Chaplain leads trip to Cuba

[Judi Lynn]

Published Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Chaplain leads trip to Cuba

BY NEIL KATSUYAMA
Staff Reporter

This winter vacation, University Chaplain Frederick Streets lent his services to the suffering worldwide. After helping to write a book on mental health in Rome, Streets joined in a service trip to Cuba.

From Jan. 1 to Jan. 9, Streets made a visit to Cuba with 26 members of Yale College, the Yale Graduate School and the Yale Divinity School; the First Presbyterian Church of Hamden; and the Make A Difference Foundation. There, they helped to build a vegetable garden in the city of Guasmias to feed needy Cuban children.

One of the group members, Gabriela Bernadett '08, said she was glad to visit a country with a very different culture.

"The trip was amazing," Bernadett said. "It gave you a different view of what a communist country is really like. It didn't seem as Americanized as so many other places."
(snip/...)

http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=27837



Edited to add another article:

Get to know the real Cuba
YOU WERE THERE: First of all, you must get off the beaten tourist path

Ted Hubert
Special to The Province

Sunday, January 16, 2005

The plan for our visit to Cuba was to avoid the newly developed tourist resorts in favour of an opportunity to discover the real Cuba and meet real Cubans.

However, whenever we ventured near the tourist areas of Havana, we were bombarded by street hustlers. We found that we had to keep reminding ourselves that we were visiting a communist country.

It is common for Havanans to supplement their low "official" wages. There are almost as many methods of supplementing wages as there are people doing so. The street hustlers usually work on commission for hotels, restaurants and various providers of goods. The capitalist nature of Havana is sometimes complicated.

True communism does exist in Cuba, especially in isolated pockets such as Las Terrazas, a secluded commune an hour and a half west of Havana by taxi. We wandered into the Las Terrazas commune from the Hotel Moka, which sits on a slope just above the main commune complex.
(snip/...)

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/news/travel/story.html?id=1a40855a-00b5-4961-af03-b21723899e12

[Mika]

1. Good for them

From the Yale daily news

"I feel like I learned as much about myself and the group as I did about Cubans," Jordan said. "It was enjoyable and I would love to see relations get better between our two governments."

A trip to Cuba does elicit self reflection. It is a wonderful place to do so, because one is not surrounded by marketing and commercialism.


Thanks for posting this.

[robcon]

2. Yes, there are some things missing from Cuba

Mika wrote: "A trip to Cuba does elicit self reflection. It is a wonderful place to do so, because one is not surrounded by marketing and commercialism.

...nor silly little things like dissent, or a free press.

[Mika]

3. Wrong

You couldn't be more wrong.

Been there, seen it.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Obese Dancers Break Stereotypes in Cuba

Posted on Wed, Jan. 19, 2005

Obese Dancers Break Stereotypes in Cuba

ANNE-MARIE GARCIA
Associated Press


HAVANA - Cuban ballet dancers in white glide across the floor, executing an airy blend of pirouettes and back stretches. Within seconds, spectators are captivated, quickly forgetting what at first they couldn't overlook - most of the dancers weigh more than 200 pounds.

Six dancers between the ages of 23 and 41 make up the island's Voluminous Dance group, which has presented about 20 works and is preparing its current show, "Una muerte dulce," or "A Sweet Death," for the spring.

"It's incredible how they utilize their roundness," Mirta Castro, a tourist from Costa Rica, said as she watched the dancers rehearsing in Havana. "It breaks free of the belief that dance is only for slender people."

That is exactly the taboo Juan Miguel Mas, the group's director, wanted to shatter when he created Voluminous Dance in 1996. He called together dozens of overweight people in Havana to a formal dance audition where he looked for inner spark, eagerness and motivation.
(snip/...)

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/10682508.htm
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also: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/consumer_news/10682508.htm
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also: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/health/10684577.htm
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