CUBAN TRANSITIONS

Every day of our trip to Cuba was packed full of different activities: meetings with musicians, cooperative farmers, college professors and representatives from various governmental organizations and NGOs, not to mention visits to more traditional tourist sites and cities like Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Santa Clara. But in between these meetings and visits, we spent several […]

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Before heading to Cuba, our class studied jinterismo, a term that literally means “horse tamer” or ‘wrangler.” Jinterismo is most equivalent to the english term, “hustling,” specifically in the tourist industry, although it is heavily associated with prostitution. As a result of the economic crisis in Cuba, many Cubans have turned to jinterismo in order […]

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Varadero’s peninsula in northern Cuba is a heavily touristed area that boasts extensive shoreline and beautiful beaches, attracting tourists from all over the globe. The all inclusive resorts that line the beach offer tourists everything they could ever need on their vacation, creating a sort of trap, one which makes tourists and their experience and […]

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In the time before the Spanish-American War, King Sugar ruled the land in Cuba. One of the most famous and important sites for sugar production in Cuba was in the Valley of the Sugar Mills (Valle de los Ingenios) located 12 kilometers outside the beautiful city of Trinidad near the southern coast of central Cuba. […]

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