Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Goodbye Havana: from the adults
Hello Poly family and friends-
We are leaving Havana now-- full of memories, new perspectives, and Cuban food. I'm not sure if we'll have internet in Vinales, but we'll make sure to have the kids write more, take more photos, and publish when/if we can! Loving every moment, and taking good care of your kids!
The Cuba Crew
Ian & Desmond: last day in Havana
Salutations to the Poly Community from Ian and Desmond-
Today is our last day in Havana, so we fully embraced our opportunities in this beautiful city. In the morning, we were able engage in a dialogue with Christina Escobar, a Cuban journalist who works for national televised news. She is brilliant (you can find her on YouTube), and she has even been to the White House. With her, we were able to discuss, in detail, the role of state media, economics, and foreign policy in Cuba. This informative experience also gave us a unique insight into the complex nature of US-Cuban relations. It was interesting to learn about these issues from the Cuban perspective- which is quite different from what we hear on American TV. It sounds like there's a lot of international relation work to be done. We asked Christina many many questions that provoked educational realizations for the entire group.
After our colloquy, we proceeded to the studio of the Havana Compás Dance company. There, we observed a culturally immersive performance of dance intermixed with percussion. The company has developed a unique style of performance in which the dancers play various percussion instruments, especially Wooden chairs, while simultaneously dancing based on traditional flamenco and Afro-Cuban styles. It integrated many of the elements we had seen earlier this week!
Before lunch, we continued to the whimsical home of artist José Fuster. There, we enjoyed taking in the unique architecture based off of the work of Spanish artist Anton Gaudí. It's tiling which is the foundation of his work is spread throughout their entire community. Wow! Soon after, we also enjoyed a delicious lunch served at the house. What a rare treat.
After lunch, we went back to the open market (where we went Sunday), and we were enticed to buy treats for ourselves and our families. We've had varying success at saving money; some of the more streetwise students negotiated their prices with ease, while others were easily swindled into spending unnecessary amounts of money.
We now are in the hotel in anticipation for a lovely dinner at Havana 21 before our final night in the city. Other students are journaling right now, and we are all getting hungry. Our time in Havana was educational and insightful, and we are so lucky to be here. What a wonderful chance to see the changing world!
¡Adios, Habana!
Today is our last day in Havana, so we fully embraced our opportunities in this beautiful city. In the morning, we were able engage in a dialogue with Christina Escobar, a Cuban journalist who works for national televised news. She is brilliant (you can find her on YouTube), and she has even been to the White House. With her, we were able to discuss, in detail, the role of state media, economics, and foreign policy in Cuba. This informative experience also gave us a unique insight into the complex nature of US-Cuban relations. It was interesting to learn about these issues from the Cuban perspective- which is quite different from what we hear on American TV. It sounds like there's a lot of international relation work to be done. We asked Christina many many questions that provoked educational realizations for the entire group.
After our colloquy, we proceeded to the studio of the Havana Compás Dance company. There, we observed a culturally immersive performance of dance intermixed with percussion. The company has developed a unique style of performance in which the dancers play various percussion instruments, especially Wooden chairs, while simultaneously dancing based on traditional flamenco and Afro-Cuban styles. It integrated many of the elements we had seen earlier this week!
Before lunch, we continued to the whimsical home of artist José Fuster. There, we enjoyed taking in the unique architecture based off of the work of Spanish artist Anton Gaudí. It's tiling which is the foundation of his work is spread throughout their entire community. Wow! Soon after, we also enjoyed a delicious lunch served at the house. What a rare treat.
After lunch, we went back to the open market (where we went Sunday), and we were enticed to buy treats for ourselves and our families. We've had varying success at saving money; some of the more streetwise students negotiated their prices with ease, while others were easily swindled into spending unnecessary amounts of money.
We now are in the hotel in anticipation for a lovely dinner at Havana 21 before our final night in the city. Other students are journaling right now, and we are all getting hungry. Our time in Havana was educational and insightful, and we are so lucky to be here. What a wonderful chance to see the changing world!
¡Adios, Habana!
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Monday, March 28, 2016
Day 4: Kate and Cameron's view of the arts
Hello Mamas y Papas- it's Cam S. and Kate here.
What a wonderful, memorable, long, and exhausting day!
We started this morning by catching our bus at exactly 9:30- because the chaperones are training everyone to be on time. 😃 Then, we went to the gorgeous Centro Asturianos with a performance by Irene Rodríguez and her flamenco company. A-mazing! They performed five dances: two pas de deux dances, one "dance battle" of Spanish and Cuban dancing (pre-choreographed), one spirited duet between the two ladies, and a group finale piece. The musicians, comprised of a guitarist, flutist, and percussionist who played the caja box (a caja-ist, if you will) even had their own spotlight show. Cameron never wanted to leave. Next we walked around Parque Central, where some very different street dancers did an impromptu salsa. We also took a long, sweaty walk in the blazing sun over to Paseo de Marti, a shady tree promenade. It was almost 90 degrees of muggy Fahrenheit today- yikes!!
Next we went to Sloppy's Joes for lunch. It took 8000 hours to get sandwiches (yay!)- but we have learned that being on Cuban time is not quite like the US...
Then we headed to the highlight of our day: dancing lessons!!! Here, we went to Casa del Son, split into two groups, boys and girls, and learned salsa from the professionals! We learned to salsa with an enthusiastic group of men who also liked to sing and shout and drop it low (drop it like it's hot at spontaneous times). In the girls' room, we turned up the heat: The men instructed and led us well, and we had a blast! The room turned up the heat and spice with variants to the basic salsa move, and elements such as "Dame!" Or "marry me" or "No!" Ms. Leroy and Ms. Bush danced with the rest of us, and we weren't sure if they ever wanted to leave. While our group couldn't see how the boys were doing, we do know we all ended up equally sweaty.
After that, Gretel, our guide, took us to get ice cream. It was delicious! And THEN: we went to a super cool and intimate jazz concert/ lecture where we listened to Afro/euro/Cuban music dating back to 500 years. The musicians added to the list of people who blew our minds today-- we were hoping Kate would be able to jump into the gig, but instead she'll have to learn off of the CD Mateo bought.
Then we had din din at Bistro Waoooooooo(!)- the restaurant across the street from the hotel. Delish!
Okay- off to spend some final time with friends before going to sleep!
Sincerely,
Kate and Cam
What a wonderful, memorable, long, and exhausting day!
We started this morning by catching our bus at exactly 9:30- because the chaperones are training everyone to be on time. 😃 Then, we went to the gorgeous Centro Asturianos with a performance by Irene Rodríguez and her flamenco company. A-mazing! They performed five dances: two pas de deux dances, one "dance battle" of Spanish and Cuban dancing (pre-choreographed), one spirited duet between the two ladies, and a group finale piece. The musicians, comprised of a guitarist, flutist, and percussionist who played the caja box (a caja-ist, if you will) even had their own spotlight show. Cameron never wanted to leave. Next we walked around Parque Central, where some very different street dancers did an impromptu salsa. We also took a long, sweaty walk in the blazing sun over to Paseo de Marti, a shady tree promenade. It was almost 90 degrees of muggy Fahrenheit today- yikes!!
Next we went to Sloppy's Joes for lunch. It took 8000 hours to get sandwiches (yay!)- but we have learned that being on Cuban time is not quite like the US...
Then we headed to the highlight of our day: dancing lessons!!! Here, we went to Casa del Son, split into two groups, boys and girls, and learned salsa from the professionals! We learned to salsa with an enthusiastic group of men who also liked to sing and shout and drop it low (drop it like it's hot at spontaneous times). In the girls' room, we turned up the heat: The men instructed and led us well, and we had a blast! The room turned up the heat and spice with variants to the basic salsa move, and elements such as "Dame!" Or "marry me" or "No!" Ms. Leroy and Ms. Bush danced with the rest of us, and we weren't sure if they ever wanted to leave. While our group couldn't see how the boys were doing, we do know we all ended up equally sweaty.
After that, Gretel, our guide, took us to get ice cream. It was delicious! And THEN: we went to a super cool and intimate jazz concert/ lecture where we listened to Afro/euro/Cuban music dating back to 500 years. The musicians added to the list of people who blew our minds today-- we were hoping Kate would be able to jump into the gig, but instead she'll have to learn off of the CD Mateo bought.
Then we had din din at Bistro Waoooooooo(!)- the restaurant across the street from the hotel. Delish!
Okay- off to spend some final time with friends before going to sleep!
Sincerely,
Kate and Cam
Enjoying the rhythm of the city...
Today was all about music and dance-- we watched world famous Cuban ballet dancers, learned to Rhamba, then toured around the city by foot, and ended with Cuban jazz (several kids now have the CD!).
Day 3: From Carmen and Salma
Hello from the other side, it's us: Salma and Carmen. This one is for our Cuban friends. :) We enjoyed a lovely Easter Sunday in the beautiful, yet extremely humid, city of Havana. A group of 12 kids woke up early to attend an 8:30 church service- which wasn't actually in service until 10 (whoops!). So instead, we all met up with after the service at the Museo de Bellas Artes. Outside the museum, a small group of us spoke with a Cuban History professor, who gave us the Cuban prospective of the end of the embargo. He was a big advocate for Hillary 2016. In the museum, a tour guide took us through Cuban art chronologically. We began with the "Cuban Mona Lisa" and worked our way up to contemporary art. Our lovely tour guide explained to us how widely available cultural activities are since the revolutions pointing out how cheap movie tickets are (just 50 cents!!!). Unlike the Soviet Union, Cuba never burned controversial paintings, and we even saw a couple of paintings critical of Fidel-- yes, he knows! Just across the way from the museum's gift shop many of the students enjoyed an impromptu dance recital filled with acrobatic stunts and interpretive dances, while other students purchased authentic Cuban movie posters.
After a fun trip to the museum, we headed to Plaza de Armas, located in Old Havana. There, students enjoyed stunning archeticture, sugar chips, ice cream, and slightly creepy larger than life cat/dog sculptures. Needing a break from all the excitement the Poly group headed to the tourist hub "La Bodegiuta del Medio," which was once a hangout spot for our good friend Ernest Hemmingway. The restaurant walls were filled with messages from previous visitors, and we even got to sign it ourselves!! During our meal we enjoyed the musical stylings of an extremely talented trio who played the big hit, "Bailando." Fulfilled by our meals (except for Rijul who needed more veggies in his next meal!), we went to an open market complete with every kind of touristy gift that our American hearts could desire. Through this exercise we able to enhance our haggling skills and bring down the prices-- you were wrong, Mateo! Next, we headed to "Callejon de Hamel," which was a hub for Afro-Cuban culture and religion. This area was filled with murals by our other good friend Salvador whose art is yet to be government approved (unlike the previous stuff we saw). While at this venue, we witnessed in took a part in a Santeria dance ceremony in which the dancers represented different Afro-Cuban gods. The goddess of love took a particular liking to some of the boys. Having just sweated profusely from the dancing, we all loaded up in the bus and headed back to the hotel where we enjoyed a couple of hours of free time. At 6:45, the group headed out to get some authentic Cuban tacos!
A couple of kids may have gotten lost along the way today, but we've barely even noticed their absence! (Jk hahah). Anyways, we are really enjoying our stay here at Habana Libre, but we're super tired after this exciting and long journey today. Enjoy the capitalism back home!
Adios,
Salma and Carmen!
After a fun trip to the museum, we headed to Plaza de Armas, located in Old Havana. There, students enjoyed stunning archeticture, sugar chips, ice cream, and slightly creepy larger than life cat/dog sculptures. Needing a break from all the excitement the Poly group headed to the tourist hub "La Bodegiuta del Medio," which was once a hangout spot for our good friend Ernest Hemmingway. The restaurant walls were filled with messages from previous visitors, and we even got to sign it ourselves!! During our meal we enjoyed the musical stylings of an extremely talented trio who played the big hit, "Bailando." Fulfilled by our meals (except for Rijul who needed more veggies in his next meal!), we went to an open market complete with every kind of touristy gift that our American hearts could desire. Through this exercise we able to enhance our haggling skills and bring down the prices-- you were wrong, Mateo! Next, we headed to "Callejon de Hamel," which was a hub for Afro-Cuban culture and religion. This area was filled with murals by our other good friend Salvador whose art is yet to be government approved (unlike the previous stuff we saw). While at this venue, we witnessed in took a part in a Santeria dance ceremony in which the dancers represented different Afro-Cuban gods. The goddess of love took a particular liking to some of the boys. Having just sweated profusely from the dancing, we all loaded up in the bus and headed back to the hotel where we enjoyed a couple of hours of free time. At 6:45, the group headed out to get some authentic Cuban tacos!
A couple of kids may have gotten lost along the way today, but we've barely even noticed their absence! (Jk hahah). Anyways, we are really enjoying our stay here at Habana Libre, but we're super tired after this exciting and long journey today. Enjoy the capitalism back home!
Adios,
Salma and Carmen!
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Day 3: lunch time with Hemingway
Went to Old Havana this morning, and then ate lunch at Del Medio: where Hemingway used to go!
One more from our pre-dinner drive. Smile kids!
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Mateo & Dean: A Day in the Cuban Life
Hello parents, family, and friends: this is Dean and Mateo reporting in from La Havana, Cuba. So far our journey in Cuba has been rockin' and rolling. After about 35 hours without sleep, we finally got to sleep in our comfortable beds in the Habana Libre Hotel (government owned). The delectable Cuban breakfast really started us up, and we derived great Satisfaction from it. Afterwards our gracious tour guide Gretel picked us up on the party bus and we headed off to a neighborhood open air market. On the way there we passed by the venue of the Stones' concert; what a mess it was!! Everything went pretty well at the market, and we ended up buying some coconuts, guevas, papayas, and some government farmed bananas. Thanks Raul! After a bit though, when we moved to the clothing section of the market our fancy cameras and bourgeoise clothes (jk) gave us away and vendors began hawking goods at us. Mateo noticed that they immediately raised the prices by about 100%, so we didn't get anything except an authentic Cuban shopping experience. After tasting the fruits of the government's labor we saw the men that made it happen at the Plaza de la Revolucion. It was a real treat to be among other's like us (meaning it wasn't a local hang out), European and American tourists, all gawking at the monuments to Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos. After experiencing a taste of Cuba's government, we ventured to a Soviet-era restaurant which was filled with all sorts of cool art/political commentary. We didn't understand what they said, but we Felt the nationalistic pride nonetheless.The food was good too. Following that we mounted the bus again and were taken to a musical performance by local rumba musicians. It was a real hub for both Canadians and locals. Following an exciting time, we were all tuckered out and took a quick 2 hour break at the hotel. After the r&r, we were greeted by a veritable fleet of 1950 era American cars, including a 58' Oldsmobile. We exchanged some friendly banter with our amiable drivers as we drove to a restaurant for dinner overlooking Havana. Coincidentally enough, we also passed by the house Che Guevara lived in during his time in Cuba. We rolled into the restaurant stone-faced with hunger, and were served tantalizing options including some fresh seafood, chicken, rabbit, and finally flan. Our last activity really capped off the night with a bang as we observed the ceremonial firing of the cannon at the Fortaleza Carlos de la Cabana. It was a real blast, and we saw Mr. Dwyer pulling a loose cannon move, leaning over the edge of the wall to take a risky picture of the waterfront. After such a hard day full of entertaining activities we drove back to the hotel in our bus and went to sleep. Except us because we're writing this blog post. Bye everybody- the teachers are taping us in now!
Rested and ready for day 2!!
We had a wonderful first day in Havana, and although everyone was tired at the end of last night, the kids (and adults!) were all in good spirits the entire time. We are missing everyone back home (except Kate's dad who we saw in Havana last night!!), and we send our love. We'll post more pics and a longer blog post with details later tonight. 🌴🌴🌴
Excited for our first morning in Cuba,
The Cuba crew
Excited for our first morning in Cuba,
The Cuba crew
Friday, March 25, 2016
Waiting for the charter!
Yay!! We made it to Miami-- after somehow haggling to get 61 pounds of mosquito repellent in our checked bags (yes, seriously). Everyone is currently happy, well-fed, and severely lacking sleep. Only four more hours in this airport, and six more hours until we land in Havana! 🌴🌴🌴🌴
Best,
Serra, Jill, and Sean (the Cuba crew)
Best,
Serra, Jill, and Sean (the Cuba crew)
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Getting Started!
Greetings from the Poly 2016 Cuba group!
We are only a few days away from departure, and we couldn't be more excited for the trip. Please feel free to follow along, to share your own comments/thoughts/wishes for our journey, and to join us in our travels. We'll keep blogging as long as we can find internet. :)
For now: here's a pre-departure glimpse of most of our crew getting ready (which of course involved eating Cuban sandwiches...).
Cheers from Poly,
the Cuba team
We are only a few days away from departure, and we couldn't be more excited for the trip. Please feel free to follow along, to share your own comments/thoughts/wishes for our journey, and to join us in our travels. We'll keep blogging as long as we can find internet. :)
For now: here's a pre-departure glimpse of most of our crew getting ready (which of course involved eating Cuban sandwiches...).
Cheers from Poly,
the Cuba team
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