It is blazing hot today.
Even the Cubans think it is hot, it is that hot. We start the day with a long
walk through Havana to a neighborhood project called Convento
de Nuestra Señora de Belen. This is a senior activity and rehabilitation center - along with being a preschool. This place takes care of the young and the old. We got a tour of the facility and the medical equipment, then the seniors sang a song for us. They can come here during the day while their family is at work for company, physical therapy, and singing. Because there is music everywhere.
We continued our walk and on the way to the elementary school, we stopped at a ration store. There was one man behind a counter, and the "store" was cordoned off with a large tarp. There was nothing there, except behind the tarp. Rice, beans and sugar. We got to see a ration book, and he asked us if we could give him anything - like pencils or pens. One of our group had some spare pencils that she gave him.
We made our way to an elementary school, which was a fantastic experience. A glimpse of their classrooms, football on the playground, their computer room (and, just to show that things are the same everywhere, they also had a huge pile of outdated computer towers and monitors that don't work). The children in Cuba get a new kerchief on every October 8th. That was the day that Che died. Little children get a blue kerchief and older children get a red one. All the children had their new kerchiefs on with their school uniforms.
After school we went out for drinks and cigars - like all good students do.
The Cuban trinity. Coffee, cigars, and rum. All the wonderful things that the U.S. doesn't allow you to bring back. I learned how to properly light my cigar, did a shot of rum - sorry, I sipped my rum, and had delicious Cuban coffee. It was such a treat.
After the drinking and smoking, we went to the cemetery. Wait, there might be a lesson in there somewhere. Anyway, the Cementerio de Colon is pretty magnificent, and I love a good cemetery. The best story comes from the grave of La Milagrosa (The Miraculous One). Amelia Goyri de la Hoz died in childbirth in 1901. She was buried with her stillborn child placed at her feet in the tomb. When the tomb was opened a few years later (to add her father-in-law), the baby was found in her arms. While slightly unnerving, the story is beautiful. Her husband would visit her tomb to talk to her, knocking three times on the tomb to announce his presence. He never turned his back on the tomb, but backed out to the walkway, facing the tomb the entire time. Now, people who ask for a blessing do the same thing. There are dozens and dozens of tribute plaques near her tomb, giving thanks for her help.
We also spent a very hot time at Havana's largest square, the Plaza De La Revolucion.
We made our way to an elementary school, which was a fantastic experience. A glimpse of their classrooms, football on the playground, their computer room (and, just to show that things are the same everywhere, they also had a huge pile of outdated computer towers and monitors that don't work). The children in Cuba get a new kerchief on every October 8th. That was the day that Che died. Little children get a blue kerchief and older children get a red one. All the children had their new kerchiefs on with their school uniforms.
After school we went out for drinks and cigars - like all good students do.
The Cuban trinity. Coffee, cigars, and rum. All the wonderful things that the U.S. doesn't allow you to bring back. I learned how to properly light my cigar, did a shot of rum - sorry, I sipped my rum, and had delicious Cuban coffee. It was such a treat.
After the drinking and smoking, we went to the cemetery. Wait, there might be a lesson in there somewhere. Anyway, the Cementerio de Colon is pretty magnificent, and I love a good cemetery. The best story comes from the grave of La Milagrosa (The Miraculous One). Amelia Goyri de la Hoz died in childbirth in 1901. She was buried with her stillborn child placed at her feet in the tomb. When the tomb was opened a few years later (to add her father-in-law), the baby was found in her arms. While slightly unnerving, the story is beautiful. Her husband would visit her tomb to talk to her, knocking three times on the tomb to announce his presence. He never turned his back on the tomb, but backed out to the walkway, facing the tomb the entire time. Now, people who ask for a blessing do the same thing. There are dozens and dozens of tribute plaques near her tomb, giving thanks for her help.
We also spent a very hot time at Havana's largest square, the Plaza De La Revolucion.
P.J. O'Rouke wrote that it is " a vast open space resembling the Mall in D.C., but dropped into the middle of a massive empty parking lot in a tropical Newark." He was right. Governmental administrative buildings line the perimeter. On the Ministerio del Interior building is a 1995 steel "mural" of Che Guevara (the now-iconic image is from Alberto "Korda" Guiterrez's photo) and the words "Always Toward Victory."
A similar mural of Camilo Cienfuegos was attached to the Ministerio de Communications building in 2009. The words read, "You're doing fine, Fidel." This comes from Cienfegos's reply to Fidel's question at a rally on January 8, 1959 - "Am I doing all right, Camilo?" The installation of the mural commentated the 50 year anniversary of Cienfegos's death. His Cessna disappeared over the ocean on October 28, 1959 and his body was never found. On every October 28, school children throw flowers into the ocean to memorialize him. This is how immediate the revolutionaries are to the people of Cuba.
Our last hot stop of the day was at Muraland in the 10th of October neighborhood. October 10, 1868, was the day when Carlos Manuel de Céspedes called for the abolition of slavery in Cuba and released the slaves on his plantation. This sparked the Ten Year War (1868-1878). Muraland is just that - a neighborhood full of art and music. The inhabitants make and sell their art to supplement their income. They also give art classes.
Before dinner, we heard a lecture from an economics professor about the "Special Period." A nice name for something terrible. Castro actually called it "A Special Period in a Time of Peace." This was from
1990-1993 when the Soviet Union fell and many other Eastern Bloc countries
turned away from Communism. Cuba lost her biggest market and supporter, which resulted in electricity blackouts and no fuel. Supplies dried up, there was no soap, clothing, beer or food. Imports were completely cut off. People starved. Everyone who talked about it said that it was a very bad time. The government was eventually able to respond with a recovery plan that included some deregulation and a boost in tourism.
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