Saturday, March 7^th, 2015

Come wander around old Havana with me. We’ll focus on the stunning melange of architecture, some buildings newly renovated, others badly in need of repair. In either case, it’s clear that Havana was the gem of the Americas at one time, cosmopolitan and swimming in wealth.

As you’ll see in some of the pictures below, the architectural style reflects a series of foreign influences including colonial, classical, neoclassical, baroque, modern and even moorish. All the styles, like everything from abroad, have been “Cubanized” into a charming palette of colors, shapes and styles.

Today’s guide is named Amercal. He’ll be with us the rest of the trip. Although he’s never lived abroad, he’s fluent in English, including American slang, with barely any accent detectable. He was a college professor of English but, due to economic realities, switched to guiding foreigners around his city. He said he learned his language skills from watching American TV programs. Like most Cubans, Amercal’s ancestry is quite a colorful mixture. His father’s great grandfather was a slave from Africa. His mother’s great grandfather was Chinese, promised a good job in Cuba then tricked into slavery once he arrived on the island. Added to the mixture is Italian and Spanish ancestry somewhere along the line. In his face, if one squints a bit, one can see all the different ethnic pieces of his puzzle. He points to his eyes and says “Chinese,” his nose and mouth “European,” his café au lait skin “African.” It’s a handsome mix.

So, here’s just a little sampling of what we saw on our walk through old Havana on the cobblestone streets and alleys.

Lunch in the old town was grilled fish, rice, and vegetables while we were regaled with a flamenco performance as we ate.

The people we are encountering are open with smiling faces and an irresistible curiosity about us. Even the most ordinary person seems well educated and appears to know way more about what’s going on in the world than we do. They are especially knowledgeable about the US. There was a pervasive feeling of jubilation at the promise of detente between Cuba and the US.

While the Cuban people are poor in material goods, they are rich in creativity, a passion for art, music and dancing, and they have the knowledge that comes with a good education. The average salary here is $20 per month. But the Cuban people have been the beneficiaries of free health care and free education, including college. Even post-graduate education is free for those who want to pursue an advanced degree. It’s quite remarkable what Cuba has accomplished in spite of the serious economic hardships they have endured related to the US embargo and since the Soviets withdrew their support in the 1991 due to the fall of the USSR and their own economic struggles.

In the afternoon we visited another section of Havana, called Vedado with wide streets, big trees and huge mansions, former property of the wealthy Cubans who left during the Revolution. Some of the mansions had been carefully renovated, others left in tatters.

Toward the end of the day we saw a performance of Afro-Cuban music and dance at a community center, formerly a movie theater. We saw several variations of the Rumba, a dance portraying ritualized sexual pursuit, with roots in Africa. The various percussion instruments kept a lively beat. The Afro-Cuban dancing at the community center is one of several projects started by Rodrigo, the entrepreneurial owner of the guide service we are using. His goal is to help teenagers who have dropped out of school, without jobs, and just hanging out without purpose. The drummers and dancers seem to be proud of what they have accomplished and were full of smiles to see our enthusiastic response.

 

I am gagging on cigarette smoke in the little wifi room at the hotel that has the internet connection. I have to make a quick exit. Until next time….