February 1
Celebrated the advent of February by not getting up early for a 6:15 Dawn Patrol, instead starting the day with buffet breakfast and then meeting with the group at 8:45 to discuss the day.
We set off on foot into Cenral Havana, photographing street scenes as we walked along, poking into a flower shop here, a place where monthly allotments of eggs were dispersed and generally keeping our eyes open for what was around us. I’m including a number of them here, unsure of whether readers may find them as engaging as we did. I find the ability to remain in the moment here very liberating and quite different from back home, where my mind often races ahead of me. We are completely free to move about anywhere, there no strong police or military presence, and people are very friendly. We do get occasional requests for money, but not excessively so, and not in any way that feels the least bit aggressive.
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Our destination was an open park, a cement park, where we were to have heard a concert, but that didn’t happen, or not any time close to when it was supposed to happen, so Carol and I wandered back to a theater we’d passed earlier, where we’d encountered some very cute little girls, who were to dance at the theater around 11. We saw them dance various different numbers, interspersed with clown acts that delighted the crowd even more than the dancing. Here are photos of the girls outside the theater and as seen from a distance in costume.
We meandered back to the hotel after the performance and had a pleasant lunch on the roof, then worked on photos and the blog before our 2:30 meeting. We opted to skip the afternoon activities, take a walk down The Prado ( where we saw children in art classes) to the Malecon (young men diving into the ocean), and then wander back to the hotel, where we are to hook up with Randy Kaye, form Toronto, and his wife, Judy, who are in Cuba with a Canadian photography group. I met Randy on my trip to Guizhou, China in Nov, 2012, and we have stayed in touch. He’s part of the small group of four photographers I’ve put together, who share and comment on one another’s photos four times a year.
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Carol and I returned to the hotel before 4PM, relaxed and met Randy and Judy on the rooftop of the new portion of the Parque Central, where they are staying, at 5:30. There’s a set-up for dinner on that roof, though, so we switch to the rooftop of the older building of the Parque Central, where we are staying. We spend a lovely hour and a quarter chatting with Randy and Judy on the scenic rooftop, for me, renewing acquaintances with Randy and meeting Judy and, for Carol, meeting them both. They have their final group dinner tonight and take off from the hotel at 4AM tomorrow.
We shower and relax in our room before going down to the lobby to meet our group at 8:30. All but one in the group have decided to splurge to go to the famous Tropicana night club (at a cost of over $100 per person). Jennifer has arranged for taxis (old American cars) to take us there and back. As I was there in April, I am not surprised at the stunning and continuos 2-hour dance and music show, with brilliant costumes and headdresses, that ends around midnight. The Tropicana is outdoors and the performances take place on multiple levels all around the huge open area. It is, to say the least, quite a spectacle. Back to the hotel and to bed by 1AM.<
January 31.
Up at the crack of dawn again coffee in the lobby at 6AM, then another Dawn Patrol. Spent most of the time working on two techniques; shooting reflections of buildings and people in puddles and panning shots of cars (moving the camera to create a blurred effect). Got a few reflections that I was pretty happy with, but didn’t do so well with the panning. Need more practice on both, but they were fun to work with. I’m including a lot of them for you to see.
Another big buffet breakfast at the hotel, then transported in rather cramped van to the campus of a highly selective arts school, called ISA, Institute for Superior Artists, designed by a famous Cuban architect in the early sixties on the grounds of the former, exclusive Havana Country Club. Of the more than 500 students who apply from around the country, sixty are invited to come for two weeks to produce art, and 15 of those sixty are selected. We were shown around by the former dean and now head of photography, who showed us lithography, painting, ceramics and photography and introduced us to several professors. There are more than eighty faculty members for 105 students, most of them not permanent faculty, but chosen to meet the needs and interests of specific students. We saw some very interesting work. Apparently, it is very rare for visitors to be allowed to see the school in the way that we did.
After busing back to the hotel, Tony, Jodi, Joelle, Bernie, Carol and I had lunch at a nearby Italian, pizza restaurant. Looking out the window at the passing cars we feel like extras in a 1950s movie. Back at the hotel, worked on downloading photos and writing the blog again, then went down to meet with Tony and review some of the photos I’ve taken on the trip. After busing back to the hotel, Tony, Jodi, Joelle, Bernie, Carol and I had lunch at a nearby Italian, pizza restaurant. Looking out the window at the passing cars we feel like extras in a 1950s movie. Back at the hotel, worked on downloading photos and writing the blog again, then went down to meet with Tony and review some of the photos I’ve taken on the trip. He was quite complimentary about many of them, particularly some of the dance shot from yesterday and this morning’s early puddle shots, and, I think there are a fair number of reasonable photos that I can work with when I get back to Longboat Ket.
We set out to walk four or five blocks to the dance center, which houses a number of diverse Havana companies. It was quite hot, though considerably less humid than yesterday, and we had to climb four or five flights to get to the dance studio. We watched younger dancers than yesterday, in much smaller quarters, with contrasty light, so shooting was far more difficult than yesterday. Still I think there are at least a few shots, some posted and others focused on fast motion that may be worthwhile.
After about an hour, Carol and I headed back to the hotel to shower, relax a bit and work on photos for about an hour. We met Marjorie in the hotel lobby and were taken in an old Pontiac that Jennifer had arranged for us, to Beth Shalom conservative synagogue in the Vedado area of Cuba. At the synagogue were half dozen or more Israelis, a few other Americans and a good crowd of Cubans. The service was spirited and interesting/fun. I could follow quite well in Hebrew, and Carol, Marjorie and I knew some of the prayers and melodies. Laine, who met us at the synagogue, stayed for about 45 minutes. I could also understand some of the Spanish translations to prayers rather well. Carol and I were especially glad to be there to be able to say Kaddish for Shirley Gould, a 96-year old friend and JRC congregant who died just after we left for Cuba. It was also good to feel the connection to Judaism created by being a part of the service. Both Laine and Marjorie had brought gifts to contribute to congregants. Carol and I brought a challah cover that we’d bought in Ghana and gave that to the service leader for the congregation. We were pleased to see that they used it to cover the challah in the kiddush held after the service.
We were picked up by the driver who took us to the synagogue and taken to the very attractive Saratoga Hotel, about four blocks from our hotel, where a photo salon was being held. We saw some very good work from photographers we’d seen earlier in the week, including work by our guide, Eduardo and his twin brother, but did not buy anything (yet). Several members of our group did make purchases, however.
After the salon, Jennifer led us to a restaurant only a few blocks from our hotel, where we had a pleasant dinner and conversation with Marjorie and Bernie, who is from Cambridge. Walked back to the hotel and retired before midnight.
January 30
Down in the lobby by 6AM for coffee, before setting out on Dawn Patrol, led by Kip and Jennifer, along with five members of our two groups. Walk down the Prado, a wide boulevard with a center strip that teems with people during the day, but is empty in the early morning, before sunrise. Take some photos in very low light, then proceed down the Prado to the Malecon, the sea wall that abuts the ocean. Take more photos as the light grows, and Kip lends me his tripod for awhile. After a while, it begins to drizzle, so I head back with Kip to our hotel. Others have gone their separate ways. Back before 7:30, and Carol, who was not feeling well last night, and I go down to the huge buffet breakfast.
Meet to go out for about a 2-hour walk and street shoot. Our group of nine is divided into groups of four and five. Our group of five (Marjorie, Nadina, Bernie and us) gets Eduardo and Jennifer to show us around, and we’re happy with that division. Very interesting and enjoyable. Interesting faces and places. It’s a bit hard to describe exactly why it’s so much fun, but you get a real slice of the life on the street. People are generally extremely friendly and willing to be photographed. We are invited in to the tiny apartment of an older man, who is taking care of a small neighbor girl. He’s very kind and gentle, and happy to show us his apartment, asking only that we send him photos of him and the little girl. Our Cuban photographer guide, Eduardo, who both Carol and I really like, says that he will do this.
At 11, we meet at the office of Fototeca de Cuba, our host photographic group, and are treated to a wonderful show of work by Raul Canibano, who is described as the best photographer in Cuba. Seeing his work, we believe that. He speaks no English, but another Cuban photographer, Pedro, translates, but is difficult to understand. No matter, the work stands on it’s own.
We walk to a restaurant at the International Museum of Art, where Jenefier has reserved a number of tables for our group. Carol and I sit with Jennifer and Tony, and have a great luncheon discussion about travel and photography.
Back to the hotel very briefly, where I download some of the morning photos, before meeting at 2:45 to set out for the afternoon. First stop is a fabulous professional dance troup, rehearsing in what appears to be the shell of a huge old building. Live, loud, rhythmic music accompanies the very energetic, athletic dancers. I think I lost five pounds in sweat just watching the dancers, who performed virtually non-stop for about an hour. It was a photographers paradise, as we all moved around and snapped continuously. I’m sure I took at least 200-300 photos, two or three of which I hope will prove salvageable. I think the person in the group who got the best shots almost certainly was Carol, who was shooting video.
After the dancing, Carol headed back to the hotel, as she is still not feeling that well. The rest of us walked around, doing more street shooting and, at one point, went up to an apartment in which we took some photos. I headed back to the hotel, walking along the Prado, arriving at about 5:15, rather tired and sweaty. While I tend to think that the best part of these trips is walking the streets, I can’t deny that both Raul’s photos this morning and the dance rehearsal were special treats that I would not want to have missed.
This may be a bit of overkill on the photos, but I want you to get a feel for the dance we saw. And how much could a few more street scenes hurt?
Carol and I went out for a good Cuban meal at a building a block from the hotel that has three restaurants, one on each floor. Havana Gourmet, on the second floor, was attractive, quiet and reasonably priced. My lobster creole was quite good, as was Carol’s pineapple chicken. Though we were tempted to go out for Cuban jazz, we’d have had to wait an hour and a half until the place opened, so we opted instead to retire early. A very good full first real day in Cuba.
January 29
Meet in hotel lobby at 7:30 for the five-minute bus ride to the airport to catch our 11 AM American Airlines-run ABC charter flight. The Workshop does not believe in cutting things too close. Rather slow lines, but nothing extraordinary on the U.S. side. Starting to talk to and get to know others from both our group and the dancing group, as we hang out together in the hotel and airport.
Standing In line at the Miami airport, I receive an email from somebody named Rodrigo from Bahia in Brazil to whom I’d written a couple of days ago at the suggestion of our Nigerian doctor friends, the Olopades. He’s kindly offered to show us around and invited us to dinner with him and his wife, when we go to Bahia in April. I love the ability to make connections in this way and the personal and unique experiences we’re able to have because of these connections. Carol and I have chosen to go to Bahia because of the strong African cultural influence there, particularly the Yoruban culture to which we were introduced in Nigeria last August by the Olopades (who are themselves Yoruban).
The short, 52-minute flight to Havana is followed by an hour plus of standing in various lines at the airport. This is all part of the small price one pays for travel here. The saying, our guide tells us, is, “it’s Cuba, it’s complicated.”
We are met at the airport by the Workshop team, headed by Kip Brundage, who has been to Cuba many times and heads up operations for the Workshop here. Dustin, who was with us last April, and Jennifer are also there. We’re led out to the parking lot, where we are loaded onto two air conditioned buses by group. Our group, being the smaller of the two, has the smaller bus, which just barely accommodates all of us. It’s adequate for our needs today, but would not work for a longer trip.
We ride about 20 minutes to the fashionable Miramar section, where we have a good, traditional Cuban meal of chicken, rice, black beans and plantains, along, importantly, with a cold Bucanero beer. We’re at three tables and Kip, at ours, expounds on how badly the US has bungled relations over the past 55 years. He sees no easy solution. It requires some visionary leadership to get all sides to see beyond their past to their present interests. A quartet entertained us with some Cuban music over lunch.
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After lunch, we re-board the bus for a 15-minute ride to the Parque Central, clearly the place to be. The group had not gotten reservations here on my last trip, but I'd see the hotel and knew that we'd like it. We were given our room keys, changed our money, bought cards to access the internet, on sale for only 4.5 CUCs ($4.50) per hour, about half their regular price, so I splurged and bought four, not wanting to short change any of you in my blogging.
The money change was more complicated than it should have been. We'd been told that we should bring Canadian, rather than US dollars, because there was a better exchange rate. Assigned the task of getting the Canadian dollars, Carol went to the bank in Chucago and got British Pounds, instead. Not the most brilliant move, but not a disaster, as I was able to exchange the Pounds for CUCs and remain willfully and blissfully ignorant of how we did on the exchange rate.
Carol and I went up to our junior suite, overlooking the national plaza to relax and unpack. I had a good time shooting down towards the plaza and the street scenes from our balcony, which affords some interesting angles.
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Afterwards, we met in the lobby and walked over to the National Museum of Art, where first we had cocktails and then a slide show of photos by Cuban photographers, the quality of which differed significantly. Two were quite good, and two only fair. We also saw photos by Tony, our instructor, and by Elizabeth, the instructor for the dance group. Both were good, but I particularly liked Elizabeth’s rather abstract work. After the show, which lasted a bit too long, people went separate ways. Carol and I wound up having a very nice dinner and conversation on the roof of our hotel with two people from the dance group, Jo Ann from Oklahoma City, and Kimber, from Santa Fe. It’s now 10 PM and, as soon as I finish this blog, we’ll retire, as I’m planning on going on the “Dawn Patrol” at 6:15 AM, when the trip begins, in earnest.
January 28.
Attended a very good morning lecture in Sarasota called, “The Reform that Wasn’t” about Wall Street, given by William Cohan, who has written three books on the excesses of the investment banking world. This was part of a series of lectures, most of which are on foreign policy issues, that I am signed up for on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. The lectures draw approximately 400 people. One of the things I really like about Sarasota is that it is very far from being an intellectual or cultural wasteland. Cohan does not have an uplifting message. Afterwards, I drove down to Miami, approximately four hours, and met Carol, who was flying in from Chicago, at the hotel. We had an earlyish dinner at our airport hotel with our good friends from college, Phil and Leslie Paul, who live in Miami.
At 8 PM, we attended the mandatory meeting of our group in the hotel. The trip we are going on is being run by the Santa Fe Photographic Workshop, the same outfit that I traveled to Cuba with last year. The workshop is running a whole slew of trips to Cuba this winter and spring. The maximum number of participants is fourteen, but, happily, there are only nine in our group. The meeting included another group that is going at the same time. I’m hoping that there will be very few joint gatherings of the two groups, because that would make the group too large.
Our trip is being led by a professional photographer named Tony Bonanno. The reason we chose this trip was in part because of the subject matter – art and music in Cuba – and in part because the photographer with whom I had traveled to China and Cuba, Nevada Weir, recommended Tony when I asked her who would be a good person to travel with. In order for US citizens to travel legally to Cuba, they must get prior permission and travel in a group for some cultural purpose. Cuba is becoming an increasingly hot destination, so many different groups are running trips down there on pretty-much any topic you can imagine. When I checked into the hotel, there was a sign on the front desk telling participants in the Shalom Cuba trip where to meet.
Usually, I have good intentions of preparing for a trip, but most of the time fall (way) short of what I had hoped to do. This time, I thought I had really hit a new low, by not preparing at all, but I was wrong; it turns out that I did prepare. When I came down to Longboat in December, I decided to take Ken Burns’ series on Jazz with me. If you have not seen that series, get it, and watch. You are in for a real treat. You will need some time to do it, though. The series consists of ten DVDs, each of which runs approximately two hours. But the effort is well worth it. As he has proved again and again, Burns is a genius, and Jazz measures up to his best. Watching the series gave me a completely new appreciation for what’s involved in jazz, its history, it’s variety and the way it incorporates so many other musical forms. The series also is a rather sobering American history lesson. Whether directly or indirectly, I’m sure that having watched Jazz will enhance my enjoyment of the music we hear on this trip (and after). So, you see, with this blog you get more than just travel, whether you want that or not.
For those of you who may be miffed at having been subjected to several posts before I even hit Cuba, I have an explanation. For me, these pre-trip posts are a warm-up, almost part of the trip, in much the same way that I regard taking the El to be part of the Wrigley Field experience, or taking a boat ride out to the dive site to be part of the scuba diving experience. I guess I’d say that anticipation of the experience is part of the experience itself.
Tomorrow, though, we really are going to hit Cuba. I promise.
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 gets Eduardo and Jennifer to show us around, and we're happy with that division. Very interesting and enjoyable. Interesting faces and places. It's a bit hard to describe exactly why it's so much fun, but you get a real slice of the life on the street. People are generally extremely friendly and willing to be photographed. We are invited in to the tiny apartment of an older man, who is taking care of a small neighbor girl. He's very kind and gentle, and happy to show us his apartment, asking only that we send him photos of him and the little girl. Our Cuban photographer guide, Eduardo, who both Carol and I really like, says that he will do this.
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