First stop, CIPS

January 6th started as every day did, with breakfast at Casa La Hanoi. After breakfast, we attended the first lecture of our study abroad at CIPS, or The Center for Psychological and Sociological Research. At CIPS, we first got an introduction from someone working in the institute about what the institute currently does. The lecture was delivered in Spanish by Dr. Maria Isabel Dominguez, who has worked at CIPS for years as leader of the youth studies arm of CIPS. According to the lecture, CIPS works with the Cuban government and local communities to help improve wider society and smaller communities through training/education and studying human behavior. After the cession of the lecture on the operation of CIPS, we would receive a second lecture. This lecture discussed the current state of Cuba with a focus on many of its Socio-economic issues, as well as planned ways of alleviating these issues.

The Hemingway House

After a great lunch at El del Frente, where I had pork and chicken tacos with a flan dessert, we went to the Hemingway House. Before our tour, we played a game with a youth team named Las Estrellas de Gigi. The team is named after one of Hemingway’s sons, who later transitioned into his daughter (Gigi), as an homage to a similar team of the same name that was created when Hemingway still lived on the property with his family. The current iteration of the team is a neighborhood project under the museum, made up of kids who get the privilege to play on the team by doing well academically. Playing with the team reminded me of what I loved about playing baseball, along with the general shortage of resources in Cuba, which made itself apparent through the lack of equipment, such as gloves intended for lefties. I personally donated my Little League mitt and batting glove to the team to give the kids more resources to play ball. The Hemingway House was closed for walkthroughs, though you could still peer into most rooms from the outside. According to Ana Elena, we went on a perfect day, as nobody but the museum workers and our own study abroad group were there. The rooms were very well maintained and have been kept almost exactly as it was when Ernst Hemingway died in 1961. Beyond the house itself, some other parts of the complex were maintained by the museum. This includes Hemingway’s pool, boat, and pet graveyard. After the tour ended, we returned to the bus to return back to our casas to get ready for the final event of the day.

La Cabaña

Before heading off to the only event scheduled in the evening, we had dinner at Motivos y Razones. After dinner, we took the bus to La Cabaña to see a ceremony known as La Cañonazo. Starting at around 8:00 pm, the ceremony lasts until the actual cannon shot at 9:00 pm. I personally used that time with some friends to tour parts of La Cabaña. The fortress is really impressive in size and scope and would have been more than capable of withstanding a long siege. It was constructed as a response to British success in the siege of Havana, where a severe lack of a strong Spanish fortification on where La Cabaña now lies led to the temporary loss of Havana to the British crown. After Havana was traded for Florida as part of the treaty that ended the 7 Years War (One of the many Treaties of Paris), Spain decided to fix this weak point in their defenses with La Cabaña.

La Cañonazo

The ceremony itself was also very interesting. After an opening speech given by one of the reenactors, we would gain entry into the fort. Once inside, the reenactors would march around the fort for around 45 minutes, before the central part of the ceremony would begin. After arriving at the cannon itself, the lead part of the reenactors lights up controlled fires, one in each corner of a square that surrounds the cannon. After this, the cannon is loaded as a muzzle-loaded cannon from the period should be, before a soldier finally ignites a string leading to the gunpowder, subsequently igniting and firing the the cannon. The ceremony originates from the times when Havana was a walled city. When it was a walled city, Havana would close the entrances through the wall at 9:00 pm every night. This was sounded with a cannon shot, a tradition that continues to this day in the form of this ceremony.

After Hours

After the Cannon shot, some of my friends and I went out on the streets of Old Havana after being dropped off by our tour bus. We found a nice restaurant, where we were able to talk about the day over a drink. After that, we returned to our casa by taxi.

The last activity I did that night was a walk by the ocean with some of my friends. While some nights the water was aggressive enough to make walking by the seawall near our casas impossible without us getting soaked, this night the ocean was calm. We were able to both process our day and see the beauty of the moon’s reflection on the Atlantic Ocean. It was one of many sights I can just never forget from the Study Abroad to Cuba.