Eric's Tuesday

On Tuesday morning, we departed Havana for Cienfuegos. While I was excited about our new destination, I was disappointed to be leaving Havana, even though I knew we would be returning on Thursday. Coming into this trip, I was unsure of what to expect to take away from the experience. US-Cuba relations, even with recent events that eased tensions between the countries, have been tense going back to the 1950s, so I was slightly nervous about what kind of interactions we would be having with the people of Cuba. To go along with this, I was curious to see how Havana itself would compare with the narratives that the American media pushes onto Cuba as a whole. Yet after nearly three full days in Havana, I found myself to be enamored by the city. The emphasis on arts and culture is evident all throughout the city and is unlike anything I've witnessed before. The talent of the choirs we listened to was also phenomenal, particularly the one we listened to at the monastery on Monday. For these reasons, I was somber as we pulled away from the hotel that Tuesday.

Much of Tuesday was relaxing. The bus trip to Cienfuegos took up much of the morning, and in the afternoon, we stopped for lunch at a buffet near a beach. (Interestingly enough, we ran into a travel group from Hackley, another NYC school, at a rest stop during the morning trip.) After lunch, we arrived at our next hotel and had plenty of time to swim, tan and shower. After this, we had a buffet dinner at the hotel, and for the evening, we went to an outdoor concert of a Cuban band, where the lively music naturally led to a night of dancing. 

-Eric Muoio