When we arrived the first thing we wanted to do was see the waterfall. Duane, Pepe, Madison and I changed into bathing suits, but Pepe and the other girls left before we were done, so Duane, Madison, and I went together. It was a really pretty, short hike to the cascade and only costed 3CUC/person.
Today we spent the day at Soroa National Park. The trip was by bus and very early this morning. It was good though, because the landscape was really beautiful--with carts and horses, palms, cows and even some mountains--and Madison and I talked about all sorts of things on the drive.
When we arrived the first thing we wanted to do was see the waterfall. Duane, Pepe, Madison and I changed into bathing suits, but Pepe and the other girls left before we were done, so Duane, Madison, and I went together. It was a really pretty, short hike to the cascade and only costed 3CUC/person.
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I wanted to write yesterday, but I had a migraine and just wanted to sleep. I had a bad headache, light sensitivity, and a little nausea--the classic migraine symptoms--today too but now tonight I think it's finally gone.
Instead of class yesterday, we went to the Museo de Chocolate in Old Havana. We had glasses of cold chocolate (similar to chocolate milk), ate chocolate figurines, and chatted. Most of the class didn't go so it was just the girls of our group (Rachel, Lauren, Trina, Emily, and I, plus Cassi, who isn't in our class but who didn't want to attend her class's excursion), two of the Angolan guys, Cameron (a guy from Alabama), and our professor Virginia. However, it was pretty fun. I really like Profe Virginia. She asked us what type of guys we like--black, white or mestizo. None of us could answer because it was a question that, in the US, wouldn't be okay to ask. I think Virginia has a favorite saying, because she's said this several times now: "We Cubans don't have much, but we have salsa, we have rum, and we have sex... great sex!" My class today was really interesting. We talked about the Santeria religion and the orichas (gods), watched a video of the oricha dances and we danced too a little. Tomorrow is the excursion day and we are going to the Museo de Chocolate to chat and practice. I need to remember to make a PowerPoint for my final theme this Thursday, however.
The whole group had lunch at Castillo de Jagua today, but Madison, Pepe and I were at a different table than the rest of the group. It was fun but I think that the waitress (the same as yesterday) hates me and Madison or something because she wasn't as nice to us and today she never brought the flan that we had ordered, and Pepe had to ask her again after we'd already asked to pay. So then we had to go to the art museum without any dessert. :( Last night we went to a club called 1830. I had been imagining a typical US club--a dark space with loud music--but this is Cuba. It was actually painted wrought-iron chairs and tables on a patio with beautiful views of the sunset over the ocean. The drinks and music were excellent and the people their danced a lot and very well!
This morning I felt a little better but I still had a cough and obviously I'm still sunburnt.
We went to the Museo de la Revolucion today. It's a building that used to be the Presidential Palace so there's a mix of things from the time of Fulgencio Batista and artifacts from Che, Camilo Cienfuegos and the Castros. It's interesting that there are still bullet holes in the wall of the building from gunfire during the Revolution--there are more than 300! They also had busts of Jose Marti, Simon Bolivar, Benito Juarez, and Abraham Lincoln. There were caricatures of the US presidents Ronald Reagan and the two George Bush's with another of Fulgencio Batista. Outside of the museum there's the Granma Memorial with the yacht in which Che and Fidel arrived in Cuba, planes and other vehicles from the Revolution, and an eternal flame for the martyrs. (Written the next day, June 7)
Yesterday we went to the Regla Museum in the morning. It's a small museum, but it's really interesting because it explains the Santeria religion, which is a mix of Catholicism and African religions. Each god (oricha) has its own animal, colors and a saint with which it's syncretized. I remember that in Miami (in Little Havana) I asked Pepe why there were so many rooster sculptures, and now I know that it's because of the influence of Santeria. Several of the "warrior orichas" are connected with the rooster, including Eleggua, who is syncretized with the Holy Spirit. |
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