Dia Tipico en Habana

7:00-alarm rings. hit snooze.
7:20-force self out of bed. steam out sleepiness in the shower. eat
breakfast (coffee + milk + sugar, scrambled eggs, bread + guava jelly)
7:49-rush out of residence. speedwalk 9 blocks to the Universidad de
Habana for class
8:00-8:15-Latin American Literature class begins (maybe). focus on
taking notes while the professor lectures (sometimes quite rapidly).
review notes at the scheduled breaktime and fill in the blanks from
incomplete thoughts.
9:35-class ends. walk outside for a 2 peso pastelito or to the corner
for a 1 peso espresso shot.
9:50-wander into nearby museum (or back home for a quick nap) to bide
time until the next class. Have a 10 peso personal pizza for lunch.
11:20-History of Cuba 2 begins. Take copious amounts of notes. Fan
self furiously between notes. Air conditioning is a luxury not
provided by the University.
1:05-Libertad! Class ends. Talk to classmates about the upcoming
school sports competition, in which you have entered yourself for
several sports (a la peer pressure)
3:30-meet with Professor Shanti Pillai for Cuban Cultural Policy. Ask
questions about any and everything you've noticed while walking the
streets. (For example, the British flag is a huge trend in Havana.
Why? After the Olympics, a lot of leftover tee-shirts made their way
over to Cuba and became a hot commodity. Today, the British flag can
be seen on tees, bags, shoes, kneepatches, and beltbuckles.)
6:30-dinner! Eat like a king.
7:30-be coerced into a post-dinner walk to the Malecon (the wall along
the Havana shore)
8:00-cherish/curse the dial-up internet
8:30-do something cultural (i.e. see the concert or go with friends to
La Copellia-a giant ice-cream park)
10:30-play cards with students from residence or read until bed.
La vida cubana is not too far different from life at Princeton (minus
the fact that there is no blackboard website, youtube, or Princeton
gmail). Cuba is definitely not a land of excess, but everyone seems to
be making ends meet with their government-mandated salaries and their
hustles por la izquierda. The city is safe and beyond idlers making
kissy-sounds when you walk past, Havana is pretty peaceful.
to be continued...

Read More

Black in Brazil

Yesterday, I was having a conversation with some new friends (yayy!!!) and somehow the conversation drifted to my friend Rodrigo's race.  Recently, some people had claimed he was black. Now, Rodrigo, doesn't really look African to me; if I had seen him walking down the street in America, he would strike me as hispanic or maybe a mix of European and Native America descent.  He has hair that is closer to straight than kinky and even under the Carioca sun, his skin is still a couple shades lighter than Obama. Now after 5 semesters of liberal arts lectures and seminars at Princeton, I understand that "race [like everything] is a social construct."  But it is interesting to see it play out in a country the US already considers to be inhabited by "others".  When we think Brazilian, we don't think black or white; we think exotic latinos that are all that perfect shade of caramel.  In reality, though, Brazil is a racial country with real racial cleavages that often fall along regional and economic divisions.  Walking through a favela, I encounter many more kids and residents that share my color as opposed to the rather white-washed streets of Copacabana.  I have yet to say my two cents on this now because I want to take the time to truly understand the source of these trends and patterns before I cast my suspicions based on the black experience in the US.

Read More

First Impressions: Cuba

Everyone has been saying going to Cuba would be like time traveling:
We'd step off the plane right into the 1950s. If this is the case, the
50s weren't so bad. We're living better at our Cuban home than we do
at Princeton, except for the fact that we don't have access to high
speed internet. I may be going through a bit of email withdrawal, but
beyond that I am completely enamored with Cuba. After months in the
miserable New Jersey winter, I prefer *this* side of Paradise. Word to
Fitzgerald.
The city of Havana is organized very well; the city is set up like a
grid and streets are in an order that makes it very easy to figure out
how to get around. This morning I ran down to the beach and did
experience quite a bit of air pollution caused by the exhaust from all
the old cars and buses, but it just means I'll have to run before rush
hour. There's a gym about 50 feet away from our front gate, though, so
I don't see exercise as a problem.
We met for our first class today at the Center for Demographic
Studies. The professor does a great job of explaining everything and
the class is very intimate as there are only four of us. On Monday,
we'll go to learn more about classes offered at the University of
Havana this semester. It's sure to be very different from Princeton
because there is no course catalog or 7:30am sign up, but we'll all be
shopping classes to feel out our favorites. I'm hoping to be able to
keep up with the professors and make conversation without sounding
like a fifth grader, but only time will tell!

Later that day....
We went to a live rumba performance. It's something unlike anything
found in the US. The singer takes the mic and begins by singing a few
ad libs, just a few words of gibberish to throw off the listener. The
drumming begins and the singer starts to tell his or her story, with
themes very similar to American Country music (I lost my dog, my wife
doesn't love me, etc etc.) and as the music picks up, dancers enter
the floor. The dancers (a male and female) then engage in a play in
which he tries to 'vacunar' the woman (vaccinate-- a metaphor). The
woman tries to elude the man as much as possible, often teasing him
with shimmies and winks. The performance has an element of
spirituality, as many of the performers practice Santeria and use
music to invoke a heightened spirituality, but each song and dance is
a special experience with dancers responding to the drummers'
improvisation. I LOVE IT! I want to go back! After the performance one
of the drummers tried to say something to me, but I didn't understand
what he was saying. Next time, though. Yo voy a RRRRUMMMBAAA!

Read More

Meet Damali!

Hi! My name is Damali James, and I am a Junior in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Relations. I will be studying at the University of Havana for the Spring 2013 semester and I'm excited to bring you all on this journey with me. Born in Canada to a Jamaican family (with a couple Cuban roots!), I have always viewed Cuba a bit differently than my American peers. Having a bit of son in my blood is what inspired me to study Spanish from a young age. Since then, I have visited Guatemala and studied in Spain and each experience fuels my desire to learn more about Latin culture! Stay tuned for more about my four month journey with Bernice!

Read More