Overseas program(s):
Cuba Spring 2015
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Despedidas - As we enter our final week in Havana, the time has inevitably come when we are forced to accept that we must say goodbye to those we have met here. This reality didn’t really hit me until last night, when a close friend took off for Varadero and had to say an early goodbye. A […]
Star Status - If there is one thing I’ve learned while living in Cuba, it’s that Cubans know their stars, be it authors, film directors, actors, ballerinas, baseball players, etc., and they go nuts for them. Coming as a foreigner who has studied elements of Cuban culture, it is easy to know who is a big deal based […]
Date with the President’s Daughter - I made sure to get a good night’s sleep last Sunday night in anticipation of meeting President Raul Castro’s daughter Mariela at the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX), where she is the director. We had all read an article by scholar Abel Sierra to prepare, in which he acknowledges some meritorious achievements of the […]
Remembering slavery - On a recent excursion to Trinidad, we took a short trip outside the city to visit a sugar plantation that has now been converted into a historical tourist attraction. We stopped on the way to admire the large expanses of fertile land, imagining the fields covered in slaves cutting sugar cane. The plantation consisted of […]
Harry Potter in Cuba - Carlos Díaz, one of Havana’s most renowned stage directors and member of the ISA’s first graduating class, is known internationally for his provocative and eccentric plays that often involve sex and nudity. Before meeting him last Monday, our class read an analysis of one of his recent plays, Las Relaciones de Clara, which explores the […]
Yelp reviews - A recurring joke throughout the semester has been the creation of a Cuba Yelp page with reviews of restaurants, paladares, bars, venues and clubs. Usually our hypothetical ratings are low in the category of consistency, but high in ambiance. Cuba’s capital has only recently become a bustling city of privately-owned businesses; only a few years […]
Havana Style - Tyler and I spend a lot of time admiring the unique fashion trends in Havana and pondering how Cubans get their cool clothes. Walking around the city, it’s rare to see clothing and shoe stores, and many of those around seem pretty steep for the average Cuban’s budget. For this week’s blog, we decided to […]Central Planning - I’m normally not one for organization or planning, but occasionally events in Cuba can push my limits in those areas. One example- on our most recent trip to Santiago and Baracoa, we decided to travel both ways by plane. All domestic and international flights are controlled by the few existing state airlines, and we chose […]
Yo También Exigo - Tania Bruguera is known for her controversial performance piece that was to involve Cubans standing up in the Plaza de la Revolución last December to speak for one minute about whatever they wished, under the title Yo también exigo (I also demand). The symbolic nature of this gesture (and her reputation as a dissident activist) […]
Excursión - Fewer times have I felt more Yuma than our last weekend in Viñales, Pinar del Río. We arrived on Friday afternoon and stayed for two days of exciting activities in this small town in the Valle de Silencio. Although we looked strange horseback riding through town and struggling to salsa at the casa cultural, my […]