CUBAN TRANSITIONS

Apart from the lovely cultural, educational, political and social experiences we had in Cuba, the famous rum “Havana Club” played a critical role in our diet at different [an maybe often] times. Cuba was described as the “Isle of Rum” due to its high quality sugarcane, a crop introduced on the island by Christopher Columbus in […]

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As a student of history, I have leaned about many different revolutions. Few have been truly successful, with success being defined as long-lasting and without extreme violence being necessary post-revolution in order to keep the new government in power. Most modern revolutions have ended in massive bloodshed, often on the level of genocide. I would […]

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It is impossible not to notice Cuba’s reverence for famed U.S. American author, Ernest Hemingway. He is claimed almost as if he were Cuban himself by tour guides and friendly Cubans alike who proudly point out La Floridita and Hotel Ambos Mundos while wandering Old Havana. Many of Hemingway’s haunts were close to our hotel, […]

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On one of our last nights in Havana, Lauren and I explored the area on the other side of the Avenue Prado, a neighborhood with less tourist traffic, except perhaps the beeline to La Casa de la música. We window-shopped in a studio-gallery and admired an old church, and somewhere between the two sites, I […]

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In the Revolution’s early years, the government employed a rationing system in order to ensure Cuban families with equal access to scarce food items. Beginning in 1962, each family was supplied with a Libreta de Abastecimiento (“Supplies booklet”), a food rationing card which gave them access to a basket of basic foods such as rice, […]

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On March 26th, history was made in Cuba with the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI. In total, this visit marked only the second time in history that a Pope has come to visit the nation and the first trip for Pope Benedict. Pope Benedict’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II, visited Cuba back in 1998. This […]

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“So what’s life like with Facebook?” The question popped up multiple times during my conversations with Cubans, particularly young Cubans of the so-called “Digital Generation.” Cubans have the lowest Internet access rate in the Americas: a mere 3% of the population can get online. Only select groups, such as University students and employees in the […]

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I  could not find a way to contain my excitement when I learned  that I would be visiting the home (Finca Vigia) of one of the greatest American writers of all time, Ernest Hemingway, one whom I have admired for quite some time. As the small group of us pulled up to his beautiful country […]

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  Playa Giron, located on the inlet where the infamous Bay of Pigs invasion took place, is famous for its long white sand beaches (Playa larga) and its location in one of the largest wetlands in the world. However, in the United States we only associate this area with our failed attempt to overthrow Castro’s […]

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  “Lets start a Dolphin Revolution!!” our class yelled as our bus left one of Varadero’s most popular tourist attractions- the dolphin park and show at Delfinario. Little did we know an international animal rights effort against Cuba’s involvement in Dolphin exportation began started in 1998 by a Swiss organization called “Working Group for the […]

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