The mellow final day of our journey concluded a trip in which we were forced to step out of our boundaries and enter a world without cell service. Disheartening to many, yet leading to our heads being less glued to a phone screen, we were able to truly open our eyes at the wonder of our world around us. An island stuck in time after a socialist revolution and a trade blockade, Cuba, while seeming quite unlucky from the outside, house some the greatest fine arts and music that is known to man, as we would discover over our time here. Free education and university lead to the flourishing of musical talent and culture, represented by the mind blowing choirs and musicians of all ages that we witnessed around the provinces.
As well as music, we were also able to indulge ourselves in traditional dishes and foods, as well as learn a little bit of dancing along the way. From figuring out how to chisel through a coconut, to attempting to communicate to someone who doesn't know a word of your language or you of their, we all found ways to test our minds and intuition through a trip to a neighboring country.
While having a great number of new experiences with friends old and new, my best moment of my trip came during our time in Cienfuegos, a city four hours from Havana. On the afternoon of our first day there, me and four friends were sitting by a dock in the port that lead out the Caribbean sea. On land, the area was covered with tall coconut trees, many bearing fresh coconuts for consuming. A gleaming sunset in the background and the thirst for new experiences in our head, we decided to try and crack a coconut from one of the trees. On a quite unsuccessful journey, we were able to scrounge up three coconuts, none of which looked particularly ripe. Yet, not stopping us, we decided to attempt and crack them open for the sweet water that lay trapped inside. Our first attempts were to slam the coconuts with brute force against a red staircase that had been half swallowed by the rising tide. With multiple attempts we created dents in the shell, yet further attempts lead to no avail. So, in a fruitless hour, four city kids slammed coconuts against a staircase until we were able to crack the shell. Yet, we had only cracked the outer shell, still much work was to be done in order to obtain our refreshing reward. In a turn of events, we attempted to chisel the shell with a sharp rock lodged in nut, while we used a blunt rock to slam it and penetrate the shell.
As the sunlight faded into dark, we tirelessly worked to gain the essence inside the coconut. Finally, after three large slams, four city boys, with no prior experience, had, on our own, managed to conquer a goal without using our smartphones or technology. Of course our success was short lived, yet our pride not diminished, as one of the local men helped us out by providing us fresh coconuts straight from a tree, which he split with ease with a large machete. Nevertheless we considered our endeavor a success in multiple fashions. As the sun lowered on the horizon of our final day, I reminisced on all of the memories and experiences I had created for myself and my friends in a seemingly forbidden country. From the color filled streets and the cultural endeavors and talented people, my experience in Cuba was completely positive and totally worth it. For me, I can most definitely categorize this trip as one, if not my greatest and most eye opening journeys, ever to be had.
-Nate Lewis
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