CUBAN TRANSITIONS

Cuba is internationally renowned for its excellent healthcare system and for having the world’s highest number of doctors per capita (almost 6 per 1,000 people).[1] In recent years, Cuba has managed to turn its excellent healthcare system into yet another means of generating revenue, both through healthcare tourism and through deals like the Oil-for-Doctors arrangement […]

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Before this trip and this class I was not foreign to race issues in Cuba or in the rest of the Caribbean for that matter. My freshman year here at Vassar I wrote a paper on the history of race relations in Cuba for my English class and also watched a PBS episode on being […]

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To start this post, I would like to quote from my journal because I do not know if I can capture what I was and still am thinking in the same way otherwise. This took place on our first full night in Havana (not the night we arrived which was after 3:00 am). “Anna and […]

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Okay, I’ll admit it. This is my fun blog post.  At least, that’s how this blog post started out. As I roamed the small aisle in our tour bus – especially during the longer or earlier trips – I tried to get as money photos as possible with people drooling, snoring, muttering or otherwise making […]

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While exploring the Hotel Rancho Luna Jennifer and I stumble upon a hotel store that was hidden off to the side in a different building. As we went around the store I notice the coconut crackers that I had been wanting for so long but having no CUC’s on us we informed the nice husband […]

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While in Cuba, as we traveled around with our large bus and our large group, I was always intensely aware of my status as a tourist. But many of the places we visited were not isolated tourist spots, but people’s homes and communities. Everywhere in Havana there were residences right beside popular tourist areas. But […]

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I shouldn’t have been surprised, based on Cuba’s history. But I was. The variety of styles of roof that I say amazed me. Starting with the thatched roof we saw at Las Terrazas. You have to understand that thatched roofs are among the most annoying misconceptions about living in the Caribbean. “Does your house have […]

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During our trip to Cuba, we had the opportunity to stay at many different types of hotels. Our hotel in Havana, Hotel Plaza, offered a beautiful roof-top view of the city and is close to Calle Obispo and Havana vieja. Hotel Plaza was a multi-level hotel that had an indoor restaurant, gift shop, and money […]

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One of the first noticeable aspects of Cuba are the classic American cars, which is somewhat ironic considering the anti-imperialist rhetoric of the Cuban revolution, but at the same time is clear evidence of the U.S. embargo on the country. This is another example of Cuban ingenuity and resourcefulness and says a lot about Cuban […]

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On the dance floor, when the sway of my hips and the movement of my feet were more fluid than expected for a tourist, salsa songs were often followed by a Cuban asking “oye, de donde tu ere?” “De Nueva Yol, pero soy Dominicana y Puertorriqueña.” It was a distinction that, at first, came instinctually […]

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