Museo de Ron

            Today during our excursion to discover Havana, we went to see the Rum Museum.  Growing up in a family of people who love everything to do with the eating process, alcohol has always been around.  Rum was never the biggest bottle in our liquor cabinet, but let me tell you, thanks to my dad I can lay down some information about Maker’s Mark whiskey.  The process to distill and create rum is not very different from that of making whiskey just a few minor differences.

            Rum is distilled from the remains of the refining process of sugar cane and the leftover sugar allows for the entire fermentation process to occur.  Sugar cane originally came to Cuba in 1513 and quickly became the staple crop produced on the island.  The rise of the slave trade provided the many workers needed before the semi-industrialized process of refining came about.  The first locomotive actually came to Cuba in 1837 and with it a flood of new technology that slowed the massive need for slave workers.

            After the distillation of the leftover cane pieces go through three different boiling processes with varying temperatures, the remaining liquid is put into barrels and aged.  The first pull off of any rum barrel is called Añejo Blanco and is the most common rum sold under the label of Havana Club.  While we were touring the museum, our guide told us that you needed five things to be a good rum connoisseur.  You need to have a good nose, good taste buds, have worked in a sugar factory for 10 years, have a degree in Chemistry, and be a drunk.  The most well renowned rum connoisseur in Cuba is a man by the name of José Pablo Navaro and apparently is famous for fulfilling all of these qualifications.

              I am not a big rum drinker so I wasn’t tempted to buy the 1,700 C.U.C (national money of Cuba that under the current exchange rate 1 C.U.C equals $0.87) bottle that they had available to buy.  Apparently, Spain, Germany, and Canada are the most major importers of the Havana Club label but our guide said that if the embargo with the Unites States were ever to lift, that would easily be the biggest market.  It was definitely a cool thing to see the whole process of making rum because a bottle of rum here costs less than a 2-liter bottle of water.  I have a theory going that Cubans don’t drink water, they just drink rum and so far my theory holds.

Vanessa Vasquez Sanchez

            On Tuesday’s we have people come into our Roundtable discussion class and expound a little on what Cuban life is like.  This past Tuesday we had the opportunity to have a recently graduated PhD from the University of Havana come and talk to us.  Vanessa is the daughter of Pepe Vasquez, the man who knows all of Havana and is the number two man in the Historian’s office, and her doctorate is in Anthropology.  It was literally one of the most informative talks that we have ever had.

            First of all, the University of Havana does not even offer an Anthropology degree; you have to obtain your Biology degree with a concentration in Anthropology.  While she was working on obtaining her degree she did a lot of work researching various health problems that are prevalent within Cuban society and looked at a lot of the demographics of this country.  In order to receive a degree in International Relations from the University of Alabama you have to take quite a few anthropology classes, so the things that she talked about I was very familiar with.

            In the last 237 years, Cuba has only taken a census 17 times!  The major factors influencing the process are the economic burdens that it places on the governments and the need for political constancy.  Up until 1959, the volatile nature of the Cuban government hindered the process and since the Revolution, economics have hindered it to the point that it has only been taken twice.  Interestingly, the health problems that Cubans have are the problems that are normally associated with the “first world” countries instead of those commonly found in “third world” countries.  Obesity is actually a big problem here because fats and sugars are cheap and there is not a cultural foundation for consuming lots of vegetables.  Rice and beans literally comprise the majority of every Cuban’s diet.  Pizza is another common cheap food that a lot of people eat because they can get it easily on the streets.  Something that Vanessa mentioned that really surprised me was that children who are overweight are actually seen as healthier than skinny children.  And, instead of the oldest in a gathering being served first, it is custom for the youngest to be served first.

            The single most astounding thing that Vanessa shared with us was the abortion rate in Cuban society.  23.8% of all women in this country have had an abortion, 16.8% have had two, 8.4% have had 3, and 12% of women have had more than 4!  One of the major contributing factors is that abortion is a free service provided by the state since 1965 and there is no precedence for it being a taboo subject.  In fact, many parents, no matter how religious, encourage their daughters to get an abortion if she is still in school because they worry that it would interrupt her studies.  Sex education is a high priority here, so the government does encourage preventative measures to try to counteract the fact that most of the people over the age of 15 are having sex.  In a country where sexual promiscuity is a commonplace thing, contraceptive measures are high on the list of Cuban priorities.  

Varadero

            Yesterday, we got to have a little vacation!  Our professor decided that since we had been working so very dutifully on our semester projects and the rest of our classes, we were going to spend our Saturday in Varadero, the exclusive beach town of Cuba.  Let me tell you, this was one swanky place compared to the rest of the island that I have seen.

            The majority of Cuba that I have seen, and by now I have seen quite a bit, is struggling to make ends meet.  Most homes are aging and in a state of disrepair, people are getting fired all of the time, and everywhere you go you come in contact with the black market (the only thriving market in this country).  People are poor, and there is a constant fight for people to try to earn enough to do enjoyable things and have nice things.

            Varadero is not like the rest of Cuba.  It is about an hour and a half outside of Havana on the coast, and the biggest city nearest it is Matanzas on the other side of a large bay.  Even while we were passing through Matanzas, I was shocked by the differences that I saw between it and Havana.  All of the houses were newly painted, there were more modern cars, the people themselves had nicer clothes, I saw more stores, and I was completely blown away.  I asked Marci, our driver, why Matanzas was so different from everything that I had seen before and he said that it was because a lot of the people worked in Varadero.

            Once we had finally driven around the bay and driven onto the peninsula that Varadero is located on, I thought that I had left the country.  I have always grown up going to the beach and I literally thought that I was on the Florida coast.  There were pristine sand beaches, massive hotels, places that you could rent beach chairs, the only thing that made me realize that I was in Cuba was the music blasting from the hotel bar’s speakers.

            As the day wore on and we stayed on the beach, I slowly realized that there were absolutely no Cubans on the beach.  The only people that I saw were sunburned Europeans and Canadians playing bocce ball and drinking mojitos.  As we were driving back to Havana, we lamented with our professor about the fact that Varadero is quickly losing all of its Cuban aspects.  It is turning into a glorified resort town and losing all of the distinctive Cuban qualities that make this country so wonderful.  I enjoyed the break, but it was definitely disconcerting to be in a country but to have completely left it at the same time.

Jardin Botanico y Zoologico

            Today was our long excursion day and our Professor decided to take us to see the Botanical Gardens and Zoo in Havana.  We were supposed to go a couple of weeks ago, but that was when our driver was hung over, or on another job, nobody knows.  Anyways, I have realized that I have to keep my expectations very low and not assume anything about our trips so that I am pleasantly surprised when we do go and it exceeds my expectations.

            We started at the botanical garden and I was amazed at how big it was.  It covers three square kilometers and is divided up into zones based on continental regions.  The first zone that we went through was Cuba’s and had all of the native species of trees that grow on the island.  Next came Central and South America, followed by North America, Africa, Asia and Australia.  Interestingly, Europe was the only region that had no plant life represented.  I don’t know if it was because those trees can’t flourish here, or some other reason.  The last thing that we got to see was called the “Palmera”, which was a giant expanse covered with over 200 different species of palm trees from all over the world.  I found out that the national tree of Cuba is the “palma real”, or royal palm, so you do learn something new everyday.

            After our tour of all the beautiful trees, we went to the Parque Zoológico Nacional, better known as a zoo to all my gringo readers.  If you have ever been to The Wild Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida and have gone on the safari ride, this was exactly like that.  We rode into the park that resembled an African safari on a converted public transportation bus and drove through the entire wide expanse.  I was surprised by the fact that all of the animals were so very close to the road.  In fact, if the bus driver hadn’t picked up speed driving away then a giraffe would have stuck his head right through a window.  One of the main attractions of the park is the fact that it is home to 18 lions and all of them occupy about an acre of land.

            On the way back, we got to chat with our taxi driver, who, apparently, is a hydraulic engineer who worked in France for a little while and Colombia for three years.  He told us that the money that he made while he was in Colombia he used to buy a car so that he could become a taxi driver because they make more money than engineers do in this country.  This blew my mind, because a job that most Americans would look down upon, that of a taxi driver, is what highly educated and knowledgeable people in Cuba have to settle for.  I asked him if thought that the economic change that Cuba is undergoing will change things and he said that he doubted that anything was going to change in the next five years.  It was a revealing insight into Cuban life.

La Fabrica de Tabacco

            Yesterday, we had the opportunity to go to La Fabrica de Partagas, also known as the Partagas Tobacco Factory.  It is located right next to the capital building, literally right across the street.  As you walk up to it, there are men trying to sell you cigars on the cheap but on the down low because they shouldn’t technically be selling them.  Our professor actually had to go across the street to buy our entrance tickets because the government (who has owned the factory since the revolution) doesn’t trust that the people who work there won’t try to rip people off.

            My dad is a big cigar smoker, so I was super excited to see the factory and the entire time I was there I was wishing that I could take pictures to show him.  Apparently, you aren’t allowed to take pictures, I don’t know if it is to keep secret their process or what.  Anyways, a Spaniard originally owned the factory, Jaime Partagas.  It has been around for almost a hundred and fifty years and the cigars that they roll have always been made by hand.  The US is apparently the biggest illegal market for Cuban cigars, but Spain and England are tied for the biggest number of exports.

            The factory produces 25,000 cigars a day, and like I said, all of them are made by hand.  The process is so specialized that for every 100 students who enter in the program to study to be a cigar maker, only 50 graduate.  Apparently, some people do not have the physical capacity in their hands to be a good cigar maker, so they don’t graduate from the program.  Some of them that don’t graduate become leaf pickers, the people who remove the central vein from the tobacco leaf and sorts the leaves by color.  Nothing from the leaf is wasted and the potently fragrant central vein is used to make aftershave and cologne. 

            Every cigar maker has their own specialty, a specific brand of cigar like a Montecristo or a Cohiba that they make every day.  Each tabacanero (tobacco maker) has a certain quota that they have to reach everyday, some have to make 150, some 250, it all depends on your skill level and level of practice.  These highly specialized craftsmen are only paid about 45 dollars a month, but an extra source of income is the three cigars that they get to take home at the end of every work day.  Most of them don’t smoke so they sell them to whomever they can to get some extra money. It was an amazing learning experience and I feel like I can definitely hold my own against my pops now.

Salsa Lessons

            A huge part of life in Cuba is dance.  The people dance, the children dance, when it is hot outside even the air dances.  So it only makes sense that eventually, we would learn to dance.  Our professor set up some lessons with a Cuban woman that he knows who is actually studying to be a priest in the Santería religion but will do odd jobs to make some extra cash.  Today was our lesson, and boy, it was a trip.

            Yaimela, the lady that was teaching us, lives two blocks down from the Floridita, the famous bar that Ernest Hemingway drank at in Old Havana.  We walk in, and it was the first Cuban home that I have ever been in, and I was so surprised by what I saw.  This is a home that is in the middle of Havana, literally a block from the richest and priciest street in the entire city and you would not know that.  We were in their front room the entire time that we were there, roughly an eight by ten room with a concrete floor and exposed wiring.  It reminded me a lot of the houses that we saw while we were in Honduras my senior year on a mission trip.

            No matter what the house was like, Yaimela was a dancing queen.  I always liked to joke with my family that I had the best moves out of any of them, but this girl made me look like I had two left feet and no rhythm.  We learned all the basic steps and I was feeling pretty good about myself, and then Yaimela’s little sister came in.  This twelve year old could move her body like she had no bones and made you wish that you could dance half as well as she could.  By the end of the lesson the whole family was there and we were having a regular old dance party.  I have never perspired so much in my entire life, I swear I thought I was going to pass out.  Did this faze any of the Cubans?  Heck no, they were just getting started.  I am so glad we had the lessons, but I have no idea how these people dance for hours on end, they must be crazy.  But now I know how to salsa, one step closer to becoming Cuban.

The Two-Wheeled City

So yesterday we went on our weekly excursion out of Havana around Cuba.  One of our professors last week joked about the fact that the longer we stay here the more the travel bug infects us and we want to see the rest of the country.  She was so right.  So, as all eight of us piled into the van, we began our four-hour long trek to see more of this sun-drenched country, this time, Santa Clara.

The thing that Santa Clara is most known for is being the home of Che’s great revolutionary victory that ensured the success of the rebel arm against Batista’s army forces.  In late December of 1958, Che moved into the town and started waging war against the army forces that Batista had sent to beef up his last remaining stronghold between the rebel army and Havana.   On December 29, Che ordered a section of rail tracks pulled up with tractors.  That afternoon, the rebel army had attacked to the point that the remaining soldiers fled to an armored train and tried to flee the city for Havana.  The train moved out at tremendous speed and of course derailed in a horrific accident.  With that win over the armed forces, Che captured antiaircraft guns, machine guns, and a huge amount of ammunition.  It was a decisive victory for the rebels.

The train is still in Santa Clara as well as a monument to Che and his museum.  His body is buried there as well, but we didn’t get to see the tomb or the museum, because as luck would have it they were closed.  So we got to see his statue and read the farewell speech that he wrote to Fidel before leaving for Bolivia to start a guerrilla war there.  It was a beautiful spot outside the city and in an appropriately isolated spot (much like the legend himself).  I’ve been reading a biography about him called Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life by Jon Lee Anderson which at times doubles as a door stop, so this was a great thing to be able to see the tribute to the guy that I’ve been reading so much about.

After the failed museum attempt, we went into the city of Santa Clara and spent some time just walking around and enjoying what the city had to offer.  I was struck by how few cars were actually on the road; most people were either on bicycles or walking.  Santa Clara only has about 150,000 people and is on the interior of Cuba so you can cover a lot of territory with two legs or two wheels.  Interestingly, in all of Havana with its 2 million plus in population, there is not one recognized gay bar.  The gay bar in Santa Clara is known all throughout Cuba and el Mejunje is a center for tolerance and acceptance.  Our professor for our Cuban-US Relations class is actually the one that told us about it and said that we had to go check it out, so now I can say that I have been to Cuba’s one gay bar.

Ballet Nacional de Cuba

            So Friday night we as a group decided that we were going to go to see the National Cuban Ballet that was performing here in Havana.  One of the girls in our group is researching the difference between ballet and salsa in Cuban culture and we all tagged along so that she wouldn’t have to go by herself.  It was a phenomenal time.  We made a whole night of it so we all got all dressed up and went out to eat dinner at this fancy Chinese restaurant with amazingly cheap prizes.  We rode a surprisingly empty bus downtown and got off and paid half price with our student ids and then the magic started. 

We went around the side of the theater and walked up quite a few flights of stairs (there is a reason the tickets were half off) and stepped out into a different time.  The Gran Teatro de La Habana (The Great Theatre of Havana) officially opened in 1838 while Cuba was still under Spanish colonial rule.  It was torn down in 1914, but a lot of the old moldings, the ceiling, and the seats are originals or replicas in the neo-baroque one that is to the right of the capital now.  As such, this building was an architectural gem that over the years has definitely weathered some storms but retained fabulous lines and shouts echoes of the past.  The ornate sculpture, the giant crest set into the moldings, and the worn velvet seats all spoke of a time that has passed and moved on.

            The actual ballet that we saw was the opening night of “La magia de la danza”, which means “The Magic of the Dance”.  It was a hodgepodge of scenes from lots of famous ballets including Giselle, Swan Lake, and the Nutcracker.  My favorite by far though was the Don Quijote scenes.  Last semester I took a class on Cervantes and we read Don Quijote so I literally jumped out of my seat with excitement when the curtain was raised during the second act.  Alicia Alonso, the founder, director, and choreographer for the National Ballet, did an incredible job of giving tribute to this famous Spanish work.  The two scenes from the book that were incorporated were the marriage of Quiteria and Basilio and when Espada and his lover Mercedes arrive at an inn in Castilla.  By far the girl who danced the part of Quiteria, Viengsay Valdés, was the most amazing ballerina I have ever seen.  Her strongest talent was the ability to balance.  She went up on those point shoes and then was a statue and did not flinch for longer than was humanly possible. It was beautiful.

            While I didn’t see my favorite man from la Mancha, Don Quijote, as we were sprinting towards the bus after the ballet ended, I was struck with how well the ballet had shown the struggle that occurs between being Cuban and being Spanish.  Like I said, this was distinctly old world, from the theater to the dancing itself to the fact that it was mostly foreigners watching.  However, Alicia Alonso did a fabulous job by ending the ballet with an expressly Cuban work that incorporated the work of Louis Moreau Gottschalk who wrote his work solely based on Caribbean culture.  It was beautiful and the audience definitely left knowing that Cuban culture was what was here now and while it respected the old world, it fully embraced their new identity.

Acuario Nacional de Cuba

            So this afternoon I decided to take a little solo adventure down the street to the Acuario Nacional de Cuba.  We pass it everyday on the bus ride to and from school and I decided that I could use my Tuesday afternoon in a better way than just getting some sun on our balcony.  Best decision ever.  I love aquariums, always have.  I still remember being on a trip to Boston my junior year of high school and throwing a tantrum that would make a two year old proud because we didn’t get to go and see the turtle exhibit at the aquarium.  Not my most shining moment.

            So as I walked up to the Aquarium, I was struck by the fact that the parking lot was so small.  I lived in Orlando until I was five and Sea World is one of my favorite places.  They have football fields that they have converted into stretches of asphalt so that hordes of tourists can come and see everything.  This parking lot was more along the lines of a Burger King or MacDonalds.  Big difference.

            As I walked up to the counter to pay for my ticket I had to do a double take because I only had to pay about fifty cents.  Fifty cents!  That also included getting to see both the sea lion and dolphin show.  To get into a major attraction in the US, I don’t even remember, easily thirty or forty dollars.  One of the benefits of a communist country is that, based on its principles, prices stay pretty cheap compared to a capitalist country.  But there is definitely a trade off.

            The hardest thing that I saw walking through this sprawling outdoor complex was the fact that so many of the attractions were shut down and boarded up.  Here is where the trade off comes into play because the prices are cheap compared to that of a capitalist country but the people still cannot afford them.  So no one comes and they cant keep the attractions open.  I was one of maybe twenty or thirty people walking around.  Compared to any kind of theme park or aquarium in the US, it was as if it was closed. 

            All of this made me realize that in a communist country, no one is competing for attention.  There is no drive to make it the best and most appealing park.  As I was standing outside of one of the tanks of the sea lions, I kept watching it circle around the tank again and again, stopping to touch its nose to the corner of the glass in the same place over and over no matter how many people tapped on the glass or tried to get its attention.  It struck me that so many people here are like that. They keep going through the motions, repeating the same monotonous task.  It was one of the saddest things that I had ever seen because life isn’t meant to be lived that way.  Not at all.  The strangest part was that it was right on the ocean, literally, there was a place that you could go for a swim.  This beautiful, amazing view of the rough seas and no one was there to appreciate the splendor.  It broke my heart, for the first time, my heart broke for the people of Cuba.