Weekend Adventures

The past couple of weeks and weekends here in Havana have been great. We started and finished our course on Social Development which was very interesting. We learned about women in Cuban society, the structure of family, health and education. The work load has been pretty laid back and easy, we have about a 2-3 paged research paper each week about a topic of our choice within the theme of the week. After, we finished another two week course on Sustainable Development in Cuba. As of today, we're on our week off to travel and after have a month to write our thesis. It’s hard to believe how time is flying by!

Three weekends ago 9 of us went to a town outside the city called Las Terrazas. Las Terrazas is a government made national park that has activities for families and tourists to engage in. We arrived Saturday afternoon and when we got there we decided to spend the day in the next town over called Soroa which has waterfalls and natural springs. A really nice taxi driver offered to take us to Soroa,(where he lives) and help us find a place to stay for the night. When we couldn’t find a house to stay in, he offered us his home. We spent the day at the waterfalls and he came to pick us up at 7 and took us to his house were there was a feast waiting for us. It was unbelievable – chicken, pork, two varieties of rice, salads, fruits, water, juice, dessert – we felt so blessed. In the morning breakfast was beautiful as well – eggs, bread, fruit, coffee and juice. They were so amazing to us, and helped us with transportation, food and stay. After breakfast he took us back to Las Terrazas where we spent the day in the park. In the morning 6 of us rented two boats and had boat races. For lunch we found this amazing eco-restaurant with the most amazing menu I’ve seen. After lunch we walked to the waterfall that we could swim in. We were so happy to have a couple days outside of the city, with fresh air, and warm hearted Cubans.

Two weekends ago we went an hour out of the city in the opposite direction to a beach called Playa Jibacoa. After an adventure that involved cars, ferrys, trains and an 8k walk we finally made it to a camp site called Los Coco which is right on the beach. We spent Saturday on the beach and by the pool, eating, getting spray on tattoos, swimming, riding horses, and then spent the night at the bar/dance floor they have right next to the pool. It was a very fun, relaxed environment which was mostly young Cubans getting out of the city for the weekend – like us!

We’re all adjusting to life here and falling into daily routines. We have our frustrations with communication barriers, food, heat, inaccessibility to connect with family and friends in Canada, but we are all in agreement that we are having a good time while we’re here. Time is flying by and within the next couple weeks most of us have family coming to visit which is often the topic of conversation.