Shardae Okeleye
Day three in Cuba started off with a beautifully poetic lecture by Maia Barreda on the introduction of Jose Marti. Professor Maia was effortlessly poised and passionately educated us on who Jose Marti was. He was a man that, although he suffered in pain for most of his life, had a beautiful way with his words. By reading some of his work, Maia was able to show who Marti was through his own words.
Following that lecture, we dove into the general history of Cuba lecture given by Milena Guilarte. As you can imagine trying to talk about the entire history of Cuba in one and a half hours is nearly impossible. Guilarte did a great job giving an informative general overview of Cuba.
By this time, we had built up an appetite and had our group lunch at the Atelier. It was a great restaurant with a great atmosphere.
After lunch, we went to Cabana Fortress. This fortress is the third largest in the Americas; it rises above the 200-foot hilltop. The Spanish built this fortress to improve the overland defense of Havana. The fort served as a base for both the Spanish and later independent Cuba. La Cabana has been used as a prison by the government of the leader Fidel Castro and Raul. It was beautiful to see the view from the fortress and the historic cannons.
Our night ended with a debrief off all the amazing sights we saw and the information obtained. Another beautiful night in Havana.