Hasta Luego, Cuba!

On our way to the airport in Santa Clara we took time to go by the museum to Che Guevara, Marxist revolutionary.  Apparently it is an interesting museum, but it was closed on the day we visited, so we just got to see his sculpture.  Maybe next time...

Our Kansas and Texas groups

Lovely sunset.

Last Day

After a generous and delicious lunch with some of the leaders in the congregation, we had the opportunity to wander through town to see what we could discover. 

There was one divided street nearby that ran the length of town with an elevated walk lined by trees in the center. We walked almost to the edge of town and back. I always like to look for the pretty, even in the midst of the not so beautiful. The more closely you look, the more interesting things you see. Chickens, lots of dogs (the cats came out in the evenings and were harder to spot), boys playing a pick up game of soccer, the local baseball field/stadium, lots of pretty cool but run-down architecture, and kids rollerblading in the city square.  

Boys playing soccer in the central walkway with branches supported by rocks for the goals

Looking over the wall into the old baseball stadium (below)

I loved the spiral stair on the right side of the building

Lots of kids were skating in the central square park. 

The two below were sharing a pair of skates, each has one on - ha!

Lots of legacy things to see in the town.  It's like going back in a time machine.  

I've no idea of this worked or not.

Really cool metal sculpture made from misc. old parts. 

One of my favorites - clean vibrant colors. 

Hello rooster!

At the end of the afternoon, we stopped into the local Harry Potter-themed cafe. It was definitely the hangout place for the under 20. I couldn't believe the cute curly pink straws in all the drinks! 

There are rocking chairs everywhere, on every porch, in living rooms, etc. I had the idea of taking photos of all the different styles, but thought of it too late to show all of them.

We had been watching people ride in the horse drawn 'coches' all week, and finally got the chance to ride in them before climbing in bus to go to the airport. A fun, quick ride down the street!

Sunday Market and worship

Our last full day in the country was Sunday. The street that we had been walking between our hostess' house and the church becomes an open market on Sunday mornings, so we got to walk the full length looking at various (mostly food) products for sale. Pineapple, tubers, spice packets, eggs, very fresh meat, cooking pots, garlic, onions, and toothpaste (among other items)! The church members said sometimes they had to close the windows on that side of the sanctuary because the market was so loud, but that was not the case on this Sunday. 

Very fresh meat

Sweet potatos

Leather goods

Spices in small packets

Sunday worship with our friends was wonderful. They invited to participate in multiple parts of the service, singing, reading scripture, serving communion, and symbolically building the friend of friendship that we had worked on through the week. We were greeted with so many hugs and air kisses all week, that I totally freaked out a university colleague when I offered them a quick embrace at a business dinner after my return. Shaking hands felt decidedly more formal and cold.

Our finished Bridge of friendship.

Potluck dinner and birthday visit

Our group had been asked to plan on sharing a "traditional American dinner" with our hosts for a potluck one evening. We brainstormed about what was "traditional American" and what we would actually have ingredients for (or could bring with us). We settled on chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes, and the San Antonio group did mac and cheese with Velveta. (The Velveta was a TOTAL hit!) The kitchen was pretty basic and all our bi-lingual people in the group were otherwise occupied, so collaborative cooking was an adventure. 

We were a little surprised to be asked to prepare the meal several hours before dinner time, but it turned out to be a good idea (the power went out around sunset). The two traditional Cuban musicians joined us for a wonderful concert and dancing, and then we shared our dishes with each other. Washing up had to wait until the next morning when the water tanks were refilled. 

Our hosts had been serving us water from a Living Waters filtration system, but with so little power, they were not able to filter as much water for distribution, so we began getting purchased bottled water instead. They hope to get solar panels to power the filtration system for the future. 

At the end of the evening, we made our way down a darkened street with our flashlights and paid a visit to an older lady who was celebrating her birthday. Pastor Anier played guitar and we sang to her. Then she invited us in. She had made a special dessert with the keylimes from her backyard and the sweetened condensed milk that the San Antonio people brought her. She also played a few songs for us on her old piano. It was a wonderful ending to a full day of connecting and friend-making.

Homemade dessert with key lime juice.

Children's Ministry

Sleep was interrupted in the middle of the night with the power coming on and the water pump completely filling up the roof-top tank (good news for showers and toilet usage). With my earplugs in, I simply thought it was raining and fell back asleep, but others in our group realized something was wrong as water cascaded off the roof into the back courtyard. We woke up our host and she tripped the shut off switch for the pump and everyone went back to bed (we saw this happen for a tank near the church later in the morning - pictured below). 

In the morning, we headed back to the church for breakfast. We enjoyed freshly pureed fruit juice. They had saltine-like crackers on the table that we were told were made locally. They had a little sweetness with the salty which made them addictively good. We were also pleased to get warm scrambled eggs. Some of the group took to making sandwiches with the large rolls each morning (spam, cheese and egg). 

We got to the church early to prepare small gift bags for the children who were expected for their Saturday program. They usually have 15-30 kids from the ages of 5-12, but with the spread of the chikungunya virus, they weren't sure how many would show up. Several of the members came with the grandkids or great grand kids. 

The church has a large grassy courtyard off the fellowship patio. The younger kids went out and reenacted the story of the Good Samaritan. I joined them because my Spanish is about pre-school level and I could mostly understand the story they were telling. They also sang songs and danced with the kids. 

View of the church patio from the yard.

The kids made friendship hearts to share.

We continued to build our bridge of friendship

Their "sound guy", Edgar, was brilliant with the old tech that was available to him to queue music in the followship space and the sanctuary. We continued building our Bridge of Friendship with the kids. They wrapped things up with some games and some of the candy we brought. That was a special treat! 

Some of the kids are brought in from the edges of town by horse carts that the church funds so they can participate. They loaded them up at the end and they headed home. The horses have a pretty hard life. They pull the carts (for people and for goods) and they simply graze on the side of the road. Most that we saw were painfully skinny. People get around with lots of kinds of transport, but very few cars. I regularly saw motor scooters with 2 or 3 people on them. One family of four went by, but I didn't get a picture