CUBAN TRANSITIONS

El Cemetario del Cristóbal Colón. One of the many sites we discovered as tourists, the trip to Colon Cemetery was also one of the most profound days of my life. Its hard to explain it wholly – it was so experiential – but I’ll do my best as I write and conceive this blog post. […]

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Driving around Havana, one is struck by the beauty of the huge houses that still stand. Many on the Malecón are in are complete disrepair after decades of being beaten by the waves flying up from the ocean day after day. Others are falling in on themselves – and tragically sometimes their inhabitants – from […]

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The moment we arrived at Varadero, Cuba, the tourist hotspot of Cuba, I was surprised to discover that such a place exists in the socialist country. Large five-star hotel resorts have been constructed throughout the peninsula since the Special Period where guests have access to clear blue ocean water, white sand, pools, open snack and […]

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Aside from the obvious superficial connection between languages, Cuba’s rich historical relationship with Spain has impacted the country in many ways. After Columbus discovered the island in 1492, the Spanish consequently founded cities and eradicated the local Taíno population. These cities, such as Havana and Trinidad, are reflections of Spanish character and their architectural fabric […]

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My father was a professional photojournalist, so since an early age I have been exposed to photography. I am compelled by the ability to capture fleeting moments and to frame reality to form an image of my own. When I travel, I always bring a camera and when I went to Cuba it was no […]

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The place of homosexuality in Castro’s Cuba has been a complicated and much contested one. When the Revolution triumphed in 1959 and began its project of creating a revolutionary society, homosexuality had no place in the new Cuba. Building from a long history of Cuban machismo that traces its origins to colonization, the Revolutionary government […]

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Today, Cuba faces (once again) a critical new horizon. The extreme poverty of the Special Period, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 90s, has been mitigated to a degree. Progressive new conceptions of collectivity, as well as selective liberalizations to the economy, have already begun to radically transform the country. In […]

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“Se puede bailar a cualquier música cubana, pero sobre todo preferimos la salsa.” “You can dance to any Cuban music, but overall we prefer salsa.” -Salsa dancers “El éxito depende de las posibilidades de trabajo que tengas; hay muchos músicos en Cuba” “Success depends on the job opportunities that you have; there are a lot […]

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Quite a ways down Calle Obispo was the Hotel Florida. Inside was a salsa club. In the club were the jineteras sitting at the bar, Cuban men picking tourists up to dance, Cuban and foreign couples dancing, and the bartenders. In case you’ve never made it to the Hotel Florida, I should describe exactly how […]

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My first day in Havana I was convinced I had found the most beautiful building I had ever seen. Five minutes later I found a new building more beautiful than the last. And so on for two weeks.  The city is magnificent in the sheer number of historical buildings that still exist there, which range […]

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