A new friend in Havana

With breakfast at the Hotel Nacional, we have a busy day ahead of us. We met in a conference room at the hotel with Fernando Saez, a Director of the Ludwig Foundation. The "Ludwig Foundation is an autonomous, non-governmental and non-profit institution created to protect and promote contemporary Cuban artists and culture". Fernando gave us a passionate presentation on the Cuban arts and in particular Cuban dance. Reviewing the history of dance in Cuba, he indicated that Cuba's multi-cultured population has contributed to the Cuban dance style. After the revolution, training for dance became part of the system and dancers and artists were treasured by the government.
 
Mary and I were on the hotel elevator when an attractive, tall, well let’s just say strikingly beautiful, British lady got on with us. In the few floors we had to travel in a slow elevator, we had struck up a conversation. In the lobby we continued to chat, as she was inquiring about our visit to Cuba. I asked if she was there for the film festival. She indicated she was associated with one of the movies. Inquiring minds need to know, so I asked her if she was in a film. It turns out she is starring in a new film called “Papa”, based on Hemmingway’s life. Her name was Joely Richardson a daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and an actress you could see in several films. We had a nice 10-minute conversation with she and another friend associated with the movie. Nice to meet you Joely. Now we must see “Papa.

Leaving the hotel, our first destination was a synagogue, Centro Hebreo Sefaradi de Cuba. Before the revolution around 24,000 Jews lived in Cuba, with 10 synagogues in Havana alone. After the revolution 94% of the Jews fled Cuba, mostly to the USA. Now there are approximately 1,500 Jews in all of Cuba. This was one of the few remaining synagogues and it housed a small pictorial museum providing a short history of the holocaust that was very interesting.   But the synagogue wasn’t the main reason for our mission. Much of the synagogue had been converted to a dance studio for Malpaso, one of Cuba’s first private dance companies and our new friend from our morning lecture, Fernando, was there to direct the dance group, just for us.

The dance group performed a private rehearsal showing of the dance routine that they would be performing in a tour scheduled for the USA in early 2016. I am no dance expert, but this was good. A combination of ballet and modern dance, with dancers who were real dance athletes, was a treat to see up close. If I attempted to stretch into some of the positions they used, I would be in physical therapy for a month. When Malpaso comes to a venue close to you. Go see it.

Lunch was across the street in a paladar that looked as if it had gone way past being a restaurant in someone’s living room. Contemporary, open and looking as if it was designed for a New York restaurant. With a reputation for being a late night hotspot for Cuban and tourist revelers, this early afternoon lunch is about as late as us “mature” folks are going to get to the sound of midnight salsa music and chatter.

An option for the afternoon was provided. A three-hour trip across Havana to see Hemmingway’s home or an afternoon on our own. John and Kathy and a number of others in our group chose Hemmingway. Mary and I chose to walk the streets of this part of Havana, find a market and load up with some last minute gift buying.

The streets were busy with people and autos, the directions provided by the hotel were confusing and we were not finding the market. Walking with us was Susan our psychotherapist friend from New York (who’s analysis had concluded I was beyond hope). Susan could speak some Spanish and asked a young passerby for directions. The young lady beamed, when she asked us in English if we were Americans. She introduced herself as Elizabeth and asked if she could walk with us to the market. It turns out that Elizabeth is a graduate in economics, working as a financial analyst for one of the cigar companies and had just completed her second degree in English. She was happy to be with us to put her English into practice. Completing our gift buying in the market, Elizabeth stayed with us for the remainder of the afternoon as we walked the Malecon and went back to the Hotel Nacional for refreshments on the Veranda.

A new friend from Cuba, we were able to spend some quality time with Elizabeth, talking about Cuba, her job and outlook and the future she sees for Cuba. Lots of interesting insights and a good way to begin to wrap up our visit to Cuba. Since returning to the USA, we have communicated frequently with Elizabeth via email and Facebook. The internet and social media certainly can break the barriers of distance but hopefully Elizabeth can visit our Kentucky home someday. Thank you Elizabeth for sharing your time with us.

Our last scheduled educational session was early evening, just prior to dinner. What about this Santeria religion that we see in Cuba? Often on the streets, you see young men or women clothed entirely in white. These are Santeria initiates, transitioning through their purification process into a stage of their religion. Tonight we have Yadi’s father in law, Ruben (spelling?) who is a Santero (priest in the Santeria church). Known as Del Torro (The bull) in his cab driving day job, he is a big, commanding and confident person. He discussed in detail the tenets and practices of the Santeria religion. Santeria was created by slaves coming from Africa as a blending of Yoruba (tribe) mythology with Christianity and traditions and practices of the indigenous people of Cuba. Santeria is not VooDoo. Both originate out of Africa and have a few overlapping practices but they are not the same. More reading is required to sort this out.
 
Santeria uses the Catholic Church for baptism and a few saints but that is where it stops. The priests of Santeria go through an extensive initiation process, learning the rituals of the religion and how to use shells and other items to be tossed and interpreted for guidance in their counseling. Some Santeros also function as healers, using homeopathic practices and other techniques. Ruben claimed there were three distinct types of Santerias. Some Santerias practice animal sacrifice (like Voodoo) but Ruben claimed his sect of Santeria does not use this practice. Many interesting insights and many things I didn’t quite understand. More reading is required to begin to understand this part of the Cuban culture.

Dinner was at Starbien, a renovated colonial mansion tucked into a very attractive residential neighborhood. The place was packed and the food was great. Jose, the owner of Starbein’s met with us for after dinner to discuss the history of his restaurant and changes he sees in Cuba. With some good questions from our group, this was a good wrap up dinner.

One of the things I had been pushing with our Yadi and Allan was that with all of these beautiful classic cars rolling around Havana, riding a bus was not a take home memory. Riding in one of those beautiful classic convertibles would be a take home memory. They kept telling me and the group to be patient. As we departed the restaurant, there were 6 beautiful classic cars waiting to load our group for a cruise of the Havana streets. All convertibles with an Edsel, a 1959 Chrysler, a 1953 Chevy among others. John, Kathy, Mary and I chose the two toned, red and white, 1956 Ford Sunliner with an LED lit continental kit on the rear. Oh the memories. Cruising the streets, and driving the Malecon, many of the ladies of our group, including Kathy and Mary sat on the back in parade fashion and lots of Cubans on the streets were yelling their greetings and approval. A great ride to the hotel and a great “take home memory”.