Cuba is more than a beach. ~ Susan Lord Okay, so today was a whirlwind of emotion. After breakfast, a few of us grabbed an early taxi so we could go to the absolutely gorgeous Playa Santa Maria (Santa Maria Beach) for the entire day. The weather was beautiful and the hot sun beating down definitely signified a great day at the beach. The taxi ride there was a bit awkward, because our cabbie got pulled over once for speeding and we all watched in amazement as he forcefully argued over the ticket with the policeman (even tapping him on the [View Full Entry]

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"It is a sin not to do what one is capable of doing." ~ Jose Marti Today was fairly busy (but also relaxing) because we had a full day of free time. After waking up at a surprisingly early hour, considering I had been out at the ‘Karachi’ club until 3am, myself and a few friends headed to Old Havana once again to do some shopping and exploring on our own. We grabbed a taxi to Plaza de las Armas and explored the outdoor book market for a while. Of course, the majority of the books were about four individuals: Fidel [View Full Entry]

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"A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle between the future and the past." ~ Fidel Castro Today’s schedule was a little bit different than usual. We boarded the bus at 8:30am (no morning lecture) and set out on the 2.5 hour drive from Cuba’s northern coast (where Havana is located) to the southern coast, to Playa Giron, more commonly known as ‘The Bay of Pigs.’ On our way down the highway (which has no lines painted on it, or signs along the side of the road), we saw a multitude of hitchhikers holding wads of [View Full Entry]

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As I have said before, the ever more sophisticated weapons piling up in the arsenals of the wealthiest and the mightiest can kill the illiterate, the ill, the poor and the hungry, but they cannot kill ignorance, illness, poverty or hunger. ~ Fidel Castro At the start of the Cuban Revolution, one of Fidel's goals was to eliminate illiteracy in Cuba, especially because 43% of the people in the countryside could not read or write. Hence, a national project called the Literacy Campaign was undertaken in 1961 to accomplish this difficult goal within one year. Young people, mos [View Full Entry]

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“Let me say, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.” ~ Ernesto "Che" Guevara Today was my favourite day in Havana yet! First of all, this morning our class was honoured to have the famous Cuban scholar, Rafael Hernandez, co-author of The History of Havana, as our guest lecturer. He talked quite a bit about how the geographical location of Cuba shaped a lot of its social, political, and economic policies. After our three-hour lecture, our class boarded the Havanatur bus with our guide, Ernes [View Full Entry]

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"Freedoms, like privileges, prevail or are imperiled together. You cannot harm or strive to achieve one without harming or furthering all." ~ Jose Marti Today, after my two scrambled eggs for breakfast, we had a lecture by Dr. Jorge Mario Sanchez on the impacts of remittances, tourism, and the "Obama factor" on Cuban society. During the "Special Period" of the 1990s, remittances (U.S. dollars sent by Cuban Americans to their families still in Cuba) became an important part of the "dollarization" of the Cuban economy because the only way to have access to valuable dollars [View Full Entry]

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"Condemn me, it does not matter, history will absolve me." ~ Fidel Castro Today we awoke bright and early for our first lecture in Havana about Cuban Independence and Democracy. Our classroom is on floor twenty-three of ENSAP in a very hot and stuffy room. The two air conditioners at the back were working their hardest, I'm sure, but not to the point of noticeably cooling the room down. Our lecturer talked about the social inequities that still exist in Cuba today. Although the Revolution was successful in eliminating institutionalized sexism and racism, the Revo [View Full Entry]

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Y tú apareces en mi ventana, suave y pequeña, con alas blancas. Yo ni respiro para que duermas y no te vayas. ~ Silvio Rodriguez ('Mariposas') Today I awoke from one of the most refreshing sleeps I've ever had away from home. The night wasn't overly hot, so I was still nestled underneath my two thin sheets as I awoke to the quiet bustling of the Havana streets below. Another beautiful sunny day in Cuba... I could really get used to this. For a bright and early 7:30am breakfast we had two eggs scrambled with onion and tomato and some of [View Full Entry]

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"In truth, men speak too much of danger." ~ Jose Marti I have arrived! Touching down at the Jose Marti International Airport (15 km southwest of Havana) was cause for a huge personal sigh of relief. I had successfully lasted the 1am four-hour Coach Canada bus ride from Kingston to the Toronto Pearson Airport and then the 3.5 hour flight from Toronto to Cuba, and I (thankfully) did it all without losing my passport. Stepping off the plane in Cuba was like stepping into a hot oven. The heat just hits you like a brick wall. It reminded me of that [View Full Entry]

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Today I fly to Havana. I must say, I am feeling extremely anxious about this trip, which is funny because I don't recall being this nervous when I travelled to Spain during high school. It must be the fact that at this moment I am so incredibly oversaturated with everything Cuban: history, politics, culture, people, language. Everything seems just a little bit more intense. For the past two weeks my classmates and I have been attending intensive daily three hour lectures where our three wonderful professors, Karen Dubinsky, Susan Lord, and Jennifer Hosek, have be [View Full Entry]

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