“This photo of our group surrounded by school kids was taken at a neighborhood school in La Habana called ‘La Casa del Nino y la Nina,’” said Fine. The Hood River delegation visited the elementary school as part of their educational tour.
Spanish teacher Trent Kroll and daughter Elena at the free Rolling Stones concert, which just happened to coincide with the group’s visit to Cuba. “It was almost surreal to us that we were there, in Cuba, at a Rolling Stones concert,” said HRVHS Spanish Teacher Heidi Mudry.
“This photo of our group surrounded by school kids was taken at a neighborhood school in La Habana called ‘La Casa del Nino y la Nina,’” said Fine. The Hood River delegation visited the elementary school as part of their educational tour.
Photo by Lucy Fine
The nation’s capitol building under repair, with a line of colorful cars beneath.
Photo by Lucy Fine
The “swirly ceramic sculpture is part of a neighborhood improvement project done by an artist known as ‘The Cuban Picasso,’” said Fine.
Photo by Lucy Fine
Spanish teacher Trent Kroll and daughter Elena at the free Rolling Stones concert, which just happened to coincide with the group’s visit to Cuba. “It was almost surreal to us that we were there, in Cuba, at a Rolling Stones concert,” said HRVHS Spanish Teacher Heidi Mudry.
Photo by Lucy Fine
More of the Rolling Stones concert.
Photo by Lucy Fine
Colorful apartments in an urban area of La Habana, Cuba.
A group of 26 unsettlingly sunburnt adults and teenagers from Oregon wandering through a Cuban city isn’t as inconspicuous as it sounds, especially if the entire assembly is constantly squinting at the sun as if confused by its presence. This was us, the students of the Hood River Valley High School Spanish department and our teachers and parent chaperones, for nine days while we toured the city of La Habana and the beaches of Veradero in the northwest of Cuba. All of us embarrassingly wide-eyed while being introduced to the history and culture of such an unfamiliar country, we sent a message that screamed “Canadian,” but not just because of our vague confusion.
Before a few weeks ago, Canadian was just what most white, English speaking tour groups in Cuba had been. Our group from Hood River was part of the first wave of Americans officially allowed into Cuba, and we were given the opportunity to see Cuba as it has been since 1961, in the few months before American commercialism takes hold (but if anyone travels to Cuba in the next year and sees nothing but Birkenstocks, we take credit). Despite the looming shadow of future corruption, when asked our nationality by passing locals, our answer was often met by large grins, friendly shoulder-patting, frequent Obama references, and even tears. Times are changing, and the Cubans are more than ready.
Many people say that traveling to Cuba is like walking into a time capsule. While this is true, I think it is closer to cresting a breaking wave of communal alacrity and anticipation, an experience that is much more than just atmospheric nostalgia. For instance, a ride in a hot pink 1967 convertible Ford Fairlane through the streets of La Habana was more than just a tourist’s pastime. As we passed building after building of historic significance, the drive became an educational and enticingly beautiful accounting of the country’s culture and history. Cuba’s refusal to play the part of Rizzo to the United States’ Sandy was apparent through the stunning music, art, and people that flooded the city of La Habana. The community broke stereotypes at every turn, whether it be by a cleaned up junk yard-turned-art studio, or a class of elementary schoolers who knew their rights as children better than most adults know theirs.
None of this goes unnoticed, at least not by a countless number of people from all countries, including the U.S., even though we’re late in seeing it. At the Rolling Stones concert, calls of “viva Cuba!” was reciprocated by people of all nationalities, because the whole world can recognize that Cuba is bursting with life and culture.
Lucy Fine is a junior at Hood River Valley High School.
Backgrounder
The HRVHS Spanish Department began planning the spring break trip to Cuba in the fall of 2014 through a student travel company, explained Spanish Teacher Heidi Mudry. The timing of the group’s trip this spring break (March 21-25), however, coincided with visits by both President Obama and the Rolling Stones.
“Students were pretty excited about the idea of going to Cuba, but something that was different about this trip from previous ones was how many parents also wanted to join their children,” she said.
“At that time, educational, face to face group tours were pretty much the only legal way for Americans to travel there. In the end, we were a group of 26: 17 students, six parents, and three Spanish teachers — myself, Trent Kroll, and MaryAnn Hay.
“Just as people were signing up in December of 2014, it was announced for the first time that relations between our countries were warming and changing, and that Castro and Obama had been having talks and were looking forward to leaving behind the Cold War mentality. The timing was crazy!
“As we kept an eye on changes through news reports, we kept each other updated through our Facebook page. Just a few weeks before the trip we heard that Obama was planning his first presidential visit while we were there!
“At first, we were somewhat annoyed at the timing and felt like our trip was going to be negatively affected. But it turned out to be a very positive turn of events for our group. We were not, as Americans, supposed to be able to enjoy any free time at the beach. Well, our tour company had to relocate our group after we were unceremoniously kicked out of our Habana hotel for the first four nights.
“Our new hotel was in Varadero, at a lovely beach resort with white sand beaches and warm, aqua blue waters. We were able to spend a luxurious relaxing, sunny day at the beach our first day there!
“A few days before our departure date from Oregon, we began to hear that the Rolling Stones were planning to wrap up their Latin American tour with a free concert in La Habana on the last evening of our time there.
“We jokingly all decided that we were going to go to the concert. When the day arrived, our tour guide had done all of the necessary gathering of ‘intel’ and set it up for our amazing bus ‘chófer’ to drop us off that evening as close as he could get us to the stadium. We all made plans to get as close as we could in order to see what was happening from the outskirts of the venue, but little did we realize how easy it would be to walk right on into the stadium area and how safe we would all feel right in the middle of it all.
“One group led by Trent Kroll got right up as close to the stage as possible and rocked out! Another group of us stayed close to a huge screen where we could see the action and enjoy the concert. It was almost surreal to us that we were there, in Cuba, at a Rolling Stones concert.”
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