Jack Schnick
Like most days in Cuba, I woke up around 7:00AM preparing myself for breakfast with the host family. After eating a copious amount of food, we gathered on the corner of 27th street waiting for the bus. It was a warm morning with the sun’s heat beaming down on us. As we stood on the corner we talked about the dressing up for the Buena Vista Social Club and the National Literacy Museum.
Walking into the National Literacy Museum we were immediately greeted by a woman with a petite frame standing an inch over five feet tall. For what she lacked in size, she made up for in passion and love for the Cuban people. She told us beautiful stories of teenagers teaching 100-year-old farmers how to read for the first time in their lives. She taught us the goal of the Literacy Campaign, and how it was accomplished. As a group, we learned the importance of knowing how to write your own name and how it changed Cuba forever.
After absorbing all that information, we jumped back into the bus onward to the Youth Center. It was an absolutely massive facility stretching three floors with ceramics, computer labs, movie centers, and artists painting tables. It was interesting to hear that most students in the local community refrain from visiting the center, even though it is the only Youth Center of this scale in the entirety of Cuba. Rather, the facility is filled with students from all across Havana, reaching 150 students per day.
After visiting these centers, we stopped for lunch at an old town paladar called “San Juan”. It was a small place with one large table in the back near the kitchen. During lunch, it started to rain heavily resulting in puddles of water in the restaurant. Amanda who was walking to the bathroom unfortunately fell as a result of the water resulting in quite an uproar of laughter during lunch. We frequently engaged in humor during the trip to keep each other in good spirits.
Later in the evening we went to the Buena Vista Social Club! Collectively we probably took a hundred pictures. For example we all captured Ben, Taylor, and Kayla smiling ear to ear in the conga line, and the beautiful violin artists playing Game of Thrones inspired music. As we ate dinner, we listened to traditional Cuban music and relaxed while trying to take in the moment.
Follow the links below to learn more!
Youth Center Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/centroadolescentescuba/about/?ref=page_internal
Buena Vista Social Club: