The first full day of Cuba was packed yet thrilling. I woke up to a breakfast that would become routine. Papayas and bananas with a glass of freshly squeezed mango juice. Being the adventurous person I am, I tried papayas and mango juice for the first time. I was not a fan of papayas (although I am glad I tried it), but the mango juice was delightful. With my chopped up bananas, I drizzled Cuban honey on top of them. The honey from Cuba tasted fresher than anything I have had in Lowell. It tasted like a flower.

We started the day early and immediately knew it was going to be special. We met up at a local park with our tour guide. A native Cuban who knew and practiced the Cuban religion Santeria. Santeria is a religious practice many Cubans practice. They worship roughly 400 gods by building shrines in their houses. I was familiar with Santeria from the project my girlfriend and fellow classmate Ainsley presented on, yet it was fascinating to hear from someone so close on the subject. My favorite part of this guided tour was when we met a practicing priest. The tour guide took the group into the back of this run down apartment building. In this hot and stuffy room, the Santeria priest sat in the back. He was dressed in white attire, colorful beads and a wooden cane. This cane caught my attention specifically due to the skull on the end. Next to the priest was a collection of offerings to the gods. This collection contained many different gifts, ranging from dolls to Cuban cigars. After learning about the Santeria religion, I thought our day was over. However, it had just begun.

When we returned to our residence, we were led into the back garden area. Awaiting us were four Cuban dancers. They introduced themselves and announced that they were teaching us the basics of Cuban dancing. Cuban dancing is done mostly in four different styles of music: Salsa, Mambo, Son, and a hybrid of all three. I stood next to Ainsley and we started dancing. I can understand the appeal, but it was not for me. That being said, I was not nearly as bad as I thought I was going to be. Ainsley, taking dance class for six years, loved each and every minute of it. After our dance lessons, we went to the front of our residence and I was delighted to see four classic cars awaiting us. API had planned a classic car tour to show us Havana. Ainsley and I chose the bright blue convertible for our tour, and our wonderful translator Ana Elana joined. Ana Elana, an award winning Spanish translator, grew up in Cuba.

As we drove through the Havana streets, Ana Elana told us stories about growing up in Cuba. She also pointed out many buildings, such as the university her parents studied in as well as where filmmakers shot “The Godfather Part 2”. Besides the novelty of riding around in cars from the 1950s, I particularly loved this tour because it gave me a greater sense of Havana. Before coming, I pictured Havana as this small, densely packed city. However, this car tour took me to parts of the city I never knew existed. We drove through the city, but also suburbs and even forest areas. If I ever return to Havana, I would love to check out the beautiful nature areas shown on this classic car tour.

When we returned to the residence, the group showered quickly before heading over to the API welcome dinner. At this welcome dinner, I had an amazing lobster stew. I didn’t know this, but Caribbean lobster and Maine lobster are quite different. While that seemingly made sense (cold vs hot temperatures), I never tasted Caribbean lobster until that night. I still prefer Maine lobster, but that stew was probably the best meal I had the entire trip. More importantly, that dinner was fantastic due to the conversations I had. One of the standout conversations I had was with the program head Melissa. Melissa was born Argentina and studied in the United States. Today, she works with API to bring students from the United States to visit Cuba. Being born in Argentina yet living in Havana gave Melissa a unique viewpoint on world politics. This perspective was one of the most fascinating I learned about on this trip. When dessert was being passed out, Ainsley and I split from the group to go to the Tropicana.

The Tropicana is a nightclub from the 1950s. I talked about the club in my United States Mobsters video because this club had heavy involvement from mobsters. At the same time, the Tropicana used to pull some of the biggest names of its day- ranging from Nat King Cole to Eartha Kitt and is still beloved to this day. Going to the Tropicana, I had high expectations and I was not let down. The show lasted roughly an hour and a half and did not waste any time. There was a mixture of dancing, singing, and even stunt work. Ainsley and I sat at a table with two other couples- one from Mexico and one from Cuba. They were incredibly friendly, even at one point offering to buy us both dinner. My favorite part of this show was how interactive it was. During the show, the dancers would often come into the isles and dance right next to you. When the show was over, the performers went out into the audience and grabbed a few people to learn how to dance with them. I was chosen to go up, but Ainsley was. Taking some inspiration from our lesson earlier that day, Ainsley rocked the stage with the other volunteers. At some point, everyone who didn’t leave stormed the stage- including myself and the two couples we sat with. We danced and even did a conga line. The Tropicana lived up to my expectations and surpassed it in many ways. Overall, the first full day was packed yet one of the biggest highlights of the trip.