Cuba

 

Today our own Claire McAdams and her husband, Rich, shared the story of their trip to Cuba.  It was part of an exciting tour they took last spring. It was a face to face program where you really get to meet some of the people. They went to schools and senior homes, cathedrals, community centers and art studios. Claire said it was difficult to get in, but there was already a contract with Alabama rice farmers, so things will be changing.

They showed us a short movie that described their 8 days in Cuba. It showed  the beauty of the country and  the friendliness of the people, the many beaches, botanical gardens, vintage cars and museums. It was still very rural. Trinidad was a highlight of the tour, an old city with a plaza and church and everywhere music.  They ate lobster every day! They saw the Che Guevara memorial in Santa Clara and the Bay of Pigs there and also did a lot of dancing!

One of the interesting things was that the food was rationed, but more and more private enterprises are creeping in. In Havana they stayed at the Hotel Nacionale where movie stars and mafia people stayed. While in Havana they took tours of the government buildings which preserved a lot of the old colonial style. They also saw where Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls.

European tourists were there already, including cruise ships.  They said it was striking how clean it was, especially given that the people lived in such poverty.  During the question and answer time, they mentioned that Cuba was especially proud of its educational and public health systems (as well as it old cars!). They said it was well worth seeing before everything began to change.