Random Observations

Whenever I travel, I like to jot down notes about small, everyday things that are different.  These just kind of accumulate in my notes until I can capture them on my blog.   

• I knew I did not remember much Spanish, but I was proud of myself for remembering "nice to meet you" and I used this phrase several times in the first days, always will a mildly puzzled response.  I didn't think my accent was weird enough to make this awkward, but then I suddenly realized I was using the wrong phrase - I was saying "me gusto"  (I like it) not "mucho gusto"!  I felt slightly ridiculous at that point. 
• Men and women greet each other with cheek 'kisses'.  This is right cheek to right cheek (always go right) and two smacks of the lips (kissing sounds, not actual kisses).  I got so used to this that it felt a little weird in church when I returned to just shake hands or give a hug instead.
• Rather than kisses, Men tend to greet other men with a 'hand grasp'.  Not a hand shake, not a slap, but a clasp (but without a chest bump). 
• At one point I asked about TV broadcasting.   I had seen several old aerials and wondered what viewing was available.  Surprisingly all of the TV screens I saw were relatively new flat screens (maybe 36"), not the old tube TVs I was expecting.  I was told that there was not an aerial broadcast and not cable.  People picked up "packettes" each week with new content (kind of like DVRs or something).  I'm not sure if they were USB thumb drives or what. 
• Our hosts fed us well.  I had mixed feelings about what I was supposed to be eating.  I don't normally eat huge breakfasts, but they prepared large meals for us.  I don't like to waste food and I didn't want to insult anyone by not eating what was offered, but I think they maxed out what they put out for us and we were probably not expected to eat it all.  I just hope I didn't look like a pig because I ate as much as I did (not wanting to offend). 
• In our night full of music and dance, at one point our older host (in his late 60's?) started singing misc old pop songs.  One was "Send in the Clowns"(Steven Sondheim from a 1973 musical).  My dad can still play this piece on the piano by memory!  The intersection of different cultures is crazy. 

This kitty came to say hi to me on the first night.  He was a sweetie.  I saw him around the dining room several times, but never caught his name.   The camp also had several dogs, but they didn't seem to hang out around the visitors much.  I was told they were friendly, but at night they were definitely on guard dog status and would let the staff know if anything was happening on the premises.  We did him them barking up a storm one night, but I don't know what they were excited by.  One lady remarked that mutts looked the same all around the world.  She called them 'perro del mundo' - dog of the world.  For the rest of the trip when I saw a mutt trotting around town I couldn't help but label it 'perro del mundo'.  She's right.  They tend to have a pretty similar look. 

One dog that didn't look like others that I saw belonged to one of the pastors.  It was a hairless Chihuahua and he was pretty ugly.  Darcy said he was so ugly that he was cute, but I'm not sure about that.  He was spoiled rotten and was quite sweet. 

I noticed that quite a few fences were constructed with live trees planted pretty close to each other.  In between the live trunks were just branches supporting the horizontal barbed wire (similar to ranches back home). 

A decorative patio lamp at the camp.  

Re-used glass bottles of various types were used as lanterns or wind chimes. 

Time lapse driving through Remedios.  

Headed Home

After visiting with the children at the church in the morning, we hit the road back to Santa Clara to catch our flight home.  It was about an hour's drive in the old Lada.  We just managed to cram our two suitcases in the trunk (thank goodness we had mostly emptied them with the gifts we brought).  We packed ourselves into the car and set off.  We were glad to have the windows down, but Darcy and I were both sporting a very windblown look by the time we arrived at the airport.  

One of the strange things about this trip was never having any local currency.  When we were greeted at the airport, there was no opportunity to exchange any dollars for pesos.  At the camp, we had no need for money, and I didn't really need to buy anything in Placetas, but I did want to get a gift for my husband.  I had in mind two cans of local Cuban beers.  I finally decided to try to make this purchase in the airport at the duty free store.  Most of these are filled with high end perfumes and liquors, but that was not the case in Cuba! There was not much other than rum and cigars in the store, but they did have a few cans of local beer, and they took US dollars.  I was in luck!   

We settled in to wait for 2 hrs until boarding.  I was glad I had a few chapters left in my book because there was no long terminal to walk and nothing much to see.  When you are ready to get home, the last wait is the longest. 

Adios Cuba, until next time.

Favorite Images

I like to try to capture small beauties in photos, or try to find an image that really captures the essence of a place.  This is my collection for this trip.

While there was laundry all over, I loved the colors in this line up. 

There were lots of pretty flowers along the roads and elsewhere, even a large poinsetta bush, but this was the best I could get in my short time when we walked around Placetas. 

On the tire: Friendship, Dreams, Hope

I like the reflection in the wet concrete and the colors. 

Above the door in the dining hall:  

I can do all things through God who strengthens me. - Philippians 4:13.

Sister church in Placetas

We arrived in Placetas in the late afternoon and our host took us by the church to meet some of his leadership team who wanted to welcome us.  He showed us the renovations that had been underway at the church, then we went to his house to get settled.  

My friend Darcy had visited the church a few years ago before the current pastor started working at the church.  The renovations under the previous leader had been pretty slow.  She was astounded by how much had been done since her last visit.  It was not clear to me if the slow progress was due to lack of funds or a difficulty in finding materials, or both, but the new pastor was working wonders. 

Sanctuary.  The congregation had been worshipping across the street in a smaller building while construction was underway.  Now that the larger space is available, the congregation has continued to grow.  About 50-70 people worship each Sunday. 

In the evening, the pastor had planned to hold a Taize service, but since it was raining and members mostly walked or rode their bikes, he decided to cancel it.  He was working his phone to let people know.  Then about 10 mins after announcing he was cancelling, he told us he was going to the church because there were a lot of people who had already shown up.  We assumed we were not going alone.  Then about 10 mins later, his wife said to Darcy and I "Chicas!  Vamanos!"  A car had come by to pick us up and take us 3 blocks up the street to the church in the rain.  Plans for this whole trip were very fluid, but this 30 minute period was the most evident example. 

I'm very glad the pastor decided to hold the Taize service in the end.  It was quite lovely.  The sanctuary was filled with candles and definitely had his decorator wife's touch.  He played several Taize chants on the sound system interspersed with prayers lifted up by the participants. We all at in a circle on the floor around the fabric.  

This was the 'fellowship hall' / Courtyard that ran the length of the sanctuary.  On the other side were a small kitchen, bathroom and the pastor's study.  It was open at the end to a large green space inside the walls of the property.  It was shaded with a nice breeze. Probably perfect in the summer for socializing.  I had to laugh at the picture above- part 'car park' part fellowship hall.  Everyone brought their bikes and scooters inside.  

These are members of the church leadership team.  The next day we went back and they shared details about the different ministries that the church carries out.  Two of the members were retired doctors and ran their pharmacy (that they couldn't call a clinic because of the govn't).  Several others had training with disabilities and worked with children with speech impediments and some who were visually impaired. Darcy and I had brought letters from members of our congregation and we wanted to share these with these leaders so they knew that we were partners with them in their ministries.  It was fun to watch them open and read them.  One member had written in Spanish and they especially appreciated this touch. 

I had been told by several people at the camp that I had a twin at the church in Placetas.  This is mi hermana, Lisette.  She is a retired physician and works in their clinic. 

Darcy and I had brought some funds to share with the church and had tried to give these to the pastor in his home earlier.  He said no.  We needed to give them to this group of leaders for transparency.  I appreciated the care that he took with financial propriety.  

After visiting with the church leaders we went across the street to their feeding ministry (soup kitchen).  It was in the building they used to use for worship.  

The furnishing were simple, but the pastor's wife had done a lovely job making the space welcoming and pleasant, not just functional.  They provided meals to people in the community 4-5 days of the week.  They had several different programs that targeted different populations. 

The doctors were very glad to receive the medicines we brought with us.  We learned that one need they had was for colostomy bags.  They kept a roster of people in the community who needed these and would call them whenever supplies became available. I would never have thought about this need, but we can certainly support this in a future visit.  They didn't run a pharmacy daily, the just provided for people on their list as medicines were available. 

Kitchen where meals are prepared.

They had a large garden in the back that supplied a lot of fresh food year round.  I asked about the seasonality of the crops, but the pastor could only say their gardener knew all about it but unfortunately wasn't around that day. 

When they had more people to cook for than the kitchen would allow for, they would use these raised grills in the back garden. 

On our last morning before we headed to the airport, we got to visit the church and see the children ministry in action.  They usually had between 20 and 40 kids attend.  They would tell bible stories, sing, have snacks, and do crafts.  We had brought a lot of chocolates with us and those became the snack for the morning - quite a treat!  They were practicing for Christmas even and singing several different songs.  There was one that we actually recognized:  This little light of mine. 

This boy was invited to play percussion for one of the songs.  He was shy as the pastor showed him how to tap out a rhythm, but perked up when this girl came over during break and asked him to show her.  Some things are the same everywhere :)

Most of the song lyrics were printed out on half sheets of paper that they carefully passed out and collected afterwards.  We were told that paper and office supplies were often hard to come by.  There was one song that we sang from a hymn book.  These were paper back and carefully covered with plastic on the outside to protect them. 

Darcy and I had brought a suitcase full of small toys for the kids for Christmas.  The pastor's wife suggested that the children's ministry people sort them and gift them to the kids on Christmas eve, so we didn't get to see these distributed.  But they did break out one of the two soccer balls that we brought and the kids were excited to get to play with a new soccer ball. 

Sites around the town of Placetas

On our second day in Placetas we got to walk around town with our hosts a bit.  It had been raining on and off for about 48 hours, but there was finally a break in rain and we walked a few blocks over to the town center.  Our hostess laughingly called it their "mall". 

This dog was posing quite nicely for us.  He looked pretty well cared for. 

The dog below also clearly got a lot of love from his shopkeeper owner.

Although my phone wasn't good for much other than taking pictures throughout the trip, the GPS and mapping did work.  The towns that we passed through on our drive to Placetas were are pretty compact and were laid out on a grid.  Our host lived just a few blocks from the city square and from his church, pretty convenient to walk.  You could probably cross the whole town in less than 15 mins on foot.  Wikipedia says the town population is 65,000. 

Horse buggies were quite common in town and outside of town.  These carts were designed more to serve as taxis with seats for passengers.  The horses all had blinders on which I'm sure kept them from spooking quite as much when other vehicles passed them. 

There were potholes in the potholes.  Although the roads probably had less wear with less traffic and heavy trucks compared to our roads, they were pretty rough.  I didn't even see any sign of patching, so these were what was created back in the day and what was left today. 

The street where our hosts lived was the site for market stalls on Sundays.  Unfortunately we missed it by a day.  There were some stall frames that appeared to just stay in place throughout the week and a pile of metal framework that must go up and down on market day.  I don't know what kind of goods were in this market, but I'm guessing a lot of homegrown vegetables among other things. 

The front porches and sidewalks appeared to be elevated.  Each home as a concrete ramp from the patio to the street.  I asked our host if there was flooding sometimes since the gutters seemed to be so deep. He said, yes, in the spring.

This is Placetas City Hall.  A pretty building with no traffic going in and out.  I'd be very curious to know what kind of business happens in local government.  The only evidence I saw of authority was an old police car and two soldiers along the side of a rural road in military dress who were apparently waiting for a ride to go back to their base. The police car was quite old too, but I don't imagine they have many road chases happening here. 

 

This is the park in the city center.  Easily the prettiest part of the town that I saw, but no one was around because of the rain. 

The church in the distance is the local Catholic church.  My friend had seen it on a previous visit and said it was quite beautiful inside. 

I was fascinated by the various goods that were on sale in different shops.  I took this picture to get an idea of some of the prices (you can only see them if you zoom in a lot).  They had a lot of packaged foods and I think they were relatively pricey.  The official exchange rate is 300 pesos to $1, one package of cookies cost 350 pesos.  Given the salaries that the pastors made which were good compared to many people, I can't imagine too many folks could afford a bag of oreo-like cookies very often. 

This was a bookstore and coffeeshop.  Pretty nicely kept.

Fanta was 100 pesos, a ham and cheese sandwich 200 pesos.  I don't know if this was actual name-brand Fanta or not.  I didn't see any name brand US products at all - no Coke, Pepsi, McDonalds, Starbucks, etc.

Cafe Bombon is a Spanish and Cuban drink made with sweetened condensed milk and espresso.  Our host made this our first day for his wife and seemed disappointed that Darcy and I didn't want any (neither of us like coffee).

 

This was one of the only shops I saw that I would call a grocery store.  There were large bags of rice and cooking oil and a few canned goods on the shelves.  I'm not sure what was in the coolers, but it was a far cry from Costco. 

Many of the shops we walked through were actually indoors booths, not singular shops.  The items they had on sale were pretty random even within one vendor's booth.  It would be challenging to know where to shop for a particular item if you weren't familiar with all the different booths in each building.

Rice cookers were definitely a thing.

This was one of the few booths with a clear theme: hardware/home repair

The shops above and below were "govn't stores" according to our hosts.  Note they are large, but mostly empty.  They did not share space with any other vendor. 

I just took this picture to note the price of these window blinds that everyone used:  the larger ones were 5800 pesos about $20. 

At one point I asked about what industries were in the areas. I was surprised to learn that there is a significant aluminum industry in the town.  This was evident with all the plates, bowls, serving ware, and I expect the window blinds were aluminum too.   This has apparently replaced the sugar cane industry that was booming before the revolution. 

The spoons look they are going to be very heavy (like stainless steel), but they are quite light. 

Another local industry is plastic molding.  We saw a lot of cheap plastic items from children's plastic play figures to these 'Wellies' that so many people were wearing.

Random life sized horse statue in a window.  

Our hosts offered no explanation when we pointed it out, they just laughed.  

I was fascinated that this shop keeper was keeping track of her sales by hand in a ledger. 

Tacky Cuban spoon holders, tea sets, circuit breakers and tape measures all sitting side by side. 

We didn't see a lot of blatant Christmas decor, but this guy was notable. 

So much to see you can't even figure out what to look at. Our host stopped in one store that was selling some solar powered product because he was looking for the item and thought they might have a good deal, but he walked away without it, so it must not have been a good deal. He said you also check on things because you never know when you'll find something you need. 

This was probably the prettiest part of the town next to the town square park.  It was a green space running down the center of a street in the market area.   Side walk was relatively in tact and the trees were big with lots of shade.  Probably very popular during the summer. 

Our host shared a story about this shop and owner.  It was clearly high brow.  The tile out front was new and so was the front.  It had a very modern garage door to close up the shop and it was all just one vendor with fancy home decor items.  From my understanding, he got some kind of entrepreneurial loan and invested it well and has slowly grown his business and gone upscale.  

This cafe was totally unexpected!  I saw 9 3/4 on the door frame and thought...Harry Potter?!  Yep.  

I stood in the doorway (everything is open air) and took a picture,  then I wandered out and up the street.  the fellow in the green jacket (only person there) followed us and started bugging our host.  I'm quite certain he was asking for us to buy something or pay him money for the picture. I felt bad our host had to put him off.  

This was the city museum.  More of a concept than a place to visit at the moment.  The lady was excited to tell us a little bit of the archeological history and to explain that they had a grant and were updating the displays to include four eras (indigenous, colonial, pre and post revolution).

For our last night in Placetas, our English-speaking host disappeared at dinner time (probably worn out from so much translation work), leaving Darcy and I to join his wife and the lady who had been helping with meals with no one to translate.  I had the awkward moment to decide if we sit in awkward silence or try to find something to share with each other that my very basic Spanish vocabulary could accommodate.  I settled on 'family'.  The kitchen lady shared pics of her grandkids,  I shared pics of my kids and pets.  We got to talking a bit about travel.  Our hostess was speaking very slowly in toddler-level Spanish and I was able to pick up about 1/3 of what she was saying.  She was thrilled to be understood at all.  After about 30 mins, my brain was done trying to make sense of what it was hearing and I was glad the meal was over.  It was a super nice evening and I'm glad we were able to connect even with the language barrier.