reflections

I think it's a wrap

    Well, there you have it.  My Cuba trip, as best I can recall.
     I think Dan had a great time, I know I did.

A boy and his tobacco drying

     My memories of the night at the mural project, the visit to Hemingway's villa, the paladar lunches in the country, daquries in Hemingway's haunt and mojitoes in general will stay with me for a long time.
     For those who missed it.... a mojito is a drink.  Take some mint leaves, crush them in a glass.  Add some natural sugar, then pour in two ounces of rum and add some soda.  Garnish with a lime and presto, instant refreshment on a hot day.

Hollowing out a palm tree to make a seat

     In one of my early posts I mentioned the difference between CUCs and Cuban pesos.  Pesos are basically what the Cuban people use

on an everyday basis.  A CUC is a convertible peso, which is what tourists use.  So products can have different prices.  In one shop, a pint of rum was 4.5 CUCs  or 134 pesos.  By the way, 134 pesos is a huge sum for a Cuban person.
     So many things I didn't mention..... the US embassy, school kids, crossing streets, ...I could spend days  writing about it.  And maybe I will.  Who knows?
     I would go back again....and hopefully, I will get that chance.  But I am not holding my breath.
     So, in parting, some pictures of general interest.
    Thanks for reading this....I do appreciate all your comments and likes and just the fact that you bothered to read it at all.

A man and his oxen....obviously

Dashboards have changed in 60 years......where's the wheel cover??

Most cars have been made into converts.... but some original sedans still exist

Hemingway did not shoot this in Cuba

Fidel's field of flags

This is the US embassy, behind the field of flags.  At one time there was an electronic scrolling message across the upper part of the embassy.  It gave messages that the Cuban government did not like, so they erected maybe 100 flag poles in the plaza across the street.  Then they hung huge black flags, which effectively blocked out the message on the embassy.  The US discontinued the messages and the flags came down, all except one.

Across from the community center created by the crazy mural people

It's made with car parts..

Part of the mural project

The street was lined with sculptures and  murals... all done by artists of all ages at the community center.

We are all in this together

Hopefully I can remember this....Elena was a woman in the neighborhood of the community center.  She was elderly, but every night she would walk to a bench at the end of the street and sit.  Every night.  She would sit for hours.  She did this for years.  One day she was asked, why?  She replied, she was waiting for her love to come back.  So the mural people created this bench in her memory.

The mural project people impressed me!  This statue is of an older gent in the neighborhood who loved to dance.... and still does.  When they were casting it, an elderly woman approached him and said to make it life like, it needed good teeth...so the woman went home and found her mother's teeth, which she had saved for years, and those teeth were put into the statue.  Real teeth....never seen that before  in a statue.

Cathedral in Cathedral square

window in the cathedral

I don't think it was very seaworthy

School kids in Cuba wear uniforms.  These are elementary kids, because they have red and white.  Middle school is gold and white and high school is blue and white.  Kindergartners wear the sdame uniforms, but they do not have a scarf....that comes with first grade

This garden was in the yard of a gallery opposite the cathedral.  The wall was done in tiles...I counted 26 rows up, and 40 across.  The garden was a quiet spot in the middle of a city of 2 million people

part of the garden wall

I

OK, I used to know why people rub his beard.....I think it was for good luck, or that you would return one day, or that it was fun to do.  You could also pull the finger....but I don't think this bronze statue would have farted.  I have no idea what it is pointing to.

little girl was in a wedding at the fort where I took the car pictures

owner of the tobacco farm where I bought rough cigars

building in back is the barn where tobacco is hung to dry

In the lobby of the OnCuba magazine....this is a cut paper work, about 6 feet hight and four feet wide....should have had a person in for perspective

They are a fun people!