“No, no, no! Where are you really from?”
“Oh…I was born in Lima.”
That’s when the good reactions come.

Sometimes you can get great reactions, such as from a musician I bumped into on an animal farm (random, I know): “Wow, you study in New York! That is the capital of the world!”

While one of my American friends was hanging out with her Cuban boyfriend on the Malecón, a drunk man came up to them asking about their ethnicities:
“Are you Cuban?” he asked her boyfriend.
“Yes.”
“Are you Cuban?” he asked my friend.
“No.”
“Watch out because cops are arresting Cubans for talking with foreigners. Just pretend you’re married.”

In case some of you don’t know, it is not actually legal for Cubans to talk with foreigners. I’ve heard that if a foreigner is caught talking with a native, you’re putting him/her in more danger than yourself.

To continue with the “Americans-in-Cuba stories”, though: When one of my American friends had to visit one of the local clinics she, of course, had to state her basic information before scheduling a consultation. When she said where she was from, the secretary cackled at her.

Once again, you get very different reactions from locals here. It is expected from us students and from all of you, I’m sure. That doesn’t mean it still isn’t awkward at times, though.

Sunday, August 31, 2008: Spinelli’s first hurricane

Yesterday morning, we took our last breaths of fresh air while running out to get survival supplies for the storm, which entailed the following: mango juice, avocados and, of course, chocolate at the local agro. An agro, or agropecuario, is a free-enterprise vegetable market, by the way.

To pass the day, we read, watched Gossip Girl and Top Chef and then, once it came time for our guest, Gustav, to arrive, the rest of the group decided they wanted to play Kings, which I’ve recently discovered is a drinking game. I had been playing solitaire with a set of doggy playing cards with a flashlight earlier so I thought, “Sure, why not”. So, I went into my bedroom to get a 1.5 liter bottle of water from my refrigerator. I told the girls that if they were to have to struggle, wanting to go to the bathroom when Gustav came, that I’d be right alongside them crossing my legs.

All in all, the storm was a good time, if anything. None of us were worried after the first hour of Kings. I should explain the rules of this game that essentially erased all of our discomfort: to play the game of Kings, one must place a set of cards, face-down, around the bottle of alcohol one will be drinking—in this case, it was Cuban rum (of course) and Coke. Every time each person takes a card, it pretty much means that that person will inevitably have to drink.

An ace means “waterfall” which translates to the person who picked up the ace card must drink as much as possible. Once that person begins to drink, the next person in the circle has to begin drinking. The last rule of this particular card is that once the person ahead of you stops drinking, you’re free to stop drinking. The rule for card number two is, “two for you”. Therefore, the person who chooses a number two card can choose the next person who must drink from the communal bottle. I consider the following rule, “three for me”, as self-explanatory. The best card, in my opinion, is card number six: “make a trick”, which means the person who chooses that card has to make up a random rule. By the end of the night, one of the girls had to refer to herself as a “prime minister” and another as “armpit”. And also each time I had to drink from my massive water bottle, I had to remove an invisible man.

So, in the end, Gustav wasn’t so bad after all. The time to head downstairs never came.
The storm didn’t hit us hard in Vedado, we mainly just got a lot of rain and a power outage that lasted four days. If anything, I can only hope to be so fortunate the next time a hurricane comes my way.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Since Laura and Raydl had to complete their videos as quickly as possible, they finished editing while I was away traveling through Santa Clara, Trinidad and Cienfuegos. Given that I missed out on the editing process, Rayde told me he’d teach me how to use their editing programs at one point or another in the near future. I’ve already seen them and they look pretty similar to FinalCut Pro, a film-editing program and Audacity, an audio-editing program. I think I’ll be able to handle it.

Although I was not able to help them out, I luckily was able to see four of their reggaeton music videos they made with Laura’s uncle, who was the director. They were so professional. They asked me for critiques and, I must admit, I didn’t really have anything to say but the aforementioned. They looked as though they were ready to be run on MTV or something. I asked them if they had them uploaded on youtube. Legally, they can’t do it but said they could give them to me and, that if I wanted to, I could upload them.

After this, they took the equipment they used for the making of these videos out from under Laura’s bed. Their lights and tripod were in a suitcase while their camera was in a normal case. They don’t use DV tapes here, which isn’t surprising, but it was interesting to find that the mini-compact discs they use to film can be burned inside their SONY cameras. Maybe other filmmakers on this e-mailing list have seen this before…I definitely hadn’t.

After being at Laura’s house for less than 15 minutes, I was invited to Laura’s father’s birthday party on the 18th personally. Not only that, but her dad also offered to discuss santería with me at some point. I will most definitely be bringing my notebook…

Mom, he gave me a set of ceramics and told me that one is for me and one is for you. One is of a Coco-Taxi (just google it) and another is a mini-ashtray with a Cuban cigar inside (unfortunately, not a real one).

Thursday, September 4, 2008

I remember visiting an exhibition at MoMA about three years ago with my high school and spotted a poster that said: “Canción Protesta” (Protest Song) Agosto 1967, Casa de las Américas/ Cuba”. Anyway, it was startling when I stumbled upon it again so unexpectedly today.

I also found the poster of “La muerte de un burocrata” (“The Death of a Bureaucrat”) in postcard form. This is, by far, one of my favorite films. It is actually available in the States, I advise you to search for it. The director is Tomas Gutierrez Alea.

Paco, they have a sheet music archive. If there’s something particular you’d like me to try to find for you, let me know.

Just to give you an idea as to how this museum functions, I’ll give you its mission statement: “The center promotes investigations, prepares anthologies panoramas and critique compendiums which are published in the collection Valoración Múltiple (Multiple Valuation). It organizes colloquiums and meetings between writers. It heads the Archivo de la Palabra (Spoken Archive), where the voices of outstanding personalities of arts, literature and politics have been recorded. It also publishes CD’s and cassettes under the label Palabra de esta América (Word of this America). It convenes the Literary Awards Premio Casa de las Américas and edits the magazine Criterios (Criteria) in conjunction with the Union of Writers and Artists from Cuba (UNEAC).”

Check out the history of UNEAC when you can, as it is quite interesting. Also, if you’d like to find more information online about Casa de las Américas, here are their websites: www.casa.cult.cu
http://laventana.casa.cult.cu

P.S. I just started reading Cuba’s Constitution for my CEDEM course. If any of you would like a copy of it, I can try to send it to you in PDF format.

Friday, September 5, 2008

CEDEM is a mandatory research class for all Sarah Lawrence students studying in Cuba; it’s the aspect of our program that makes us different from other American schools that come here to learn. This class that meets on a weekly basis is, more or less, a lecture series. It is not taught by one professor but by, rather, several Cuban researchers that specialize in their country’s demographics. Our first meeting was a general overview of Cuban statistics but our second class, with José Luis Martin, was, I felt, an attempt to create common ground. Mr. Martin began our class saying, “Just so we do not have any miscommunications, I am going to say this in English,” he paused for a moment. “We have a lot in common: hurricanes, beisbol…the way we say cake—Cubans say cake, too. But we also have the same sense of humor.”

This is not all we have in common, though. We all know what the elephant in the room is. Cuba’s exterior debt amounts to $16.79 million (in CUCS, aka the covertible money I mentioned in my blog entry about Patricia) and also $15-20 million in debt to Russia. The principle countries that they trade with are the following: los Países Bajos 21.8%, Canada 21.6%, China 18.7%, Spain 5.9%; this includes exports and imports. And just for imports: Venezuela 26.6%, China 15.6%, Spain 9.8%, Germany 6.4%, Canada 5.6%, Italy 4.4%, US 4.3%, Brasil 4.2%” (CIA World Factbook).

Since the embargo, there has been little legislation about the continuation of opening doors to Cuba with the exception of the Clinton Administration, which put an end to exporting restrictions of agricultural and medicinal products. After the USSR collapsed, Cuba is trying to survive especially with the help of Venezuela (Misión Milagros), which sells them cheap crude oil, and China, which gives them loans.

As for America’s presence in Cuba, it is something we are supposed to ignore. Yet we are represented here by one gray building that sits right along the Malecón: the US Interests Office. Apparently not too far back, there was a wall of graffiti right outside it that made comparisons of Bush to Hitler. I’ve looked all over for these anti-Bush statements but have yet to find them. Even if I were to find it, though, it’d be difficult to take a picture of, as cameras are not permitted in the area.

Since I had a lot of time on my hands during Hurricane Ike, I decided to help build up your Cuban vocabulary as well. I highly advise even non-Spanish students to take a look over this list, as it is pretty interesting. Enjoy!

Cuban Vocabulary
from Brendan Sainsbury’s “Cuba” (with a few extra tidbits from yours truly)

A

agropecuario: free-enterprise vegetable market; also sell rice, beans, fruit
aguardiente: fermented cane; literallly ‘fire water’
Altos: upstairs apartment, when following an address
ama de llaves: housekeeper
amarillo: a roadside traffic organizer in a yellow uniform
americano/a: in Cuba this means a citizen of any western hemisphere country (from Canada to Argentina)
Arawak: linguistically related Indian tribes that inhabited most of the Caribbean islands and northern South America
asere: man, brother
Autopista: the national highway that’s four, six or eight lanes depending on where you are

B

babalawo: a Santería priest
bajos: lower apartment, when following an address
balseros: rafter; used to describe the emigrants who escaped to the US in the 1990s on homemade rafts
bárbaro: cool, killer
barbuda: bearded one, name given to Castro’s rebel army
batá: a conical two-headed drum
batanga: subgenre of mambo, popularized by Benny Moré
bici-taxi: bicycle taxi
bloqueo: Cuban term for the US embargo
bodega: stores distributing ration-card products
bohío: thatched hut
bolero: a romantic love song
botella: ‘hitchhiking’

C

cabildo: a town council during the colonial era; also an association of tribes in Cuban religions of African origin
cachita: popular name for the Virgin of El Cobre
cacique: chief; originally used to describe an Indian chief and today used to designate a petty tyrant
cadeca: change booth
cajita: 1. take-out meal. 2. Extra fact: This usually entails rice, potatoes and beans and, sometimes, pork as well.
camarera: housekeeper or waitress (the Spanish term criada, which also means ‘brought up,’ is considered offensive in revolutionary Cuba)
camello: Metro buses in Habana named for their two humps
campañero/a: widely used in revolutionary Cuba as a respectful term of address (in place of señor/a); literally ‘a revolutionary’
campesinos: people who live in the campo
campismo: national network of 82 camping installations, not all of which rent to foreigners
canoñazo: shooting of the cannons, a nightly ceremony performed at the Fortaleza de la Cabaña across Habana Harbor
carnet: 1. the identification document that allows foreigners to pay for museums, transport (including colectivos) and theater performances in pesos. 2. That was the definition of the relation of the carnet to foreigners. I just wanted to add another thing: this is not necessarily just for foreigners. The carnet is a form of identification here for everyone. It not only provides cheaper access to museums, performances and transportation but also allows students to check out books at the national libraries and get cheaper prices at certain bookstores.
cartelera: culture calendar or schedule, entertainment brochure
casa de la cultura: literally ‘culture house’ where music, art, theater and dance events happen
Casa natal: birth house
casa particular: private houses that let out rooms to foreigners (and sometimes Cubans); all legal casas must display a green triangle on the door
casco histórico: historic center of a city (eg. Trinidad, Santiago de Cuba)
cayo: a coral key
CDR: Comités de Defensa de la Revolución; neighborhood-watch bodies originally formed in 1960 to consolidate grassroots support for the revolution; they now play a decisive role in health, education, social, recycling and voluntary labor campaigns
central: modern sugar mill
chachachá: cha-cha; dance music in 4/4 meter derived from the rumba and mambo
Changó: the Santería deity signifying war and fire, twinned with Santa Barbara in Catholicism
charanga: son-influenced music from 1940s and 50s played with violin and flute
chequeré: a gourd covered with beads to form a rattle
cimarrón: a runaway slave
circunvalación: 1. a road that circumvents city centers, allowing you to drive on without plunging into the heart of urban hell 2. Mom, that was not my definition, that was actually from a published work.
claves: rhythm sticks used by musicians
coches: carts, normally drawn by horses
coco-taxi: egg-shaped taxis that hold two to three people; also called huevitos (literally ‘little eggs’)
Cohiba: native Indian name for a smoking implement; one of Cuba’s top brands of cigar
colectivo: collective taxi that take on as many passengers as possible; usually a classic American car
compañero: companion or partner with revolutionary connotations
convertibles: Convertible pesos
criollo: Creole; Spaniard born in the Americas
Cubacán: soon after landing in Cuba, Christopher Columbus visited a Taíno village the Indians called Cubacán, meaning ‘in the center of the island’; a large Cuban tourism company uses the name

D

daiquirí: rum cocktail made with crushsed ice and other ingredients, named for the Río Daquirí, near Santiago de Cuba, where it was invented in 1899
danzón: a traditional Cuban ballroom dance colored with African influences, pioneered in Matanzas during the 19th century
décimas: the rhyming, eight-syllable verses that provide the lyrics for Cuban son
diente de perro: jagged rock shelf that lines most of Cuba’s southern shore
duende: spirit/charm; used in Flamenco to describe the ultimate climax to the music

E

el imperio: ‘the empire’; a term used in the official Cuban media to refer to the USA, which is led by imperialistas
el líder máximo: ‘maximum leader’; title often used to describe Fidel Castro
el último: literally ‘the last’; this term is key to mastering Cuban queues (you must ‘take’ el ultimo when joining a line and ‘give it up’ when someone new arrives)
Elegguá: the god of destiny in Cuban religions of African origin such as Santería
encomienda: a section of land and an indigenous workforce entrusted to an individual by the Spanish crown during the early colonial era
entronque: crossroads in rural areas
esquina caliente: where baseball fanatics debate stats, terms, history and who’s up and who’s down; literally ‘hot corner’; also called a peña

F

fiesta campesinas: country or rural fairs
finca: farmhouse
flota: a fleet of Spanish ships

G

Gitmo: This includes the definition he had in the glossary: “Cocooned in the extreme south, heavily fortified Gitmo (American slang for the Guantánamo naval base) boasts a golf course, five cinemas, a high security prison and Cuba’s only McDonald’s restaurant. You can espy all of these strange capitalist incongruities over an ice-cold beer in the Malones look-out. Democracy or hypocrisy…? You decide (p 429).”
Granma: the yacht that carried Fidel and his companions from Mexico to Cuba in 1956 to launch the revolution; in 1975 the name was adopted for the province where the Granma arrived; it is also the title of the daily newspaper
gringo/a: 1. any Caucasian 2. This also includes English-speakers. In the past, like while living in Cusco, Perú, I was even referred to as a gringa.
guagua: 1. a bus 2. In other parts of Latin America I’ve heard that ‘guagua’ can be the cry of a dog as well, like in a cartoon, for example.
guajiro/a: a country bumpkin or hick
Guantanamera: a girl from the Guantánamo Province
guarapo: fresh sugarcane juice
guayabera: a pleated, buttoned men’s shirt; tropical formal-wear
guerillero: fighter, warrior

H

Habaguanex: City Historian’s Office; responsible for restoring Habana Vieja
Habanero/a: someone from Habana
herbero: seller of herbs, natural medicines and concocter of remedies; typically a wealth of knowledge on natural cures

I

ICAIC: Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematogáficos; Cuban Film Institute
ingenio: an antiquated term for a sugar mill

J

jinetera: a woman who attaches herself to male foreigners for monetary or material gain; the exchange may or may not involve sex
jinetero: a male tout who hustles tourists; literally ‘jockey’
joder: 1. to mess up, to spoil. 2. I think this word means a bit more than just ‘to spoil’, but maybe that’s just me. I don’t know where exactly you’d put this word on the “swear scale” but, to use the color scale like in our terror alert system, I’d guess it’d probably be somewhere in the red zone.

K

Kometa: hydrofoil

L

libreta: the ration booklet
luchar: literally ‘to struggle or fight’; used in all sorts of daily situations

M

M-26-7: the ‘26th of July Movement,’ Fidel Castro’s revolutionary organization, was named for the abortive assault on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba on July 26, 1953
Machetero: one who cuts sugarcane using a machete
mambí/ses: 19th-century rebel/s fighting Spain
Mamey: delicious fleshy tropical fruit that resembles a red avocado
merendero: outdoor bar; picnic spot
Misión Milagros: the unofficial name given to a pioneering medical program hatched between Cuba and Venezuela in 2004 that offers free eye treatment for impoverished Venezuelans in Cuban hospitals
Moncada: a former army barracks in Santiage de Cuba named for General Guillermo Moncada (1848-1895), a hero of the wars of independence
moneda nacional: abbreviated to MN; Cuban pesos

N

nueva trova: 1. philosophical folk/guitar music popularized in the late 60s and 70s by Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés 2. Please download Silvio Rodriguez’s “La Maza” and Pablo Milanés’ “Yolanda” immediately.

O

Oriente: the region comprised of Las Tunas, Holguín, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo Provinces
orisha: a Santería deity
organipónico: urban vegetable garden

P

paladar: a privately-owned restaurant
palenque: a hiding place for runaway slaves during the colonial era
patria: homeland, country
PCC: Partido Comunista de Cuba; Cuba’s only political party, which was formed in October 1965 by merging cadres from the Partido Socialista Popular (the pre-1959 Communist Party) and veterans of the guerrilla campaign
pelota: Cuban baseball
peninsular: a Spaniard born in Spain but living in the Americas
peña: musical performance or get-together in any genre; son, rap, rock, poetry, etc.
período especial: means special period; Cuba’s new economic reality post 1991
piropo: flirtatious remark/commentary
pregón: a singsong manner of selling fruits, vegetables, brooms, whatever; often comic, they are belted by pregoneros/as

Q

¿qué bola?: what’s up?
quinciñera: 1. Cuban rite of passage for girls turning 15 (quince), whereby they dress up like brides and have a celebration including music and dancing 2. Julia Alvarez has a new book out about this tradition. Check it out!

R

reconcentración: a tactic of forcibly concentrating rural populations, used by the Spaniards during the Second War of Independence
reggaeton: Cuban hip-hop; mix of reggae and hip-hop
Regla de Ocha: a set of related religious beliefs popularly known as Santería
rumba: an Afro-Cuban dance form that originated among plantation slaves during the 19th century; during the 20s and 30s, the term rumba was adopted in North America and Europe for a ballroom dance in 4/4 time

S

salsa: Cuban music based on son
Santería: literally ‘saint worship’; Afro-Cuban religion resulting from the syncretization of the Yoruba religion of West Africa and Roman Catholicism
Santiagüero: someone from Santiago de Cuba
son: Cuba’s basic form of popular music that jelled from African and Spanish elements in the late 19th century
sucu-sucu: a variation of son music

T

Taíno: a settled, Arawak-speaking tribe that inhabited much of Cuba prior to the Spanish conquest; the word itself means ‘we the good people’
telenovela: soap opera
tres: a guitar with seven strings and an integral part of Cuban son music
timba: modern salsa music mixed with funk, rap and rock
trova: traditional poetic singing/songwriting
trovador: traditional singer/songwriter

UNEAC: Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba; National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists

V

vega: tobacco plantation

Y

Yanquí: someone from the USA
Yoruba: an ethno-linguistic group, and Afro-Cuban religion, originating in West Africa, more specifically Nigeria
Yuma: slang for someone from the US; can be used for any foreigner

Z

zafra: sugarcane harvest

These are some of the resources I used to place into SLC in Cuba’s program. Check them out if you’re interested in more recent relations between the US and Cuba:

“Bush to Warn Cuba for Transition.” The New York Times. 24 Oct. 2007. 8 Feb. 2008.


“Cuba.” The Economist. 29 Oct. 2007. 8 Feb. 2008.


“For Cubans Fleeting to the U.S., the First Stop Is Often Mexico.” The New York Times. 16 Oct. 2007. 9 Feb. 2008.


“Las Mujeres Cubanas Contra el Bloqueo y la Anexion.” La Habana. 25 Oct. 2006.

“Orishas’ Unofficial Website.”


“Travelocity Pays Fine for Bookings to Cuba.” The New York Times. 16 Aug. 2007. 9 Feb. 2008.


“The World Factbook: Cuba.” 7 Feb. 2008. 8 Feb. 2008.


Saturday, September 6, 2008

Today we made a visit to Hershey Village. Yes, it is what you actually think it is. It was, at one time, all about the chocolate here. The Hershey Factory in Cuba was established in 1918. This factory—well, moreso a community—was constructed by Cubans and Americans who both lived in this town and were all employed by Sr. Hershey. In this village, houses were provided for about 390 workers, all of which were categorized by racial, marital and economic status. There were medical clinics for the workers and even schools for the kids of the workers. Después del triunfo de la revolución (After the triumph of the revolution), though, a Cuban bought the company from Hershey. The company was abandoned back in 2000.

After this trip, I met up with Néstor’s niece and her family. We spent the day by a river not to far from their house and ate lobster, tamales, rice and beans to celebrate Néstor’s nephew’s son’s birthday (how would the “family tree term” go for that one?). It was truly an amazing day. Once again, I’ll post the pictures when I get back home.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Hurricane Ike is coming. Curses! Harvard students arrived today. Yes! I met Bolagey, a junior at Harvard, today and discovered that one of her Gospel Choir director’s two choirs performed at my high school a few times during my last two years of high school. It’s such a small world! So, Sarah, Jack and Noor: she said that we can try to get the Kumba singers to perform at SLC at some point. If you don’t know who the Kumba singers are, you are missing out. They’re Harvard’s gospel choir and they are amazing. In any case, please check them out on youtube!

Another Harvard student here, Cristina, is in an a cappella group at Harvard as well. So, I think the three of us are going to start up a trio at some point. Life is good.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Quite a few people have e-mailed me asking, “what is it like there?” It’s been difficult to describe. I’ve been traveling my whole life and I have never felt such a loss for words. So, I’ll describe today’s group meeting in an attempt to tell you what life is like here.

Today the Sarah Lawrence group had our first show-and-tell. Sure, it sounds tacky, but it generated a 2 1/2 hour-long conversation about US-Cuban relations.

Each of us attempted to explain what each Cuban object we brought meant to us, to Cuban society and to our lives here. One girl brought a ticket for a hip-hop concert; another, a mango; and myself, a weekly paper on Cuban film.

It seems, in then end, we all had our respective expectations of what the real Cuban experience was going to be like even though we tried to ignore them. After seeing the film, “Inventos”, we expected “fists up” at all times. Though, as one girl put it, there are many loopholes in the economy that oppose this embargo. It’s amazing to see how many American products are on supermarket shelves here—including my peanut butter from Arlington Heights, Illinios. Apparently southern American senators are now looking for new ways to import more chicken and eggs, and the majority of the Cuba’s current supply of chicken and eggs already are from the South.

To get back to the nitty-gritty, though: one girl mentioned how it sounded good, Che’s “El socialismo y el hombre”. It does. It sounds ideal. No perfect place exists. We all know that. But, in the end, we agreed that it was better to fight for equality than to not fight at all.

I’m not placing these statements here as revelations, I’m writing them simply because there are certain words that come up when one mentions the word socialism like the following: free education, free healthcare, etc. I was aware of the fact that these elements of Cuban society are not as simple as they seemed, as they’re typically stated in the media but I was not aware of what these necessities cost. My friend, Laura, will be working for the government three years after she finishes with the Artes y Letras Faculty at La Universidad de la Habana. She told me she wants to travel one day like I am right now.

So, yes, in some ways Cuba is “behind the times” but in certain legislature, they are ahead. I remember talking to one woman outside an agro and she told me that “each time Cuba takes a step forward, it takes a step back”. Here are the plus sides of politics in Cuba: in case some of you didn’t know, Raul Castro’s daughter is working hard for gay rights (look at the history of the treatment of homosexuals in Cuba and you’ll see why I’m so excited) while the rest of the government is trying to make maternity leave longer—even up to a year—and even for fathers. I see so much potential in this country but so much is hindering its progress. One could very easily say that it’s the blockade but there are so many other factors that add to the daily struggle that I wouldn’t even feel worthy of explaining it. I’m still learning how this society functions. Remember, I only arrived on August 17th. That’s not to say I’ll have this hands down by December 14th, but I’ll try to get the gist of it, at the least.

P.S. I’m proud to say that I saw Chris Evans mentioned in an article on action movies in the ICAIC bulletin! This was no surprise to me after seeing him up on a billboard for “Fantanstic Four” back in my junior year of high school.
P.P.S. I’m also pleased to announce that my second goal in life is to see Krrish II, the sequel to the tacky Bollywood film, Krrish, which all of you must see immediately. It is an epic film that lasts for three hours but, if you love the Bollywood genre as much as I do, you will get a good laugh.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Hurricane Ike was worse than Gustav but the good thing is that we survived. We were under lockdown for almost three days, which almost drove the entire house mad, but, in the end, I found it to be good for me. It inspired me to start reading three new books and start to get to know the Harvard students, who arrived 10 days ago. They’re all fantastic. I am truly grateful to have such a nice piece of home right below me on the first floor.

As for classes: I finally had my first grammar, film and biology classes. All my teachers love what they do so they’re incredibly engaging. I have a feeling it’s going to be a great semester. Ella, I love my profe for Bio, she’s amazing!

As for other touristy things: I’ve visited the Hotel Nacional with Patricia twice now (remember the 1946 Habana Conference of the New York Mafia?). I wish I could show all of you the pictures! The view is unbelievable! At the least, I can tell all of you that there is a cueva (cave) there that reminds me of the “evil bunny scene” from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

I went to my second concert here. It was a William concert, Esther. I must buy all of his albums immediately, as he is the perfect blend of folk and reggae. This combination is actually possible, trust me.

Also this past week, I finally went to my first Cuban birthday party. Who knew that all Cubans were professional dancers—the men even moreso than the women.

Today I did a grand tour of La Habana Vieja with my new friend, Jeanpierre. We visited El Capitolio, which is essentially a mock version of the Capitol House that we have in D.C. The construction of it took 3 years and 50 days.

Chewy, I’m going to quote you here because the SAME exact thing happened to me when I was walking around the Capitolio. Each time they took a picture, a little piece of me died inside. For those who do not know my former roommate, Chewy, I introduce her to you as a writer and student at the University of Edinburgh for the next year with this quote from her blog (http://alexrocksyoursocks.blogspot.com/):

“We even saw the crown jewels of Scotland. There was a pretty hefty pearl/diamond necklace that must have weighed a TON. As we walked through the exhibit we were following these annoying Spanish tourists. They stopped at every possible display to take a group photo, preventing people from passing them. And as they finished their photo they lingered and loomed over the displays. They posed with the baby Mary Queen of Scots, grinning as the plastic baby was held over their heads. Argh!”

I literally exclaimed, “Oh my GOD!” as I read this. It was better saying it here than it was en el Capitolio, I guess. Though, JP compensated for my deficiency of voicing my annoyance by saying, “¡Qué horror!” I would’ve said the same but my trilling skills are still lacking. I’m working on it Esther, I promise!

In conclusion, Spanish tourists, please stop taking silly pictures in front of and on historical monuments and jewels and get moving!

Thank you.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

I went to my first Cuban art exhibition last night. No cheese and wine, just shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. If I had actually allowed myself to remain still, the people surrounding would’ve brought me from room to room with no problem. It was not a place to mingle, which is great, because I’m not one for mingling with several people at once.

Earlier tonight I went to my first choir practice. Unfortunately, I was not singing this evening but I’m glad that JP invited me. He also has invited me to see him sing in the San Francisco de Asis Church alongside his professional choir at some point. Needless to say, I am very excited.

Friday, September 26, 2008

As part of our CEDEM research lesson for today, we visited a grade school. I didn’t really know what to expect but, once I saw the school, its students and teachers, I wasn’t really surprised. A school is a school is a school, I guess. I think the only thing that caught me off guard by the end of our visit was when the 4th graders told us: Todos enseguimos el ejemplo de Fidel (We all follow the example of Fidel).

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Today I met Patricia’s beautiful new niece. Her name is Cecilia and she’s 8 days old.

I also went to JP’s concert at La Iglesia de San Francisco de Asis. He performed 5 pieces alongside his choir, which included a new and Cuban interpretation of Requiem and a musical interpretation of one of Lorca’s poem about longing to go to Santiago (Alissa, don’t worry, I filmed all of them!). Furthermore, what was so unique to this concert was that, after each set, the composer of the previously performed piece came up to congratulate his/her students and the director’s work. Maybe some of you musicians out there, like Sarah, Ashley or Amy, have seen this before, but I haven’t. Anyway, it was wonderful to see and it’s nice to know that I’ll have an easier time getting my hands on this great music. That reminds me: Paco, I asked JP to photocopy all that music so, when I get back, I’ll be sure to send it to you. You just have to give me your address first. ☺

After JP’s spectacular performance, poor ol’ JP got sick. Our friend, Ale, and I quickly took him over to a clinic when we saw that he had a pretty bad fever. This medical center was literally a block away from JP’s house. We walked in, sat down and he told the nurse what was going on with his stomach. She gave him a prescription, we went into the next room and then the poor guy got a shot in his ass. It was all very quick and easy. I don’t know if this is how clinics function all over La Habana never mind Cuba but, I must admit, I was amazed at how quickly all of this happened (and I was glad I was able to see this process since technically Americans are not permitted to enter clinics nor Cuban hospitals). By the way, I still (thankfully) have yet to go to a foreigner’s clinic so, I will get a fever at some point if need be.

P.S. Amy Cattle, this is for you. I mention it for obvious religious reasons: “You can behold a different side of Cuban history at the original Bacardí Rum Factory. The factory was founded by the Bacardí family in 1838, but after the revolution the company moved to Puerto Rico taking the Bacardí patent with them (they’re now suing the Cuban government under the US extraterritorial Helms-burton law). The Santiago de Cuba product was renamed Ron Caney. Also produced here are quality rums such as Matusalem, Ron Santiago and Ron Varadero.”

Monday, September 29, 2008

Today I went to La Fundación de Fernando Ortiz to do research on immigration from here to The States. Since we have yet to really start our tutorials for CEDEM I figured I’d get a headstart, and a headstart I did get (explained further under “In other news”).

P.S. I finally saw “Vampiros en La Habana” this evening. I am officially traumatized for life. My favorite line is “¡¡¡Enfermera!!!”

In other news:

I’ve added a few things to my schedule to keep myself busy. La Universidad de La Habana is not your average school with choruses and clubs. So, the group of Harvard students and I decided to create communities of our own.

On Mondays, I’ve decided I’ll be studying at La Fundación de Fernando Ortiz, a place where foreign anthropologists go to study. It seems you have to have some sort of license or professor to work alongside to study there but I’ll manage it somehow. One of the librarians there literally took out her address book to give me all the names of the researchers she has on immigration, who live in Santiago de Cuba (I’ll be flying there next week, and to Baracoa as well), Vedado (where I live) and even in New York (two blocks away from where I worked last summer in the city. Small world, eh?). My friend, Cristina, hopes to be an immigration attorney so we plan to exchange any information we get on Cuban immigration. Needless to say, we are always on the lookout for new stories and information on this extensive subject. So, if you find anything, don’t hesitate to forward it.

On Tuesday evenings, we have started to do a Bible study, as we have two religious members in our group. Bolagey is nondenominational. Cristina is Catholic. And, as many of you know, I’m a devil child. I thought I might as well learn about people’s other spiritual experiences, as I know I have my own. I just can’t quite identify myself with one religion or philosophy yet. But, hey, life’s a journey, right?

I’ve met another student, Harry, who loves film even more than I do, it seems. We’ve decided to make it our weekly mission to trek to La Fundación del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, where I take 3 ½ hour classes on Wednesdays, on Thursdays after our classes at la Universidad.

I don’t have to worry about the weekends EVER because there is always a concert or local performance. Everything travels word of mouth here so, to those who plan to travel here in the future, keep your eyes, ears and mind open.

Once again, if you have any questions or responses to this blog, let me know. Sending much love your way!

P.S. I recently watched Persepolis for the first time with a couple of friends here. I then lent it to my friend, Ale, who just watched it a couple of days ago and he said he’d like to do a showing of this film at his church. I’m so excited. It is officially one of my favorite films—and graphic novel series. Ms. Sarah Livant, please tell me you’ve seen the movie by now! Anyway, the reason why I mention this film is because of the fact it is about a girl being brought up during the Iranian Revolution/Iran-Iraq War era in Iran. In conclusion, please go rent this right now!