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Field Study Report: Cuba 061804 (Part 2) |
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Much of my time during the afternoon was spent on walking around the city of Havana conducting ethnographic surveys. This is a shot from Districto Central where one can observe houses from the colonial period being intact. These colonial architectures are what make up this area as one of the most renowned historical sites in the world. While some of these houses were transformed into restaurants, cafes and shops, others were used as residences. The whole area was kept lively by all sorts of interaction that went on between people. Youngsters occasionally hanged out in groups to chat and dance along those lively rythms of Salsa. |
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Many slogans are found written on street walls, and this "Socialismo o Muerte" (Socialism or Death) sure is a classic! |
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It is very easy to make friends in Cuba, and they will want to assist you in any way they can. As for Jorge, he guided me around town and showed me things that tourists usually don't see. ...And, one of those unwritten conventions in the economically-blocaded Cuba says that when your Cuban friends helped you, you will have to provide them with "honorariums" in return! In my case, I took Jorge to have an elaborate lunch with me. I requested him to take me to a restaurant where we could have delicious Cuban cuisine without having have to pay that much. We ended up in a nice eatery called Sobrino, where we had pescados con arroz. Black-bean rice, minched lettuce and banana fries came alongside grill-fried slices of fish. Together these dishes constituted a delicious course of meal. Having these dishes with ice-cold bottles of local cerveza called Crystal were - oh boy! - re-ally gooooood!! |
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One day, as I visited Plaza de Almas in Districto Central to explore a weekend free market and buy some books on Cuban political history, I was approached by a nice fellow named Jorge, a graduate of U. Habana who spoke Japanese fluently. We became friends instantly. Jorge guided me around the central district of Havana. He had just written two books in Japanese, one on the life of Ernesto Che Guevara and another on Cuban sports, and he proudly showed me their handsome drafts. These books are to be published from the university press. I am looking forward to them! |
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The two backstreet boys took me to "la plaza por pobres" - a shopping mall where ordinary Cubans shop and hang out everyday. Here we sat down at a food court and had elaborate discussions on issues ranging anywhere between governmental politics to life under the U.S. economic blocade over several glasses of mohitos (sweet 'n minty Cuban cocktails). My price for engaging in these discussions this day was $30 US, and I just had to quit before sacrificing too much of my limited research budget over more glasses of mohitos y cervezas. We separated as I politely declined from the escalating interaction. |
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While in Havana I also bumped into two youngsters named Randy and Raul. We chatted as we walked along Havana's seaside paths. We went deeper and deeper into the city's backstreet slum-areas where we could no longer see any tourists. These two members of Cuba's younger generation taught me a whole lot about the harsh realities of life that beset many of those city dwellers behind Cuba's politico-economic curtain. |
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Visiting Museo de la Revolucion offered me with another invaluable experience. I was overwhelmed by many educative displays that traced the long and painstaking sociohistorical road the Cuban people took towards the democratic liberation. La carta de Cespedez, unas poemas de Jose Marti, sable de Maceo, los obras de Julio Mella McParland, Jose Antonio Echererria y Frank Pais, los artefactos dela guerra Moncada, los sombreros de Camilo y Che, escudo de armas de Celia Sanchez, y composicion de Juan Almeida... were all displyed before my very eyes!!! Grandma, the all-too-famous boat that Fidel and his compan~eros used at the outset of their anti-Batista campaign, was placed right outside of this museum - highly guarded along with other military machines that contributed to the attainment of Cuban revolution in 1959. |
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Back at the conference, I was able to develop a wonderful dialogue with Maestra Thalia Fang who lead the building of an NGO that aims to concretize sustainable development in Cuba. Here I am posing by her side. Next to her is Professor Cliff DuRand who created this meaningful conference 16 years ago. |
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