Community Project, Mario Peregrin

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Today, friday, we took a long bus ride to the valley of Viñales. We still can't sing due to the period of mourning for Castro, so all our plans have changed. On our way to Viñales, we stopped in a village called Puerta de Golpe to.visit an interesting community project and make a donation of art supplies. Mario Peregrin founded this art program for young people in his village about a decade ago when a hurricane blew down the local theater along with other facilities for the youth. He provides a workshop for them to learn various types of folk art including painting and ceramics. We had a nice tour, met some of the artists, and other peiple who worked there. We were served a delicious lunch in the garden, surrounded by beautiful plants and interesting birds. We left a large bag of art supplies that we had collected in Seattle for this purpose.

Then we drove on to Viñales, where we had a beautiful view of the valley. There are large limestone formations sticking up ftom the valley floor. The town of Viñales is very quaint and has become a popular tourist destination. I had a conversation with a Cuban woman in Havans who said that although her family used to go to Viñales for vacations, it has become too expensive now due to all the tourism.

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Photos

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Workshop

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Valley of Viñales