What Did I Get Myself Into?: Cuba - Dia Dos

Dia Dos - Dance, Art and Hemingway

For our second day we first made a stop in a part of Havana which has many murals, and where artists are creating a community space for people to enjoy. It felt like an underground museum. Then we went to a proper museum. Our docent was Omar. I couldn’t stop smiling at him. He was animated and theatrical. After the museum, we saw Afro- Cuban Santeria Dancers, and the Artist’s assistant was smoking a cigar, and I thought maybe we were in a movie. Surreal, but awesome. He said to us, “Enjoy my country, but don’t try to understand it.” Seems about right.

After lunch in the artist’s home, we drive to the Hemingway House. It’s been persevered in time, basically exactly how he left it, and we could peek in the doors and windows, but were not allowed to enter. I get it, everything would be ruined if thousands of people walked thru each year. His boat was on the property, some old cars. A few dogs. It all felt frozen in time. You might think we were done for the day, but no—back to Havana and to an elementary school for Dance lessons. The school was crumbing, but was still in use for school children and for the dance company. We sweat through our clothes, but was really fun.

We did have a dinner on our own, then met up with our group at a Jazz club. I personally don’t really care for Jazz music that much, but the musicians were great. One trumpet player was VERY handsome. Fast Forward 6 days and we saw him again at the Fabrica de Arte!