GROUP

Because of the way our group is set up and grounded in a house far away from the university we study at it has been hard for us all to really bear down and make friends let alone participate in the edification of our projects. I have been trying very hard to make an effort to leave my world of safety and vague Lewis and Clark nostalgia and join or at least observe and pass time with a grand community of art students in the Superior Institute of Art here in Habana. But it is a grueling process because it seems that both worlds the new friends and the old constantly nag at different polarities of me. The second one begins to make good headway on artwork and friendships outside of the group one misses out on integral group activities. I have always found group travel to subtract from a true integral experience in another country. Most people in my group seem to feel this same weight stuck in the nest of our own culture. I am truly inspired by this school and this island but some days my inspiration quickly is converted into frustration. Often the true study becomes not how one can observe an island moving and thriving and existing in and outside of history. But how can one maintain a space in a minute society cut off from almost everything. It is up to us to create our own realities but I can see pretty obviously that this house and group is a crutch for true experience.