March 6 2010

Las Tunas is a pretty small city. I like it better than Camagüey, but I can’t quite pinpoint why. There are very few tourists here, which is very nice. Today was a day of museums. I am pretty much museum’d out so I’ll save you all the details! In short, this morning we went to several museums that document both the recent revolution (the one with the victory in 1959) and also Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spain. Then we went to the house of a youth who had died aboard a Cuban plane bombed in the 70s. One point- a few of these museums have had rocks or stones from the various cities where famous events took place- one had rocks from Bolivia near where Che’s guerillas were killed-which is strange, because the rocks really have nothing to do with the history.
Tonight we have an event at a local CDR. Not sure what to expect!

I’ve just returned to our hotel after our visit to the CDR. It was incredible. I had been feeling pretty travel weary and disinclined to go out again after all this morning’s museums, but this excursion was well worth it. I really hate it when people put on a show and make a big deal about our attendance, but then again, it is a pretty cool way to get to know the country. Let me explain: We arrive to a closed off street. There are tables with lots of food set out, one with a giant cake, another with laces on display, and another with other handcrafts of Cuba. Lots of people are mulling around; some are congregated around a karaoke like machine, but it is playing traditional music instead of pop. They present the leaders of the CDR and of the neighborhood and sing the national anthem. A few of the children sing for us and one (dressed as a bee) goes to retrieve flowers and brings them back to us as well. They gave us each a bag with a book of stories about las Tunas, as well as a Spanish copy of ‘The Little Prince’ (oh, how I love that book!). Then, they escorted us through a procession of the tables, and fed us deserts and a stew they made for the occasion. The kids would run up and say something in English: “ I am smart” or “Will you marry me?” or, “where are you from” and would run away again to learn more before we could respond. Evidently they have these street parties when any visitors come, but it seemed especially extravagant to me. I think everyone had a good time, and Dr. McKelvey addressed the crowd to thank them and to say how he hoped our two countries could work together in the future and learn from each other etc etc. We got to talk with many of the neighborhood members and I hope we made as good an impression on them as they did for us!
Feelings: fat and happy. Dreading the 8.5 hour bus-sans-shocks ride tomorrow.

5/3/10

This morning we got up early for breakfast buffet in the hotel. I hate staying in these touristy places and not eating in the actual town, but they are the cheapest options available (by a lot). We were all packed and ready to go before hand so after the meal we hit the van and drove into town. Camagüey isn’t known for a particular event in the recent revolution here, but instead used to be a big sugar mill and cattle stock town. We went to a few museums, one remembering the students who fought for Cuban Independence (and later died with Che in Bolivia) and another that was an old Spanish colonial mansion dedicated to the 19th century of Cuban history. It was definitely cool to see what one of these old houses might have looked like. In one square we were admiring some public statues of local people sitting on benches, two lovers and the last statue depicting a man reading the newspaper. For this last one, we did a double take. There he was! The actual man (Norberto) was sitting next to his statue reading the paper. We talked to him a bit and kept exploring.
We are now approximately 8 hours drive from Havana. Even on the map it looks far! After our museums we drove two more hours to Las Tunas where we will pass the next two days exploring the city and the museums.