Last weekend, I visited the Padrino (spiritual mentor) of a friend of mine. She is of the Santeria faith, which is a very common here in Cuba. It originated from Yoruba practices, and was brought over with slaves during the plantation era in Cuba. It melded with Catholic practices from Spain, native practices, and to […]

One of the blessing and curses of Cuba is the lack of access to the rest of the world. In my experience travelling in the past domestically, in Europe, and even in South America, a large part of the experience is always documenting the experience. The art of being a tourist; in balancing experiences and […]

Apparently yesterday was a national holiday dedicated to children, a national day for the next generation of Cuban revolutionaries.  I didn’t realize it until I found myself at a youth concert of entirely Van Van (popular fusion group) songs in that late afternoon, with hundreds of Cuban children and parents. As the sun set on […]

Last week, we watched a film called Suite Havana directed by Fernando Perez. Perez is arguably the most famous Cuban filmmaker, and Suite Habana one of his most famous films. Previous to studying Cuban history last semester, I had no idea that el cine holds such a critical position in Cuban artistic expression. Films such […]

Three days a week, I ride a guagua to and from el ISA. The guagua is the public bus system in Havana, and costs only one peso (about 4 cents USD). We take the p1, from Vedado to Paradero, which is the end of the line. I could write ethnographies about the experience of the […]