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Today's Topic:
Today's Topic:
US-Cuba Relations
US-Cuba Relations
by Maura Bremer
Today was our third full day in Cuba and it was another day filled with learning, great food, and new perspectives.
Our day began like every day so far, with breakfast at our homestays (casas particulares). Our host mom makes the most beautiful breakfasts for us each morning (photo below) and always ensures we feel taken care of, happy, and full. :) And we always do! I feel especially grateful for my host mom who is accommodating my gluten free needs with delicious homemade alternatives. She is wonderful!
After breakfast, we boarded our bus and went back to the CIPS center for a phenomenal lecture by Professor Hassan Perez Casabona on Cuba-US relations (translated by our amazing guide, Amalia). Professor Perez Casabona was engaging, enthusiastic, and informative as he shared about the historical relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, the present day relations between the two countries, and countless examples of the relationship illustrated through baseball and popular culture to help summarize the complexity and human components of the relationship. Professor Perez Casabona answered many of our questions, explained just how far-reaching the impacts of the U.S. embargo on Cuba’s access to resources have been, and left us with a sense of hope for the future of our two countries in expanding and improving our relationship.
After our lecture, we headed to El Jardin for lunch and enjoyed delicious beverages, artistic appetizers, and a generous main dish. Several of us ordered the lobster and were delighted to be served a gorgeous whole lobster each - prepared slightly differently than in the US, grilled with garlic and lime and without butter. We had our desserts and were out the door quickly to make it to our next activity, with our bus chauffeur, Billy, ensuring we had a smooth journey to our next stop.
We spent the next couple of hours at the Memorial De La Denuncia, which was an experience that proved thought-provoking, emotional, and intense. The museum serves as a memorial to Cubans who have died as a result of acts of violence by the US against Cuba throughout history (3,478 people to date). The museum highlighted (and denounced) several historical events that involved acts of aggression (or attempted acts of aggression) by the US against Cuba - some events we were familiar with and many that were new to us. The museum combines art, video, photography, and historical artifacts to tell the story of the devastating events that have caused loss of life in Cuba.
As Americans, our group felt a range of emotions as we took in the information…many of us left feeling shocked, surprised, saddened, and guilty, while others were not surprised and were already familiar with the stories we heard. Many of us were grappling with the complexity of learning new information about the choices and actions of our government that contradicted what we had learned earlier in our lives. We had a great guide at the museum who led us through the exhibits and she offered up her opinion that history helps inform us and that to move forward, it is important to see the mistakes and failings of both of our countries.
We ended the day back at the CIPS building, debriefing together as a class on the activities of the day, our trip so far, and the new information we have been taking in. We discussed new learnings, our assumptions coming into the trip and how they’ve been challenged, and how we want to move forward with the new information we’ve gained. Following class, we returned to our casas particulares for our free evening. After a quick rest and brief visit with our host-mom, we went to the Hotel Habana Libre, bought internet cards to connect with our families, ate a quick dinner, debriefed on the day, and returned home to get a good night’s sleep and prepare for another full day!
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