¡Hola padres y amigos! Today was our 9th day in Cuba. We went to two museums today: the Fine Arts museum and the Revolution museum. We learned some new perspectives on Cuban history and saw some really cool architecture. Then we went to our favorite restaurant from the beginning of the trip, El Biky, and got to enjoy some of our comfort foods. Afterwards, we headed to the BB Companía dance studio and got a chance to interact with the students and practice our salsa skills. It’s been a really fun day! See you after our last full day in Havana tomorrow!
-Your favoritos, Maya and Kaitlyn ¡Hola familia y amigos! ¿Que Paso? Today we woke up at 7 and had breakfast at our homestay in Viñales. Then we took the buses to a community project called tree roots where we saw sculptures made from trees. Noel, the leader of the project, built and entire hut, which had a few levels, out of trees and wood over a pond which was really cool. Then we went on a hike up to the top of the mountain and relaxed for a little while. We walked down and Noel showed us the drying house for his tobacco farm. We learned that it’s about a one year process to get the leaves ready for use. After that, we learned how to roll tobacco leaves Into cigars and had a competition, which Eva won, Kai got second, and Sam (teacher Sam) lost. Then we had lunch, went to a prehistoric mural and then had some time to relax. After that we went shopping and then had a scavenger hunt which ended at a cafe. Then we went and saw the botanical gardens. Now we are ready for the beach today!
Hola, Hola ¿Qué bolá? Today we traveled two hours to Viñales. Halfway through the trip we stopped at a small community project in a town 30 minutes from Viñales. The town was called Vedado. The project had contained multiple social programs and was opened 24/7 for all. The programs were art classes, agriculture programs, a small library and many more. The project also had many animals including an alligator. We painted their pottery pieces and spoke with the children at the project. We got to take our pieces home and buy some of their artwork. While we were eating lunch, we saw four 10 day old puppies! After that we headed to our new homestay in Viñales and were pleasantly surprised by its beauty. We hung out for another two hours until dinner. We took pictures of the sunset which was also very beautiful!
#perrito #sunset -Kai y Ashley ¡Hola a todos desde Cuba!
It’s Jacque and Jackie (aka Jacque^2). Today we woke up at 8 am for breakfast at 8:30. After finishing up at Betty’s, we took the vans to 23yC Jose Antonio díaz pelaez art school. We split off into two groups with 6 going to paint with Nelson and the other 6 engraving with Kevin. We then reconvened to chat with Nelson and some of the art students. We got to learn what they wanted to do with their futures, while telling them what we want to do. For a snack we had Cuban donuts,pizza, and the best orange soda todo el Mundo. Along with the students we created three separate murals, to capture the essence of Havana (ours was the best nbd). For lunch we went to an Italian restaurant called Bella Ciao. After lunch we took a walk down avenida de los présidentes. Where we started writing our leadership stories. Finally, we headed back to our homestays for a well deserved 2 hour break. Now we’re at Betty’s eating dinner with nuestros amigos Sabrina y Mikele. Thanks Jackie for the best chocolate cake ever! ¡Adíos! Jacque^2 ¡Buenos noches! Somos Arya y Sam. Today we started off with an extra game after breakfast because we had time to kill. After finishing up at Betty’s home in the morning, we headed off to Ernest Hemingway’s house. We were able to see his home, pool, private boat, and a graveyard for his beloved dogs. After that, we visited the Havana Cristo, which was 20 meters tall. Next, we ate lunch where we had a choice of lobster, ropa veija, pizza, or chicken. We even got to sign Lincoln on the bar at the restaurant. The final thing we did was see kids practice dancing for carnival, even joining in at some points. Their outfits were really colorful and we loved being able to dance with them! Heading home we got 2 hours of free time (yay!!!) where we got to hang out with friends or rest up. At dinner, local students came and we were able to exchange, practicing both English and Spanish. See you tomorrow!!
¡Hola Lincoln Blog!
It’s Kaitlyn and Maya, today’s group leaders! Today, we started the day off with breakfast at 8 (1 extra hour of sleep!) our first activity was visiting the Fuster community project. There we learned the history of their mosaic art and took many photos with our amigas. After that, we headed off to the ballet school Prodanza where we got to view a rehearsal and hear from the director of the company. Then we had lunch in a local restaurant (with AC!). We also visited Paso a Paso, where we learned traditional Cuban dances such as salsa and merengue and we had conversations with the dance students. Afterwards, we headed back to our homestays and got to visit each other and bond as a group. At dinner, we got to interact with local students and we are so excited to continue bonding with them and with each other! ¡Hasta mañana!- Maya and Kaitlyn |