The Call of the Mangos

Logged by Zoey

We began today like the rest; making an effort to eat breakfast fast enough to make up for waking up late. Well at least that was true for me and my roommate. By now we all knew our favorites from the breakfast bar and as usual were a couple minutes late to the bus. We greeted our driver Billy and Yoseti briefed us on the the day's activities.

We met with a representative of Cuba’s CITMA- the Ministry of Technology and the Environment first. There we had a long interesting discussion on the Cuban environment as well people's relationship with it. We learned about how the government supports science in Cuba and the history behind that. We left from there and we on to the literacy museum with a Cuban "snack" a ham and cheese sandwich. On the drive there we drove past an elementary school and middle school and Yoseti taught us more about the Cuban education system.

Our visit to the literacy museum was amazing. We met a renowned history professor and museum director Luisa Campos Gallardo who gave us a tour and explanation of the history of literacy and education in Cuba. We learned a lot about the Cuban revolution and of course the literacy campaign that followed. We were all deeply fascinated with such a powerful story, especially after watched about half of the film she had made. Cuba's literacy rate is higher than the US (99.1%). Many of us were buzzing with questions and with each detailed answer came more demanding questions. Leaving Dr. Gallardo was difficult but we made sure to get down her email (yes, indeed, Cuban use email!) and had Ms.Jonas buy the museum's book for her class.

We then had lunch at Paladar Melén Club. There we continued to fall deeply head over heels with Cuban cuisine and ended the delicious meal with delicious strong Cuban cappuccino.

We had an exchange at the Antonio Núñez Jiménez Foundation for Nature and Humanity (FANJ), a cultural and scientific non- governmental institution, dedicated to research and promotion of programs and projects for the protection of the environment as it relates to culture and society.

Let me just say after a long day of deep conversations and a humidity that only Cuba could bless us with Mr.Antonio was a nice refresher. I don't know what's in that Cuban coffee but this man was ten times as lively as the smile in the picture. We all really appreciated how honest and open minded he was about his nation. It genuinely felt like we all were learning a lot from one another. Mr.Antonio really pushed us to challenge our views on our own country and Cuba with his compelling yet complex questions. There were many laughs in our short time with Mr.Antonio, as well deliciously thick capuccinos and moments we'll never forget.

In the evening, after a delicious meal and some downtime at the hotel we went to the Cañonazo Ceremony.

Mangos:

We drove up to a huge daunting stone entrance and walked into old Havana. We walked around for a while as we waited for the ceremony to begin. We bought our time mostly with taking pictures of the gorgeous Havana skyline over the water as the sun set. We got to meet a middle school travel baseball team from California. They reaffirmed all Yoseti had told us about Cubanos relationship with baseball. In other words the boys were losing by a landslide. Yet the 12 year old boys did seem to win one thing that night...Kai, they too shared a deep appreciation for Target! Soon after we watched the soldiers dressed in 18th century uniforms perform their cannon ceremony that dates back to the Colonial era. The beginning was quite similar to the torch tradition that begins all the Olympic games. The suspense certainly dragged on for a while, and we were quite impressed with once again the lead soldado's performance with his torch. Finally when the cannon blew I definitely peed on myself a little bit. A few seconds later I found myself squatted down in the large crowd of people squeezing Siawale's legs.

The most eventful part of the night for sure was meeting the knights with shiny Cuban armor. After watching the soldiers march away and debriefing on the cannon we all were allotted some time to walk around and shop. Most of us began shopping while a select few found where the young Cuban soldiers had gone. They returned to get us to come with them. We all ran up a long winding brick road. We finally arrived a few meters away from the stunning soldados and managed to take several pictures with most of them. Unfortunately, just as we were beginning to get to know one another Kai reminded us of Yoseti's rule. We waved the soldiers goodbye and ran as Kai famously shouted "We have two minutes! We are HERE we need to be THERE in TWO MINUTES!" We met Yoseti at the end of the long road and discussed our latest conquest. She then commenced on the bus to teach us about Cuban mangoes. After a night like that we will never be the same again.

El Cañonazo con los Mangos