Blogs from Oeste, Cuba, Central America Caribbean - page 6

img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6192/6038519554_305d020e0b.jpg" width="406" height="370" alt="Prado" align = right Centro Habana Centro Habana is the area around the Parque Central and the Capitolio. A wide avenue, Prado, leads from the Malecon up to the Parque Central / Capitolio area. There is usually some activity on the Prado at weekends. This may be kids entertainers or a display of dancing. On one Saturday there was a craft market along part of the Prado but, more interestingly, a bit further down there were groups of people trying to exchange houses. This is as close as Cuba gets to an Estate Agent. In Cuba people are not allowed to buy or sell property but they are allowed to exchange their homes. Sometimes you ... read more

Our hostess called us a cab after a beautiful breakfast spread of fresh fruits (mmmmmmmm banana, papaya & pineapple -- not so keen on the guava), warmed buns that were so sweet they reminded me of the Philipino sweet buns Liza's mom used to make and eggs any style (I would spend the rest of my trip trying to remember the word "revuelto"), fresh squeezed OJ and coffee. The coffee here is awesomely strong, like espresso, and comes with a tea pot of warm milk (Cubans drink "con leche" 1/2 1/2). When the cab signalled its arrival we walked out and couldn't see it at first but then noticed it parked a few houses over. We climbed in and did the preliminaries (qual es la tariffa hasta Santa Maria del Mar?) when another cab pulled ... read more

Thanks For The Miracle Still in Vedado url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whereissteve/6037063026/" title="Jose And His Memorial by WhereIsSteve, on Flickr"img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6142/6037063026_4391d2334f.jpg" width="255" height="420" alt="Jose And His Memorial" align=right Our now slightly more purposeful strolls around Vedado bring us to the Plaza De La Revolucion. This is the large square {suitable for political rallies} with the pictures of Camilo and Che. Here there is yet another statue of Jose Marti and the large towering memorial built in his honour. This is the tallest building in Havana and the lift up to the top gives views over the whole city. When we go there are workmen hanging from the top of the tower. When we get to the top we see lots of turkey vultures... read more

Look Up! Look Down! Vedado The area of Cuba I’m staying in is Vedado. This area seems to be mainly a middle-class residential area developed from the 1920s onwards. It has also houses Havana University, many hospitals and a lot of the city’s hotels and nightclubs – it had been a favourite haunt of the Mafia until Fidel chased them out of town. I’m staying about 10-minutes walk from The Malecon, the “boulevard” which runs along the sea-front. My plan is that after classes I will walk down to the sea and find a spot on the Malecon to sit, read and chill-out. For the first few days I nearly don’t make it to the Malecon. I’m not an expert on architecture but I find the strange mix of styles in Vedado fascinating. The danger when ... read more

Days Out In Havana ….And Trips To The Beach Exploring Havana After several days of following my instincts and wandering about soaking up Havana I decide it’s time to explore a bit more purposefully. By now I have teamed up with Iselin, we find that we both want to see the same things, and we tend to spend the afternoons after classes exploring Havana together and with other students from the school or people who are staying at our houses. Exploring the city together seems to reduce the hassle we would both get walking round the city on our own. I had an early experience when I stopped to get some lunch, got talking to a couple of Cubans and before long found that we’d be joined by two young Cuban girls who gave me their ... read more

The flight was ok, a bit late but we had our inflight meal and drinks and a few hours later landed in Cuba!! We arrived at about 10.30pm in Havana. Customs was strict, with a photo taken of every person, and only one person allowed at the desk at a time with a locked door that they buzz open for you once you have been processed, they also check that you have travel insurance and a tourist card which they stamp (we didnt have a stamp in our passports which was disappointing). They didnt ask us anything about where we were staying or if we had anything booked. We went to our carousel and had to wait (with most of the other passengers) for a good half hour or maybe more for all the luggage ... read more

I Wish I’d Listened To Everything My Latin Teacher Told Me Monday 21st February A good night’s sleep after my long journey and I have to be at school for 8:30. The ”Casa Particular” I’m staying in is in the Vedado area of Havana about a half-hour’s walk from the city centre. Vedado seems to have developed as residential area of the city in the 1920s. It is also the area where the university and a lot of the hospitals seem to be located. My accommodation is just across the road from the university – this proves useful as are many places nearby that cater for the students at lunchtimes as I gradually find my way around and away from the places that obviously just cater for the tourists. When I arrive there are five of ... read more

This week, I started my other classes through the University of Havana, the most prestigious institution in Cuba. The name seems to hold renown in other countries as well, though as of this week I have to say I am unsure. I will be taking two classes with Cuban students in addition to the more personalized arts and history classes. After a period of indecision, I chose Sociology of Ethics and Modern Political Theory, both of which should transfer to Madison. In spite of the directors here in Cuba telling us many times over that our university classes would be difficult, we have since been informed by another foreign student that we will get A’s for even minor effort. As in, she wrote 2 out of 10 papers and not only passed, but received the top ... read more

I have decided to write this blog so that everyone has proof of my continuing existence, as there is nothing to report that is of dire importance. Not too much of interest has happened in the past few weeks and I still have not started all of my classes, but will do so next week. I will be taking a sociology class and contemporary political theory in addition to Cuban arts and culture and Cuban history. Thus far, both of the Cuba-based courses I started a few weeks ago have had their ups and downs. I would not have chosen to take the arts and culture class (run through an NGO called the Ludwig Foundation) had it not been required. It focuses in-depth on everything from dance to architecture, and while some of it has been ... read more

HABLAMOS EN HABANA or HALFWAY TO HUMMUS or SADLY SEEKING A TOILET SEAT Finding just the right title to start out this blog segment has been too challenging for these sun-soggy minds so we took the cowards' approach and went with three ... one for our language adventures one for Maureen's adoration of a Cuban breakfast dish of delectably soft chickpeas and the last for the ever-present challenge when outside of Cuban resorts for a comodious ring on which to place the pampered (not "Pamper"-ed!) Norteamericano buttock! Week Two has quickly come and gone - Spanish classes continued on with our teacher Xiomara and our class size shrunk to only four of us. Such an interesting and eclectic group: Walter from Switzerland, a pony-tailed retired chemistry teacher who absorbs information like a sponge, but responds to ... read more