Monday, January 5th, was only our third day in Cuba, but it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable. The day started out the same way every other day started, a nice breakfast at Casa Vera, which was the place we called home during the trip. Breakfast was fast though, as we had to be ready by 9.00 AM for our first activities of the day; an introduction lecture to CIPS, and a lecture on Jose Marti.
These two lectures were the first actual lectures and classes we would be taking over the course of our trip, so no one, including me, really knew what to expect. CIPS was only a short walk away from Casa Vera, and it was hard to miss, as it was much nicer than many of the buildings in the neighborhood. Once we arrived, we walked through the building into a small outer courtyard, before finally entering a small classroom, which thankfully had air conditioning. The CIPS introduction lecture consisted of three CIPS professors providing a deeper look into CIPS, and what exactly they do there. Like most informational lectures, this one was not the most entertaining. After the CIPS lecture wrapped up, we took a short coffee and rest break for about 10 minutes, before starting our next lecture. The next lecture was on Jose Marti, and I’ll just start by saying this one was much better and much more entertaining. The speaker was super passionate about Jose Marti, and gave the lecture in a way that kept us engaged, while also giving us tons of information and insight into the life and importance of Marti. Marti was a major figure in Cuba’s fight for independence, and is now idolized by almost all Cubans. This was seen many times during our trip, as there are countless statues of him all over Havana.
After the lectures were completed, we hopped on the bus and headed to lunch, which was at this very nice place right on the water. The views and vibes of the restaurant were great. The menu options were very simple and similar to most places we went to, with options like fish, chicken, pork, rice, and beans. I chose to get the Tuna and Congri, which was very good. Lunch didn’t last too long though, as we had to head to the next place very quickly before they closed.
After lunch, we headed to the main activity of the day, which was a tour of the Ernest Hemingway house and museum. It is a large house with its own pool, guest house, tennis court, and more, located roughly 15 miles away from central Havana. This place was definitely one of the nicest places we traveled to in Cuba. The Hemingway house was once the home of Ernest Hemmingway, a famous American author. Hemingway first visited the island in 1928, and instantly fell in love with its culture, people, and lifestyle. In the 1940s, Hemingway finally returned and purchased Finca Vigía, which is now known as the Hemingway house. After his death in 1961, Hemmingway’s wife Mary took over the house, and slowly turned it into a museum. Everything in the house was kept original, and still is to this day. We couldn’t enter the house during the tour, but could look inside through the windows. Inside were large animal statues on the walls, and tons of old furniture. In addition to this, all of Hemmingway’s old books and unfinished projects were still inside, just as he left them. It was really interesting to see everything, as the house itself was sort of frozen in time, and gave a unique look into what life in Cuba was like back then.
To finish off the day, we played a game of baseball against the Gigi All Stars, a baseball team composed of young boys ages 5-14, which was formed by Ernest Hemingway himself. During the previous tour, we had seen the boys practicing and warming up. To be honest, from a far the boys did not look too good. They were overthrowing the ball and completely missing the ball when swinging the bat. This was not even close to how they performed when they played against us. Our group batted first, and tagged on a few runs, and we were feeling confident. This quickly changed. It was now the other teams turn to bat, and let me tell you, those boys can play. They were smoking the ball, and quickly snatched the lead from us. Throughout the rest of the game, we would never regain the lead. I think when the game ended, they had won by over 10 runs. So it wasn’t particularly a close game by any means. However, it was still a really fun experience, and gave us insight into Cuban life.
Overall, it was a really fun and interesting day in Cuba, much like every day of our trip. However, I think this one beats out the rest ever so slightly. Not only did we play a great game of baseball with some of the local kids, but we also learned a lot of Jose Marti, someone we would see often during our trip in Cuba.