Shortly, I will post a followup on my last week in Cuba and my bizarre transition back to the United States
thanks!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Another belated 4/23
Today we began our last program trip, traveling three hours or so from Havana to Pinar del Rio city in its namesake province. This trip we traveled with a member of PC’s abroad programs office. So, while she had questions and was interested in the dialogue our tour guide microphone’d through the bus, we had heard it before and enjoyed the scenery more I think. When we got to Pinar del Rio we drove to a horse ranch for lunch. got Cuban lobster for lunch. Now, I know am quite spoiled when it comes to lobster being from Portland and working on the waterfront, and even more so having family who host me for a mean lobster cookout every summer. Cuban lobster is good- there is a lot of meat, and they are very big and not very expensive but I am faithfully partial to the Maine lobster. It has more flavor and a softer meat. We did see a lobster on our first dive however, and I must admit the Cuban lobster wins for looks.
After lunch we got a quick tour of the place. The place is an eco-tourist ranch where hundreds of horses are bred. It was really pretty. On our walking tour we got to try a almond straight off the tree (well, after the seed had fallen off the tree). Then we walked to the spot where they train cock-roosters for fighting. Normally, this is highly illegal (especially gambling which is so often associated with cock fighting). The ranch has a special license because the roosters are used for breeding, and they told us something about how they should be strong and the winners for breeding optimization. Gambling on the fights is still strictly forbidden. It was kind of interesting to see how they were trained, but I never want to see a cock fight to the death. When we got back to the center I opted for a boat ride instead of another horse ride. It was very pleasant.
From the start of this trip we have had some trouble breaking free from the tourist stereotype to the student resident one. It is a constant struggle. At dinner we got to know our tour guide a little more. He taught us a few jokes. He, like practically all of our others, used to teach foreign languages at the University before changing to the tourist sector.
At dinner we also discussed our impending departure date. Diana, the woman from PC, asked us if there was any food we were going to miss especially. Besides fresh fruit and fresh baked bread, there really isn’t much food I will miss here. I will miss so many people, and so much about the culture, but the food is one aspect of the culture for which my love has not ‘ripened’ with time. The fact that none of us really predict missing the food gave us the idea of blogging about things we will not miss, rather than just the things we will especially miss. It is an interesting idea I would like to try if I have time in the next week. We’ll see. Now I’m back in the Pinar del Rio hotel room… which is right above the pool… which is currently the setting of a raging musical night out. It is quite loud and the water in my water bottle is rippling from the bass. Enough for now- enjoy your-selves readers!
After lunch we got a quick tour of the place. The place is an eco-tourist ranch where hundreds of horses are bred. It was really pretty. On our walking tour we got to try a almond straight off the tree (well, after the seed had fallen off the tree). Then we walked to the spot where they train cock-roosters for fighting. Normally, this is highly illegal (especially gambling which is so often associated with cock fighting). The ranch has a special license because the roosters are used for breeding, and they told us something about how they should be strong and the winners for breeding optimization. Gambling on the fights is still strictly forbidden. It was kind of interesting to see how they were trained, but I never want to see a cock fight to the death. When we got back to the center I opted for a boat ride instead of another horse ride. It was very pleasant.
From the start of this trip we have had some trouble breaking free from the tourist stereotype to the student resident one. It is a constant struggle. At dinner we got to know our tour guide a little more. He taught us a few jokes. He, like practically all of our others, used to teach foreign languages at the University before changing to the tourist sector.
At dinner we also discussed our impending departure date. Diana, the woman from PC, asked us if there was any food we were going to miss especially. Besides fresh fruit and fresh baked bread, there really isn’t much food I will miss here. I will miss so many people, and so much about the culture, but the food is one aspect of the culture for which my love has not ‘ripened’ with time. The fact that none of us really predict missing the food gave us the idea of blogging about things we will not miss, rather than just the things we will especially miss. It is an interesting idea I would like to try if I have time in the next week. We’ll see. Now I’m back in the Pinar del Rio hotel room… which is right above the pool… which is currently the setting of a raging musical night out. It is quite loud and the water in my water bottle is rippling from the bass. Enough for now- enjoy your-selves readers!
4/23/10
It is incredible how quickly things flew by as I approached my departure date, may 3rd. One culprit was another weekend program excursion. This trip brought me back to Vinales, which I did not mind one bit. Unfortunately, while we had planned to go to a cooperative, we were unable because ‘we needed to have been invited’. We have had to go through quite a few hurtles to arrange any of our visits as Americans. Our tour guide told us how he finds most Americans he guides (more people travel from the US to Cuba than one might think) want more than just tourist facts from his spiel. He was impressed and appreciative of this fact, but I pessimistically believe he just doesn’t see many Americans tourist- and that the americans he meets are there for non-tourist reasons. I meet a ton of american tourists when working at Becky's Diner and more often than not are content to just hear the same old spiel- and they don't desire variance from the standard guide book write up.
We also visited a town dedicated to eco-tourism (which I found a little strange to be honest) called Las Terrazas. The place is a small gorgeous town where they have tiered the landscape for urban environmental development, but there really is no difference in how the people of las Terrazas live or function as a community compared to the rest of Cuba besides the fact that they all depend on the eco-tourism industry. A highlight of Las terrazas included a vegetarian restaurant (an incredible score that we were very excited about). We invited our tour guide to join us, but he declined saying it would just make him want pork after. Las terrazas also had a swimming hole where we watched some locals dare eachother to dive from the ledges.
We also visited a town dedicated to eco-tourism (which I found a little strange to be honest) called Las Terrazas. The place is a small gorgeous town where they have tiered the landscape for urban environmental development, but there really is no difference in how the people of las Terrazas live or function as a community compared to the rest of Cuba besides the fact that they all depend on the eco-tourism industry. A highlight of Las terrazas included a vegetarian restaurant (an incredible score that we were very excited about). We invited our tour guide to join us, but he declined saying it would just make him want pork after. Las terrazas also had a swimming hole where we watched some locals dare eachother to dive from the ledges.
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