Alumni Ball

    Last night was the Alumni Ball. It is held at the end of every voyage on the evening of the B Day finals. It is a celebration for all of the people on the ship because they become alumni of Semester at Sea at that point. Before the ball, we received our diplomas on our door, which meant that our voyage really had ended. It was amazing to hold a paper in my hand to represent what I did in four months. There is no possible way that one piece of paper could EVER represent the past four months of my life. I digress...
    Our ball was themed "The Great Gatsby," so many girls dressed up to the era with headbands, sequins, and feathers. There were two seatings to the ball. The first was at 5:30 and the second was at 8:30 in the 5th deck dining hall. The dining hall is decorated like it is for fine dining, but there were special table runners to go along with the ball theme. I chose to eat during the second seating, that way I would not be rushed out after finishing eating. We had to sign up for which seating we wanted, what table we wanted, and what we wanted to eat before we got to Cuba so that the crew could prepare for the event. I had bruscetta as an appetizer, creme of broccoli soup, caesar salad, beef tenderloin, and my first baked Alaska, which was very delicious. It was so nice to dine with my shipmates all dolled up as a last "who-rah" at the end of the voyage. Everyone was taking pictures together, and I even took picture with my favorite waiters, because they really helped me through the voyage.

My Feelings of Cuba

    We were briefed that Cuba is famous for having a ton of 1950s Chevys, however I did not believe what I was told. There were many times throughout my voyage where I was told one thing about a country, and it turned out that that thing was not as huge as an aspect to their culture as I was led to believe, because people told me stereotypical facts. However, Cuba really does have 1950s Chevys EVERYWHERE! They are the dominant form of vehicle on the roads, and it is a wonderful thing to see. Although the cars most likely have new motors, because they are trying to deal with climate change as well as 60 year old motors and parts, the cars still hold extremely significant historical value.
    Other than the cars, when you drive through Havana, it feels like you are driving through America in the 1950s. But if you look a bit closer, you will see that they have a strong modern American culture as well. Their accent when they speak English is American, not British or Bahamian or Australian, but American. In addition, Cubans use their limited internet sources to download American shows to watch. one of the professors that I met from the University of Havana told me that he downloads House to watch. He also likes to watch some American television shows that come over on some satellite dishes. American music is very popular as well. In contrast though, Cuba has a strong cultural tie to Africa, specifically the Ivory Coast region, which is due to the slave trade. You may see this culture in many of their handicrafts and foods.
    When we arrived in Cuba, we were told that the first day would be pretty much planned because the University of Havana was hosting us for the day. We were only allowed to visit Cuba because we were traveling there for educational purposes, so our field programs and welcoming ceremony were influenced by the University of Havana. Every trip that SAS did had at least one UOH professor and student on it, and we were always escorted around Havana by policemen. They told us that we were escorted to "not worry about traffic," however, there was no traffic. Cuban policemen knew where we were at all times. We also received similar responses for many things, such as, "Cuban people can tell the difference between American people and the American government, so they like Americans and know that it is not their fault for the way America treats them." At first I believed this, but then I heard it from at least three different people. Many other students shared their suspicions as well that we were watched and monitored because that is what Americans do to Cubans. The conflict between the two countries is more complex than it appears on the outside, we just do not know that much about it to know any better.

Las Terrazas

     On my last day in Cuba, I went on a field program with my friends Shari and Carly. We traveled from Havana to Las Terrazas, which is a completely sustainable community about an hour and a half from Havana.  Las Terrazas has no trees in the area in the 1960s because of deforestation. The local community began to build back the area by building terraces, or steps, in the hills to stop erosion. The people planted over 18 million trees, which are now well grown. There are 24 different species of trees, where 20 of which are native. The 4 species of trees that were introduced were teak, two types of mahogany, and eucalyptus. Only around 3000 people took part in this reconstruction. The community opened up ion 1990 to ecotourism companies.

     Once we got to the community, we watched a local band play Cuban songs while we drank Coca Cola. After this, a local guide told us about the history of the community. Once he finished his lecture, we traveled to the community school, where they start to learn English in third grade. There are 670 students and 67 workers, where 47 of them are teachers. They go to school from September until July, but there are some breaks during the school year. There are 25 children per class in primary school, and 30 children per class. All of the teachers teach every subject, so the children do not switch classes for different subjects. They also have television sets to support their education. The school has associated with UNESCO for the past 14 years.

     After we toured the school, we drove to the old coffee plantation, which was in business until the mid 1800s. The area receives 100 inches of rain a year, with 90-95% humidity. There are 92 different species of spiders, 131 species of birds, and 14 species of bats.

     After the coffee plantation, we visited with a  famous local artist, Lester Campos. We were served Cuban coffee after we toured his personal studio. We ate lunch at the end of the tour, which was one of my favorite meals of this voyage. We had white sticky rice, black beans, smoked chicken, taro chips, and bbq beef.

 

The Bay of Pigs

     On my second day in Cuba, I participated on a field program with my friend, Shari, to the Bay of Pigs. The Bay of Pigs invasion is a very important part of both American and Cuban histories. The invasion took place in April 1961. Three days before the invasion, American troops painted their planes the color of Cuban Air Force planes and bombed Cuban airfields. They did this to make the Cuban Air Force think that rebels were attacking them, because there was a rebel group during this time that did not agree with the Cuban Revolution. This killed many military men. At their funeral, Fidel Castro gave a declaration of the country being a Socialist country; this was a huge declaration to make.

     The American troops that would later invade at the Bay of Pigs were trained in Guatemala, and they launched from Nicaragua. They did this to make it look like Cubans did this, because Americans would come from the north, as opposed to from the south.  During the invasion, American troops came to the Bay of Pigs area, which is a mixture of ocean and swamp, in the hope to win beachhead and gain support from the local Cuban people; this was not achieved. The invasion lasted 66 hours. The Cuban forces stopped the American troops as soon as they could  because they anticipated if American troops were able to get beachhead, they would have bigger plans.

                                                                

United States and Cuba Relations Before and Beyond the Cold War

     Before the Cold War in the 20th century, Cuba was in the United States’ geopolitical thinking. President Adams called it a “ripe fruit,” where it was just waiting to be picked.  President Jefferson said that Cuba was an “empire for liberty.” While America was going through the Manifest Destiny phase of history, Cuba was on the radar to be acquired. President Polk desired to buy Cuba for 130 million dollars, but Cuba declined because they were finally free from Spain’s reign, and they wanted to be free from the United States as well.

     After the Cuban civil war which got rid of Spanish rule, the United States began to openly show interest to intervene in the Cuban government. Because of this, the United States drew up the Platt Amendment, which gave the United States permission to keep control in Cuba. The United States constructed coaling and naval stations in Cuba. Guantanamo Bay, a prison, is still in Cuba today under American possession. There were three American interventions under the Platt Amendment before 1934, when it was repealed. The 1962 Cuban missile crisis was the true turning point in the America and Cuban relationship.

     The American and Cuban conflict has been very tense for the past fifty years because the United States wants to change the government of Cuba, which is currently communist and socialist. During the Cold War, the United States sought to change all communist governments, like that of the Soviet Union, who was in the Cold War with the United States. America believed this form of government to be “evil,” and wanted to stop any country from becoming communist. Because of this, the Soviet Union (Russia), became allies with Cuba. Russia started to give Cuba weapons and construct many buildings. Today, you can see many Russian designed buildings still in Havana. There is more to the conflict with Cuba than their form of government however, because the United States does not have a conflict with China, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam, all of which have “evil” governments.  The Obama administration has attempted to create a new relationship with Cuba. Because of this attempt, I was able to travel to Cuba to student, which I would not have been able to do a few years ago.

 

Fun Facts About Cuba!

· The country’s motto is “homeland or death.”

· Havana is the capital, and also the largest city.

· Cuba is 93 miles south of the United States.

· Christopher Columbus claimed the land for Spain in 1492.

· It is one of the world’s four claimed Socialist countries.

· It is the largest island in the Caribbean Sea.

· Spanish is the national language.

· Nickel accounts for 21% of the country’s exports.

· It is the third most traveled to island in the Caribbean, behind the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

· The country is prone to hurricanes, most of which come between September and October.

· Around 60% of the country are Christian.

· Cuban food is not served in courses, such as appetizers and then the main course. Rather, they are served at the same time. A typical Cuban meal consists plantains, rice, and beans.

· The average life expectancy is 78 years of age.

· The country has universal healthcare.

· The literacy rate is 99.8%.  It is the largest West Indies Island

· It is larger than Austria, Belgium, and South Korea.

· It is approximately the same size as Pennsylvania.

· It is located 122 miles from the continental United States, and 130 miles from Mexico via the Yucatan Channel.

· In 2008, over $700,000,000 were sent from people in the United States to their families in Cuba.

· The capital building was built between 1926-1928 in the likeness of the US capital.

· It is common to find someone in Cuba with their masters or Ph.D.

· There are three tunnels in the city of Havana.

· On the national highway, there are areas designated for military planes to land.

· The United States brought Coca Cola to Cuba to the restaurant Two Brothers, where they mixed it with Cuban rum. While they were drinking it, they said , “Viva Cuba Libre,” which is how the national drink got its name, Cuba Libre.

· Havana has been restored thanks to its sister cities because they cannot afford it in their budget. People would live in the old decrepit buildings, but the city will not evacuate the people living there to evacuate them, so only the national buildings have been renovated so far.

· The National Hotel is the most famous hotel in Havana. Al Capone came there in 1946 to escape from being jailed in the United States. While he was there, Frank Sinatra was performing at the hotel.

· There are many different license plate colors for all of the cars in Cuba. Blue plates mean that the car belongs to the state, yellow plates mean that the cars are privately owned, black plates mean that it is used by an American Embassy worker, and orange plates mean that the car is used by a worker. The most important thing to look at is the first letter of the plate. P means private and E means embassy.

· The royal palm is the national tree of Cuba, and it does not produce coconuts.

· There are around 100 species of palm trees in Cuba.

· Cuba has a strong cultural tie to African culture, which is due to the slave trade in the 17 and 1800s.