September 2011
10 posts
500 years of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de...
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On August 4th to the 16th I traveled to Cuba with the St. Augustine-Baracoa Friendship Association (www.staugustine-baracoa.org ), which is a sister city organization between the oldest city founded in North America, St. Augustine, and the oldest city of Cuba,...
Cuban Family.
My name is Jonathan and my most recent trip to Cuba was from December 22nd, 2009 - January 12th, 2010 and I was able to go with my Abuela through Cuba Travels in Los Angeles, Ca. The main purpose of this visit, was to get to know my family more and also to take my Abuela with me so that she can experience Cuba before it’s too late.
The above picture was taken on New Years Eve, as we...
Cuba in 2004.
I’m not one to seek out tour packages, but in 2004 I decided it was time to bite the bullet and see Cuba. I found an 8 day trip sponsored by the Jewish Community Center in suburban Chicago for $3000, not including airfare to Miami. I was the youngest in my group of 18 by a good 20 years, which was great fun. We visited the Jewish community in Havana, and brought them prescription drugs and...
Next Year in Havana.
Fidel Castro…Ernesto “Che” Guevera…Jose Marti. These names are important in Cuban history, but they are not the names that were important to the group of us who traveled to Cuba in the winter of 2006 with an Adath Jeshurun mission led by Hazzan Howard Glantz and his wife Dayna. Instead, we will remember Rosa Behar Hazday, Adela Dworin, Jose Miller Fredman, David Tacher Romano, Julio Rodriguez Ely,...
Visiting our Future.
My first trip to Cuba was perfectly set up by my previous months exploring Latin America on sabbatical in 1991: yes, I would see Cuba’s problems and hear the complaints, but the fear in my Salvadoran friend and the desperation in two Guatemalan boys singing for coins would put in perspective the worst of what I was to see in Cuba. All my trips to Cuba were during the Special Period, when things...
Semper Fi.
The sun was breaking as I stood on the bow of my boat, Semper Fi and gazed south at what looked like ominous clouds. The last thing I needed was a storm off the Cuban Coast.
It was January of 2002, just a few months after 9/11, and I was headed to Havana from Key West. I was born and raised in Miami and grew up in the fifties and sixties. In Miami we also lived the overthrow of Batista, the...
3 tags
The Conundrum: Cuba.
My third trip to Cuba in July 2009 was with the stellar Witness For Peace group. Me and twenty-seven other U.S. educators and artists were immersed in the eclectic and electric culture of Cuba lock, stock, and barrel. Fabuloso! Even though I had made two other trips, my spirit, intellect, soul, and body remained wide-open to the infinite possibilities of learning more about the wonderful people...
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90 Miles Away.
My church, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC, has had for approximately 20 years a sister church relationship with Matanzas Baptist Church in Matanzas, Cuba. It’s another story about how the churches came to be so closely affiliated. Because of that relationship, each year, 2 or 3 times, different groups will travel to visit, staying 1-2 weeks. It could be the choir going, or...
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REUNIFICATION.
A year ago I was diagnosed with Parkinson Disease. I was some what traumatized with the thought that I would progressively lose abilities to maintain an active life and especially travel. My sister sensed my fears was extremely generous and offered my husband and I a trip to where ever we wanted to go in the world. At first I thought of Hawaii, but as I thought about it, I realized the place I...
Making Friends in Cuba.
When people I know in the U.S. ask me “What is Cuba like?” I often answer “It is a different world”.
Having been born in Cuba and having relatives on the island, it gives me a privilege that most Americans are denied: that of traveling to Cuba.
A small incident on my trip early this year proves the point of the uniqueness of the island. It was February and I was a Cuba to partake in the wedding...
