Cultural Cuba: History, Art & Dance

WED. JAN. 30

Today, our last full day, was packed with economics, history, visual art and dance.  Lourdes, dean of economics at the University of Havana, was our morning speaker here at the hotel.  Like all the other individuals who have shared their insights with us, she was both spirited and informative. The Cubans we’ve encountered up close have been passionate about their work, candid about conditions in the country, and yet able to present them with a touch of humor.  

From her, we gained a better understanding of how wealth, or more often the lack of it, is distributed in Cuba and how rich Cubans rely upon their relatives living in the U.S. or abroad to send them money or goods.  For example, salaries for academics are low given their education, and one might make as little as 22 pesos a month. We all wished we’d had more time with her to ask more questions about the U.S. embargo on goods and about her own story. 

Hall of Mirrors under renovation like much of the museum

After our economics lesson, we went to the Museo de la Revolucion.  This is Cuba’s version of the events leading up to Fidel Castro’s takeover and what followed including the Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, and Cuba’s engagements with Russia and the rest of the world through the 1980’s.  Outside the building, several military planes and vehicles are on display including, behind glass, the yacht Fidel Castro and 81 others came in from Mexico in 1956 to launch the Revolution.

Lunch at Ivan Justo was across the street from the museum and upstairs (as many restaurants are) and began with the usual mojito.  (I think it must be the Cuban national drink since they have appeared at every lunch but one and several dinners!)  

Today, everything was served family style. An assortment of appetizers (shrimp ceviche, hummus, fried taro sticks), followed by platters of luscious lamb stew, chicken thighs, and grilled fish plus white rice and black beans.  Dessert was a dish of rice pudding.  Normally, I am not a fan of puddings, but this was quite good with the sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

Appetizers at Ivan Justo

After lunch, we walked half a block to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana. There our delightful guide, Aylet Ojeda, a student who gives tours as payback for her free university tuition, highlighted the work of Cuban artists from 1929 through the 1990’s. She shared how early artists were heavily influenced by famous artists from abroad and then over time created paintings that were more reflective of Cuban society and more political in nature. The header photo is by a Cuban artist.

Music and dance are important elements of Cuban culture, and we had the treat of a short performance by Habana Compas Dance, a professional troupe of female dancers.  Their dance incorporates aspects of Afro-Cuban music as well as flamenco dance steps from Spain.  They study five days a week and learn to play several types of drums as well as other percussion instruments such as the clava, washboard gourd, and castanets. The troupe is unique in having incorporated small side chairs into their routines as yet another percussion instrument.  Bursting with energy and enthusiasm, their short program was a welcome shot of adrenaline.

This was the day that never ended. After a brief break at the hotel, we went out again, this time to a dance studio to learn more about the steps that inform Cuban ballroom dancing.  Initially two pairs of dancers did an elegant dance, then the dances got more animated and erotic as more couples joined the floor.  

Next was a short salsa demo, and then the dancers grabbed our hands (no weaseling out here) and we ladies lined up behind the lead instructor and the men behind one of the male dancers.  With great patience, the instructor demonstrated the basic steps, then they were put to music, and we got a partner. Some of us excelled while others got by passably.  It was a fun experience!

Then, on to our farewell dinner at a glass-walled contemporary restaurant, OtraManera, that would have been at home in La Jolla. We had a choice of drinks (I went for the house white wine) and a look at the menu to choose what we wished to eat beyond the shared appetizers.  Appetizers included croquettes, ceviche, and a lovely avocado and tomato concasse.  

The Chief Penguin ordered the grilled red snapper and I had the Chinese style noodles with pork tenderloin graced with a few cherry tomatoes and broccoli florets.  Also popular with our group were several of the salads, one with green papaya, and the lamb entree.  It was a lovely meal in a lovely setting, ending with Alfredo providing a summary of what we’d done over the past five days. He was complimentary about our group and said we were a group he would be sorry to see leave.

Tomorrow we all go our separate ways. I’ve made a new friend or two, and my head is filled with images of art and architecture in this “city of columns.” I was charmed by the individuals with whom we conversed. I am also armed with a better understanding of Cuba’s history and its relations with the U.S. along with the challenges and opportunities this society faces. For sure, I’ll be sharing the magic and delight of this trip with my friends at home—it’s hard to let go! Thank you, Marlon and Alfredo.

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved). Header photo is of Barco negero, 1976 by Manuel Mendive.

Cultural Cuba: Photo Highlights

Havana and the Vinales Valley offered a feast of images for the photographer. I took more photos than I could possibly share in my daily blog posts so here are a few more.

Havana is called “City of Columns.” Early buildings had columns and arcades as a way to provide shade in the heat and protection from the elements. French and Moorish touches are evident in balconies and window frames.
This one taken from the moving tour bus
More columns, again from the bus, couldn’t resist!
With a license you can sell fresh produce from a cart on the street. Limited capitalism.
Image on a fabric restaurant tablecloth
Electric appliances, and particularly clothes dryers, are scarce so seeing these tablecloths hung to dry was not unusual. What was so was the elegant setting.
A trip to the country to visit a tobacco farm and ride in an ox cart!
Cigar raw material, tobacco leaves hanging to dry
Sampling a fresh hand rolled cigar!
View of the mogotes in the Vinales Valley
Grand sculpture in Colon Cemetery
Iconic chairs used in Habana Campos Dance performances
Member of Habana Campos Dance troupe
This refrigerator in the hotel lobby area was not just for decoration, but in use.

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved). Header photos is the bartender at Mas Habana.

Cultural Cuba: Vinales Excursion

TUESDAY, JAN. 29

This was another very full day and could aptly be called “cigars and scenery.” It was sunny and probably the warmest day we had. Cuba was experiencing a cold front and it was mainly in the 60’s until today. We traveled three hours west on our comfortable tour bus to the Vinales Valley, a World Heritage Site. This agricultural region is known for its limestone outcroppings called mogotes and is deemed to have the best soil for producing very fine tobacco.  

Squinting against the mogotes of Vinales Valley

Tobacco farmers are obligated to sell 90% of their crop to the government, but get to keep the rest for themselves.  On the way we made two stops, a pit stop at a service area that highlighted tobacco and then a visit to a small tobacco farm. Here we saw the tobacco leaves hanging in the drying house (where they hang as long as two to three months) and then we watched that farmer roll a cigar.

Racks of tobacco leaves attached with thread

Rolling a cigar is a several step process starting with filler leaves that are layered and then rolled up. The ends may be cut at that point and then there is a wrapper leaf added. This is a special leaf that is very thin and flexible and is sealed around the rolled leaves with some kind of natural glue. It could be honey, for example. Commercial cigars get a band with a label added, but these farmers’ cigars are “lesser ones” which the farmer can sell, but they don’t get a label, unlike expensive brands such as Cohiba. We were offered a cigar to take home and the opportunity to smoke one, but only Laurie took up the latter offer. Several of our group collectively purchased a pack of 23 cigars.

Our destination for lunch was another tobacco farm run by the 4th generation of a family.  We met the father, his son and wife, and an aunt, all of whom are involved in running the farm.  To get to said lunch, the original plan was to leave the bus and then walk 15-20 minutes up a dirt trail to their outdoor pavilion. But the heavy rain of two days ago left the track muddy, puddly, and slippery. So…drum roll…we rode up in an ox cart! The oxen were hitched at the front and the driver in his straw hat, said he would put in planks for us to sit on.

I assumed planks running vertically along the sides of the cart, but no, three boards were put in running cross wise. Greg and I and Marian were on a board in front just behind the wooden yoke where the driver and our local guide from Vinales perched. That meant we had the clearest view of the path ahead and all the possible obstacles.  The rest of our group, another seven people, piled in on other planks.  It was a jouncy, sometimes lurching ride, up the hills, around the worst ruts, and also through some seriously deep puddles!  We did wonder if we might tip over, but we made it.

This family had slaughtered a free range pig yesterday which this morning they roasted in a cylinder-shaped black oven.  The pork was flavored with sour orange, cumin, and salt and was absolutely luscious, some of the best I’ve ever had!   Accompanying the chunks of roast pork were plates or bowls of sliced cucumber, sliced tomatoes, Moors and Christians, boiled yucca, tamales (wedges of corn flour spiced with a bit of chili), squash cubes, shredded white cabbage, and shredded lettuce.  To end the meal, they served homegrown fresh pineapple and coffee. Everything was very fresh and delicious!

Sumptuous lunch

We then saw their drying house, and the son demonstrated his technique for rolling a cigar and how he used honey as a sealer. Their cigars also include some other flavor notes, and my colleagues who tried one pronounced it mild and pleasant.

After lunch, we stopped in the town of Vinales, very popular with tourists, and walked around noting several attractive hotels, and a plethora of restaurants.  The last stop of the day was a visit to an artist’s home.  Roman Vasquez Leon is an artist who was previously represented by a gallery in Miami, but now shows and sells his paintings out of his house. His works have a surreal quality and some are Bosch-esque in their depiction of human activities of all sorts.

Detail from one of Vasquez’s paintings

The trip back was another three hours, getting us to the hotel shortly after 7 p.m. Most of the group was going on to a show at the Hotel Nacional, but we demurred and ordered sandwiches and a glass of wine. We had a long conversation with John, an American photographer and hotel guest who visits regularly to document particular aspects of Cuban life.  There was no internet connection at all, something to do with problems from Sunday’s storm, so I felt rather disconnected from world news.

Tomorrow is our last day in Havana and we will visit a couple museums and see some dance.


Note: All photos except the couple, ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Cultural Cuba: Art, Music et al (#3)

MONDAY, JAN. 28

Art in a storm

Metal mosquito sculpture on exterior of art factory

Last night was more of an adventure than we anticipated.  As scheduled, we arrived at the Cuban Art Factory, a repurposed cooking oil factory with exhibit galleries, a movie theater, and performance space, for a tour by a young staff member.  He explained that the factory had been empty for more than 30 years and that they had to renovate it before opening several years ago.  They now offer programming every evening from Thursday to Sunday and draw 2500 guests.  There are nine bars scattered about and a private restaurant on the top floor.  

We toured two levels of art and were impressed by the range of photography and paintings, much of it focusing on social issues.

Full length wall mural for which I didn’t get the artist
Carlos Marx by Lazaro Saavedra
Part of a larger piece showing people at ease by Toirac & Marin

It had begun to rain and on the way upstairs to Tierra for dinner, we were briefly outside in the rain. We walked through one area of tables and then through a glass door to our table.  We ordered drinks and then watched the teeming rain cascade off the plastic covering of the space next to us.  It streamed down repeatedly and suddenly everything went dark.  The tables all had candles, and most everyone around had a smartphone with a flashlight for reading the menu.  Meanwhile I watched more rain pour off the plastic tarp roofing in the next room and hoped that there would be no dire consequences.  

Our drinks eventually arrived and we ordered the rest of our meal.  Although there were no salads to be had, surprisingly, this kitchen and waitstaff working by flashlight and candles, were able to produce fish and chips and a chicken Thai dish that was very good!  Despite the pounding rain and the lack of illumination, no one left the dining room prematurely.  Joining us at the table was William Acosta, an up and coming young painter, who is doing very well.  He previously did sculpture, but found painting to be easier to create (supplies have to be ordered from abroad in advance) and more salable.  He is represented by art dealers in New York and San Francisco and other cities and will be a part of the Havana Biennial (big art show) in April.

It was still raining hard and dark as we left the restaurant and carefully picked our way down the several levels of stairs, iPhone flashlights in hand, to board our bus back. It was dark all the way and the hotel too was dark.  The rain was so heavy that we had puddles on our stone floor from the wind and heavy rain that came through one window and under the door.  With no light (it was already 10:30 pm), we went to bed and were reassured when the ceiling fan whirred to life around 2:30 am.  

Insights from a Journalist

On Monday morning, we had awonderful talk on Cuba from the perspective of an American journalist Marc Frank, now with Reuters who previously worked as a reporter for ABC News.  Author of Cuban Revelations, he has lived in Havana for more than 20 years, is married to a Cuban woman, and has both a daughter and a stepdaughter.  Instead of PowerPoint, he had props or toys, as he called them, to illustrate his talk:  a water bottle for the U. S., its cap to represent Cuba, and a small red funnel with line markings he used to describe different periods in Cuba’s history.

Initially he told us that he had been awakened at 3:30 am by a phone call from someone in the Dominican Republic informing him about the tornado in Havana. He didn’t believe it at first, but other calls followed.  This was the first most of us knew that last night’s weather had been a particularly strong and destructive tornado and the first one in Havana since 1940. Mr. Frank was a fount of information and insights, amusing, and easy to listen to.   We had several morning presentations during our trip, and since we were a small group, these were easily accommodated in the hotel’s outdoor garden area.

Architectural tour

The rest of the morning was devoted to a walking tour with noted Cuban architect, Universo Garcia Lorenzo, who is also a professor of design.  

Passionate about his calling, he led us on a delightful stroll down the Paseo del Prada describing the architectural styles and history of the buildings on either side of the promenade and also took us into the lobbies of two hotels.  He and his architect wife renovated the Hotel Telegrafo named for the first telegraph station.

Professor Garcia Lorenzo

They retained the style of the original façade and added two stories which have a simpler more contemporary look to them.  The lobby inside was gorgeous, on one side very modern and on the other more traditional with the original stone arches and a lovely soft toned mural.  The other hotel, Hotel Sevilla, was also grand and beautiful, but totally different in style.  It was a great presentation!

Exterior of Hotel Telegrafo

Lobby seating in Hotel Telegrafo

Lunch and afternoon touring

Lunch was at the famous and old restaurant, Paladar La Guarida, in a building that, although in need of repair, has an impressive winding staircase.   The dining rooms have ochre walls covered with historic photos and memorabilia.  We got several small appetizers—squash soup, tiny fish taco, eggplant caviar in a cream sauce, and a spinach crepe filled with chicken in a mild raspberry coulis. 

Three of the appetizers: soup, taco, and eggplant

These were followed by a choice of entree:  baked lemon chicken, grilled fish, pork, or lobster.  I had the chicken and the Chief Penguin the fish, and both were very good. On the table for all were bowls of white rice, Moors & Christians (black beans and rice), boiled yucca, and fried plantains.  Dessert was a tiny taste of lemon pudding and crumbled cookie and a small mound of chocolate pudding.  Mojitos to start as usual.  Very tasty lunch and again plenty of food!  Those who know me well know I’m a foodie so I’m always ready to describe what we ate!

After lunch we visited the famous Revolution Square, a wide-open paved space surrounded by government buildings and monuments.  It is here that in January 1998 one million Cubans came to hear Pope John Paul II say mass and here also that Fidel Castro delivered a six-hour speech.  There is something to see in all directions:  next to a tall tower a statue of Jose San Marti, philosopher and poet and probably the most famous person all Cubans relate to, and black outlines of the faces of Che Guevara and another revolutionary, Camilo Ciengfuegos, on the Ministry of the Interior and the telecommunications buildings.

Jose Marti statue
Che Guevara mural

The next stop was lighter in mood as we stepped back in time to the historic Hotel Nacional.  Dating to the 1930’s, it attracted international visitors and performers from around the world.  In the lounge are large posters, one for each decade from the 1930’s to the present, with photographs of some of these personages.  Everyone from Churchill and Obama to Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra. 

Our last stop of the day was a huge arts and crafts warehouse on the Malecon with stall after stall of t-shirts, leather handbags and wallets, cigars, and the like, plus at the back, rows and rows of Cuban drawings and paintings.  

Percussion, anyone?

In the evening two teachers from the Havana Music School demonstrated several different percussion instruments. Then they taught us the techniques for playing them: clava, washboard gourd, and maracas.  Having mastered these, or not, we then tried to incorporate salsa dance steps with the instruments.  Several of us were very adept at one or the other, but only one person seemed able to do two things at once—play and dance simultaneously!

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved)