The Greene School – Cuba Program Blog

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Day 1:

The group has arrived! After a bit of a delay, and an overnight in Houston, everyone is excited to finally be here and get things rolling.

Traveling from the Havana airport, the group had their first glimpses of Havana including the infamous old cars, horse drawn carts on the road, and a stop at La Plaza de Revolución.

A brief orientation and a dinner out in Old Havana will complete the day.

All is well in Cuba! Hasta mañana!

Day 2:

Sunday was our first full day in Havana, Cuba. With highlights such as traveling to the beach, dancing with local community members, and playing a game of baseball, our international travel group enjoyed a stunning display of Cuba’s culture This however, was just a small sliver of what the country has to offer. We are excited to continue the wonders of the island. -Isaac

Highlights of the day included the really fun immunity art hangout where we had dinner and danced to rock music. The whole day was lots of fun! -Gunnar

Day 3:

Monday was an action packed day. From climbing in a cave, to visiting a tobacco farm, to riding horses, it was all great. Today was also Isaac’s birthday! Happy 17th! Overall today was about pursuing boundaries and personal limits and we look forward to what tomorrow brings. Hasta luego! -Monroe and MaKayla

Blog 2/19

Tuesday after breakfast, we strolled down to the fruit market and checked out the way locals purchase their fruits and vegetables. In the building next door, we saw the ration bodega where every Cuban can come to get their monthly allotment of basic ingredients. The two areas were vastly different: the vibrant, colorful market vs the barren, drab ration center. Later that day, we went to Mi Compania, a famous contemporary dance studio. We saw a sneak peak of a profound upcoming performance.

We also visits Fusterlandia, where a local artist converted his home and parts of his neighborhood into a whimsical cultural mosaic. Before dinner, we toured around Old Havana and had a discussion with Gustavo Arcos, a film professor from the Film Institute of Havana, about the controversial film Stawberry and Chocolate. It was another jam packed day and everyone went to bed happy and exhausted.

-Wila and Tristan

Blog for 2/20

On day 5 in Cuba, we went to a permaculture farm run by two very kind women. They showed us the garden and we collected fruits and veggies to cook our lunch. We split into two groups to do some service, one to cook and one to do some garden work. When we were done, we ate an abundance of fresh food.

In the afternoon, we returned to Old Havana and had the choice to go to the museum of Fine Art or the Revolution museum. We then had the opportunity to have some free time to walk around and explore a tourist market.

Before dinner, we returned to the apartment to participate in an advance studies class taught by Ava. It was a weird experience for Ava to run a class but it was a topic she loves a lot, art.

Lastly we all went to dinner at a very relaxed dinner and had a good time being together as a group.

-Ava and Augustine

Street cart snacks; one of the very few places where snacks can be found and purchased.

Getting ready to enjoy a communal meal with ingredients from the farm gardens, prepared by the group.

Harvesting lunch ingredients at a small farm outside of central Havana.

Blog for 2/21:

Thursday was our last full day in Cuba, which was also the longest day so far. We woke up at 7:30 and eat breakfast early to get a good start on the day. After breakfast, we were off to Las Terrazas, a community surround by tropical birds and amazing views. We went for a walk looking for birds and were lucky enough to find the national bird, El Tocororo. After the walk, we went zip lining around there area, over trees and a lake. It was such a cool experience! After lunch we were able to swim and rent boats to paddle around a lake. We also had the opportunity to watch one of our crew member’s presentation, Willa Philips, about birds in Cuba. After that we went to The Fortress, where we watched another presentation by Isaac Parker about the US invasion of Grenada. After the presentation, we watched the closing canon ceremony which included a reeanctmaent and the firing of a canon. The canon firing happens everyday single day of the year and the canon fires at exactly 9pm nightly To conclude our final full day, we had dinner out and got to enjoy traditional Cuban music and dance.

-Joaquin and Roger

Enjoying boating and playing in the water at Las Terrazas

Departure Day

The end of the Cuban adventure has finally arrived…after 6 fast and furious, jam-packed days, the group is on their way home. It was an amazing week of experiences!Thank you to everyone that made this trip possible and get ready to hear some remarkable experiences.

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