It's my first day in Cuba and it's already really interesting! I'm tired because the journey of the last few days was very long. I liked Miami, especially Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. We had a very early flight from Miami to Havana--the flight only lasts about 45 minutes. Basically as soon as you've started flying parallel with the ground you start the descent. We were picked up at the airport and chauffeured to our houses in two vans.
[Edit: I recognize that the language in these first few entries is very basic. It's because I wrote them in Spanish and have translated back to English here. My Spanish really improved over the course of the trip, and the quality of the entries improved likewise.] :)
I really like my Cuban host family. There's Lute and Jorge, the grandparents who we met first because the others were at the beach today. Now we've met the others--Ailyn, our house "mom", her husband Luis and their young children, Sergio and Bryan. My room is better than I expected--I have my own with my own bathroom, a mini fridge and a wall A/C unit. Two other girls, Lauren and Rachel are staying here too, in a different room. They went on the Guatemala trip together last year.
[Edit: I recognize that the language in these first few entries is very basic. It's because I wrote them in Spanish and have translated back to English here. My Spanish really improved over the course of the trip, and the quality of the entries improved likewise.] :)
I really like my Cuban host family. There's Lute and Jorge, the grandparents who we met first because the others were at the beach today. Now we've met the others--Ailyn, our house "mom", her husband Luis and their young children, Sergio and Bryan. My room is better than I expected--I have my own with my own bathroom, a mini fridge and a wall A/C unit. Two other girls, Lauren and Rachel are staying here too, in a different room. They went on the Guatemala trip together last year.
At orientation we learned a lot about safety, money and the schedule in Cuba. I'm not very happy because they told us we would have cell phones but that's only for semester students. There were other details that only applied to semester students, too--like how we would have five classes and the amount of money to bring. We thought we'd be able to send an email to our families when we arrived, but they just sent a generic mass email out to everyone. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to even email Ryan on our anniversary. :( The schedule here looks pretty packed--each day there are conferences or excursions with the group in the afternoons and classes in the morning, so it seems like we won't have a lot of free time for the things that interest us, except at night, and I'm not exactly big on nightlife anywhere in the world.
However, Cuba seems fantastic--there is beautiful architecture, the almendrones or máquinas (the classic American cars), the strong sun, propaganda from the Revolution (and a distinct lack of other ads or billboards), and busts of José Martí everywhere! I mean, I knew that el Che and Fidel would probably be a big deal, but I've seen much more of the much earlier patriot, José Martí.
Tonight we are going to a jazz club called Café Miramar and I think it'll be really fun. Later this week, we are going to tour the city--the Malecón, the monuments and neighborhoods, visit the Regla Museum and the Revolution Museum, and check out La Habana Vieja.
Now I'm going to take a nap and maybe shower too (it's super hot here!) before our first dinner with the family and our first night out in Havana! Hasta luego.
However, Cuba seems fantastic--there is beautiful architecture, the almendrones or máquinas (the classic American cars), the strong sun, propaganda from the Revolution (and a distinct lack of other ads or billboards), and busts of José Martí everywhere! I mean, I knew that el Che and Fidel would probably be a big deal, but I've seen much more of the much earlier patriot, José Martí.
Tonight we are going to a jazz club called Café Miramar and I think it'll be really fun. Later this week, we are going to tour the city--the Malecón, the monuments and neighborhoods, visit the Regla Museum and the Revolution Museum, and check out La Habana Vieja.
Now I'm going to take a nap and maybe shower too (it's super hot here!) before our first dinner with the family and our first night out in Havana! Hasta luego.