iMediainCuba Thank You

Anna Davis explains why she enjoys the Elon iMedia program on a lighthouse in Havana, Cuba.

5 Things I Have Learned From My Cuba Trip

Cuba is beautiful.

Cuba is very beautiful.

These are various images of vintage cars in Havana, Cuba. The cars are in great condition and are mainly used as taxis for tourists.

There are random dogs that sleep everywhere.

If you are going to smoke in Cuba you must smoke a Cohiba.

This dish was yummy!

The food is delicious and cheap.

Anthony Bourdain’s Cuba vs Our Cuba

Although I watched Anthony Bourdain’s Cuba episode of “No Reservations” before the trip, it didn’t register until now, when I rewatched it in preparation of this post.

Everything Bourdain says is true. Cuba is beautiful, absolutely gorgeous, but in a very unique way, much like the country itself. Nearly everything has a coat of rust, a sense of dilapidation about it, but the cracks and faded colors are as much a part of the country as the wrinkles and bad teeth of some of the inhabitants. Cuba’s unique situation — an educated but poor country, whose citizens are forbidden to travel and largely do not have Internet access — has given it that “frozen in time” look, a phrase often repeated, but the citizens are as modern and forward-thinking as you would find in other, more developed countries.

This episode both opens and closes with baseball, Cuba’s national pastime. Although we did not get the opportunity to witness a game, we did pass by the Estadio Latinoamericano, where the Industriales play. Like everything else in Cuba, the stadium is run down — buildings like this, especially such a public one, would never get into half as bad a shape if this was in the U.S. Like Bourdain points out (37:00), things don’t work, and food options are essentially nonexistent, but that’s not the point; it’s what makes Cuba Cuba. By far the most interesting thing in the whole episode (22:54) are the professional augmenters, fans licensed by the government to hang around and debate baseball. These are the guys who need their own show.

Anthony Bourdain and “No Reservations” is of course primarily about food. Although we were both tourists and so could only eat in specific places, Bourdain’s experience was far more luxurious than ours, and he admits as such. The restaurants we were taken to, mostly in Old Havana, where we stayed, were geared to tourists — their prices were in CUCs, Cuban’s tourist currency (yep, there’s a different, and far less valued, local currency known as Cuban pesos), and often menu descriptions were in English in addition to Spanish. He highlights specific restaurants and mentions Spanish food, all while discussing Cuba’s situation with his fixers. No fixers for us, but we’ll have more on the food we ate in upcoming posts.

Bourdain briefly mentions Old Havana at the 26 minute mark, a neighborhood both extremely touristy yet meant to be a local hubbub. Indeed, despite all the tourist restaurants, a block or two off the main roads yields “real Cuba” — although real Cubans are everywhere. Bourdain stays at the famous Hotel Nacional (12), which is where all the famous people stay. The hotel even has a wing dedicated to all the entertainers, heads of state, businessmen and athletes who have stayed there. Anthony Bourdain was not listed.

Cuban food may not be well known outside of rice and beans (which he does sample), but they are gaining a reputation in the organic farm world, which is what we were there for. He visits a bustling city market (13:01), quite different from what was essentially a little farmstand near the entrance of Vivero Alamar, but the food’s the same, as is the curiosity that everyone brings their own plastic bags.

One food none of us sampled, to my knowledge, was tamales, which is the street food Bourdain craves. We did pass vendors selling pastries (ask Rachel about that delicious coconut ball I regrettably didn’t buy), most of which we couldn’t identify.

Man, I am getting hungry, and I’m really jonesing for one of those coconut balls. They’ll be more posts about food on our trip, next time with pictures!

Cuba 1949

My grandfather and grandmother visited Havana, Cuba in 1949. Dr. Buck sat down to share some of his memories of the trip with a little help from my grandmother, Dot, before I departed for my first trip to Cuba.

After visiting the country myself, it seems that Havana hasn’t changed much. Sloppy Joe’s nightclub is still around and is currently under renovation, taxis still drive too fast, and of course, rum is still the most popular liquor in Havana.

Count Down

Every day we flip the count down. Today’s quote: “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.” — Norman Vincent Peale

Also, we banned the phrase “hash out”. We’ll see what else ends up on the banned list over the next few days.

iMediaInCuba Teaser

This is a short video with some of the film we have of Cuba. Enjoy!

Working Like Worms

While we were at Vivero Alamar, one of the running jokes was that the hardest workers on the farm were the worms used to compost all the waste at the farm into rich top soil. If that’s the case, then we’ve been working like worms.

The team Cuba got back on January 9th, took a well deserved day of rest, and then got straight to work on the 11th. We’re all really pleased with all the progress that we’ve made even in such a short amount of time. Our current big news is that we are publishing some of our pictures and stories on CNN iReport. So far, Neff, Rachel, Alexandra, and Ben have posted, with more stories in the works. Ben’s photo essay on vintage Cuban cars is already in the process of being vetted for use in other CNN outlets.

Besides being very excited for that news, we have more cool things in the works that we can’t wait to share. Hopefully we will be able to keep updating the blog daily as we get closer and closer to our January 24th deadline. With well over 2,000 images and at least 10 hours of video footage, the hardest part is going to be picking what to share.

**UPDATE**

Ben’s blog was vetted! Check it out.

We’re Back!

The iMedia in Cuba team got back yesterday late in the evening. Everyone had a wonderful time and we can’t wait to share updates with you. Keep an eye on the blog for teaser pics, videos, and little snippets about our stay. The final project is to be presented on January 24th, so it’s going to be a jam packed couple of weeks. See you soon!

Get Excited!

So it turns out that we will be going to Cuba from the 3-9th! Woot! That means an extra day to shoot some amazing footage and a whole extra day at the farm. Still no update to where we will be staying except that we will be in Old Havana. I can’t wait to get there. I have read a couple of travel blogs about Europeans and Canadians staying in that area and from what I can tell, it’s the place to be. I am really excited to go to some of the jazz clubs. Two I have heard about are Gato Turteo and La Zorra y el Cuervo. Definitely sounds like a great way to unwind after a long day shooting.

The Pearl of the Antilles Through a Boy’s Eyes — Cuba in 1941 (Pt. 3)

This is the last post by Neff’s father, Robert, on his time in Cuba in 1941.

Our two-car cavalcade pulled to a stop in front of a beautiful colonial building identified by a sign at its entrance as “Sevilla-Biltmore.” Inside there was a tree- and flower-festooned restaurant, which opened upward through the apartments on four sides. Ours was three stories above that patio, so I could look down into it at night when the music drifted upward – or I could watch strollers on the Prado from our shuttered front windows. It all seemed pretty glamorous to a ten-year-old boy. There were fluffy towels – fresh each day – and bougainvillea flowers in vases atop all the flat surfaces. Food was rushed up from the kitchens below whenever we called for it, and everything they prepared was new and different to me. My favorite was quickly identified as Picadillo a la Cubana (Cuban hash) which was ground beef laced heartily with peppers, onions, tomatoes and garlic. The aroma was stupefying! The taste was even better.

A few days after we had unpacked and gotten used to the apartment routine, the black Buick took us on a three-hour drive to the east – to a place called Veradero, which I learned was on a projection of land called the Hicacos Peninsula. The du Pont family from Delaware had a big house there, where we had dinner after walking on the whitest beach I had ever seen. All of the men smoked rich-smelling cigars after dinner, and when I asked where they came from they laughed and said that Cuba was home to the world’s finest cigar factories. I got to visit one of them later, and was amazed at the process. People at tables selected aromatic, long brown leaves to roll together, and they continually licked the leaves as they did so, to help them bind. After one experimental “lick” I was convinced it was a job I didn’t want! But my Dad became a devotee of Cuban cigars and I have always associated that aroma with his celebrations of special events.

That same black Buick came each weekend to take us to a succession of Cuban sites, from the great Bacardi Rummery to pineapple plantations to the wonderful colonial government buildings, including a white and gold-trimmed Presidential Palace where President Fulgencio Batista had his offices. During the week, we wandered down narrow streets, where activities were secreted behind walls which extended all the way to the curbside, making it difficult for cars and pedestrians to pass one another. We could peek inside at homes, tiendas and little bodegas, all hidden when their heavy wooden doors were closed at nightfall, but exposed and lively during the day. Of course, we got to visit the Morro Castle and many of the harbor buildings, and to listen to stories about Havana’s early history. One weekend was dedicated to the story of the Arawak Indians, who preceded Columbus’ discovery of Cuba and who were dispersed by the Spanish Conquistadors.

There was an American School in Havana, where I started classes a month or so after our arrival. Most of the students were the children of American businessmen or diplomats – and most of those were older than I. I preferred playing in the park or skating on the Prado with the Cubanos of my age who I met easily. From them I acquired a working knowledge of their language and a good sense of the area’s geography. Both helped me to take my parents to local restaurants and to decipher the menus. Soon we were comfortable in Havana and making plans to entertain my aunts at Christmas 1941.

Alas – that did not happen, nor did the refinery get built. On Sunday, December 7^th, my Mom called me in from the Prado and told me to pack quickly. In answer to my question “Why?” I was told hurriedly that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. (I assumed that Pearl was one of the many visiting American ladies who had too many Cuba Libres at Sloppy Joe’s on Saturday nights, and couldn’t connect that to a need for me to pack on a beautiful Sunday.) Once I got a few answers, I understood that the wars in Europe and Asia had finally converged upon America, and my father was being rushed back to begin addressing the country’s need for lots of aviation fuel. We boarded a destroyer and sailed at high speed out into the open sea beyond Morro Castle. This time there were no gaping passengers on deck, but I took a last glance back at The Pearl of the Antilles.