Trabajamos

This morning, we met up with J at 9am outside of the Capitolio and treated ourselves to a fancy breakfast of coffee. It was this lovely European style café across the Plaza Vieja from the place we had beer on the first day. My café frio was spectacular and I then followed it up with a café con leche that rivalled some of the best coffees I had in Italy. That place will definitely become a regular stop.

Walking around this city inspires me to write again. J pointed out the building that Hemingway used to stay in and write. It’s no wonder that he was so inspired here. Everywhere I look is a scene from an unwritten short story.

After coffees and desayunos, we were led through la Habana vieja by J who showed us a few key spots and then we found ourselves a maquina (taxi) to go out to immigration to get our cards made. A loco maquina ride along the malecon brought us to a different part of the city and we found the immigration building. A lovely lady named L had us fill out little forms and took the pictures that we had made yesterday of our red sweaty faces. This trip, with a follow up trip will hopefully, eventually result in our carnets, basically cards that show that we will be working in Cuba and are valid for approximately one year. As far as J has explained, the cards allow us to prove that we are “cubano y cubana” and let us pay in moneda nacional instead of tourist dollars.

J also showed us where the CIDA office is, where we can print off papers and access skype (the only place on the island).

We headed back downtown towards J’s place and were dropped off a few blocks away from her and her baby daddy’s aptmt. We stopped at a Mercado and bought some lunch makings. Bocadillos con guacamole, pepinos, tomates y huevos fritos. Amazing. All of this mixed with a nice cool breeze and cold water. It was the equivalent of heaven after a sweaty, humid hot morning in the sun. By lunchtime, I was delirious and provided the entertainment for the rest of the group.

We were waiting for O, our local jefe for two hours. Since the four of us were falling asleep, J thought it was a good idea to head out and lead us to where we could grab a maquina to go home. O’s place just happened to be on our way to the Capitolio where we get the taxis from so we popped our heads in the door to see if she was there. She was. We ended up meeting with her for a painful hour and a half while we tried not to fall asleep. Talking with her got me excited about the project again. She put me on the track of a natural purification method that involves using the seed of a plant called Moringa. I’m going to do research while I’m here and experiments in Gtmo to see if it would be a valid tool for the campesinos. If so, we can get the empresa to grow the tree in the state nurseries and we can encourage the farmers to grow them as well.

I finally managed to drop enough hints so that we could make a graceful exit from O’s house and head home. We made our way back to our hood and walked up the street to get some pizza for dinner. The closer place that we had been to before was closed so we went up to the other one. We got three big pizzas. Definitely not as good as the other place. That, and M found a staple in his pizza. As P was trying to make us look on the positive side and said that at least we hadn’t found hairs, I pulled out a long strand of hair from my pizza. So… next time we go to the other place.

After food we all came back and showered and napped. Except for the energizer bunny. She didn’t nap. At around 10, the boys came up and we started off the night with some LMFAO style shots.

Our new friend C showed up and we all headed out on the town together. We strolled down la Rampa to the malecon and walked along the boardwalk, checking out the sights. After we had filled our eyes, C suggested we buy a bottle of rum and bring it in to the club. For 3 CUC and the 5 CUC cover to get into the bar, the five of us partied it up until 4am.

Eso es Cuba

Day three in Havana and only mostly melted. Unless I find a faster internet connection, pictures will not be posted.

The accent here is going to take me a while to understand. Some people are easier to comprehend than others, but it’s even harder to understand than the Spanish accent. They drop syllables, letters and the intonations are different. I’ll get it soon, but WHOA.

Today, after a breaking our fast together, we made our way downtown to find a place with WIFI. Luckily, the place that was recommended to us was a gorgeous air-conditioned hotel. We got there by maquina, which are collective taxis that have routes throughout the city. It costs 10 pesos per person to hop in and out of the taxi. 1 CAD = 1 CUC = 24 pesos. This dual money system will take me a while to get used to as well. Paying for things in moneda nacional is much less expensive and it makes us feel like we belong a little more to pay in pesos, rather than just tourist dollars (CUCs).

After finding our way back by maquina as well, we met up with our project coordinator and caught up in our lovely air-conditioned apartment. Our intention was to have a minimal amount of meltage today. The four of us were ravenous after touching base with J so we headed up the street and found a tiny little Cafeteria that makes pretty decent pizzas for 10-12 pesos. People just turn the front of their house into a street-side business. It’s incredible. Our second night here, we went to eat at a resto that turns into a restaurant every night and turns back into a home at the end of every night.

Everyone ekes out a living any way possible here.

After satiating our appetites and thirst, we went looking for a place that could take our pictures for our immigration cards. We were sent to a place called “Foto Criss!” When I saw the sign, I cracked up, followed by the two other Quebecers. The woman took very professional pictures of our red sweaty faces.

We will go pick those up later this evening. PV found out about a café/bar that has a debate every last Thursday of the month so we planned to meet J there later.

First stop: Habanastation

We arrived Monday night and made it through security and immigration without a problem. Our first taste of Cuba was when we were waiting for our big oversized bike boxes. Our luggage made it out onto the conveyor belt fully intact, without any signs of having been rifled through. Then we waited for the dreaded boxes with baited breath. And waited. And waited. Finally, M spotted a clear plastic bag circling the conveyor belt that seemed to be filled with bike tubes, bike tools and Canadian paraphernalia… Basically, everything that was supposed to be loose in his bike box. Shit. Our boxes had “broken” open. He grabbed the bag and all we could do was laugh. Then he realized that his one prized possession was missing. A 2kg jar of peanut butter. It was gone. Allegedly taken by some hungry baggage handler. While M debated going and finding his favourite condiment from the cargo hold, we took bets on what else would be missing from our boxes. After a few more minutes, we were greeted by the most beautiful sight we could have hoped for: three intact bike boxes. It turned out that the only one that hadn’t survived the trip was M’s and the rest of ours were banged up and scratched, but none the worse for wear. We loaded up a four trolleys and headed out to exchange money and go to our new home.

After the money exchange and some negotiation for the taxis, we split into two vans, loaded our things and drove up to our big blue apartment building, across from the Estadio Latinoamericano (baseball stadium). We started unloading the vans as a little Cuban woman walked up to us and asked us if she could help. I explained that we were looking for Maria and she introduced herself. Maria! I explained who we were, which in retrospect seems pretty redundant. How many young white people with tons of luggage could she have been waiting for that evening? The two boys moved their things into their first floor apartment and the two of us ladies were helped up to our lovely fourth floor apartment by Maria and two strapping young men. We squeezed all of our things and ourselves into a tiny lift and made our way into our new home. It’s perfect. Two beds in one room, a big open concept living room/dining room/kitchen and a big balcony that overlooks the park/stadium. We also have a big tiled tub that could fit three people and several bottles of rum.

Must keep reminding ourselves that we are here to work.

That first night, we met the two key people that will help us navigate the Cuban system and will be our go to people for getting things. E and I unpacked and nested almost immediately and then passed out from exhaustion. E is like the energizer bunny mixed with a social director and I have no idea how she manages to maintain such a high level of constant energy. It’s quite the achievement. It gives me energy to be around her. I find some people exhausting to be around when they are constantly on high energy, but somehow being around wakes me up, like a shot of espresso.

Our first full day in Cuba started with Salvador cooking us a breakfast fit for Fidel; huevos, pan, jugo de guayabana, frutas y café con leche. After that, E and I headed downstairs to meet up with the boys and informed them of the plan to have Salvador show us around the city. We spent 5 hours walking around La Habana vieja and then stopped for a meter of beer at a gorgeous resto bar on the Plaza Vieja. I was having trouble absorbing the city but it reminded me a lot of Napoli, in the way that you can tell how glorious the city must have been in its day, but now has fallen into disrepair. Walking around the city, you get a sense of decayed opulence. Many of the buildings have that gorgeous colonial look to them with the huge cornices, large balconies and big entrances, but the paint has faded, chipped and peeled off, the walls are crumbling in places and the mouldings are cracked. I mentioned to our guides that I felt it was sad that something that could be so beautiful was left to fall apart. “Eso es Cuba…” was the reply.

Embers Flickering

We sat around and sang improv songs

Fire always symbolized change to me, so it seemed fitting that our last weekend at FBC before heading off on our adventures came complete with many bonfires.

Some of my favourite quotes often come to mind when I'm sitting around a crackling fire, being entranced and hypnotized by the dancing flames and sparkling embers.

"The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done. "

- G. Carlin

"The most tangible of all visible mysteries - fire."  

-Leigh Hunt

 "Fire is the most tolerable third party."  

-Henry David Thoreau

And this is my favourite story to read around a camp fire. 

One thing to know about this story is that it is written by a poet who has been reincarnated in a cockroach's body. To type, the cockroach has to jump from one key to another on the typewriter. That is why there are no caps and little punctuation.

the lesson of the moth

i was talking to a moth

the other evening

he was trying to break into

an electric light bulb

and fry himself on the wires

 

why do you fellows

pull this stunt i asked him

because it is the conventional

thing for moths or why

if that had been an uncovered

candle instead of an electric

light bulb you would

now be a small unsightly cinder

have you no sense

plenty of it he answered

but at times we get tired

of using it

we get bored with the routine

and crave beauty

and excitement

fire is beautiful

and we know that if we get

too close it will kill us

but what does that matter

it is better to be happy

for a moment

and be burned up with beauty

than to live a long time

and be bored all the while

so we wad all our life up

into one little roll

and then we shoot the roll

that is what life is for

it is better to be a part of beauty

for one instant and then cease to

exist than to exist forever

and never be a part of beauty

our attitude toward life

is come easy go easy

we are like human beings

used to be before they became

too civilized to enjoy themselves

and before i could argue him

out of his philosophy

he went and immolated himself

on a patent cigar lighter

i do not agree with him

myself i would rather have

half the happiness and twice

the longevity

but at the same time i wish

there was something i wanted

as badly as he wanted to fry himself

archy 

The Fruits of our Labours

Don't let anyone ever say that organic gardening isn't productive. Studies have shown that organic farming produces more food per area than "traditional" farming techniques. This land isn't the most fertile, nor is it in the best location and yet, thanks to hard work from staff, interns and most importantly Mother Nature, the small plot of land yields a surprising amount of food.

Check out my previous post showing us preparing the land for planting. How things have changed! Prepping the Land

Innovation and Invention

Out of all of the dreary "make-work" tasks that we were assigned to over the course of the past ten weeks and the few personal projects that some of us were allowed to work on, one really stood out. It was the creation of a straw-bale greenhouse by the two Ap Tech interns.


















I saw and heard the roadblocks that were thrown at them for weeks and the difficulties that they faced. Even in the face of some negative push-back, two of my fellow interns managed to put together something fascinating, and in doing so, allowed those who participated to learn new skills through a hands-on experience. 

After straw bales

Before straw bale

A problem that we quickly saw when we showed up at FBC was the disparity between what food we were led to believe we would receive and what we were provided. Part of our salary is deducted for rent, for the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and for the Whole Foods Coop (dried goods). If you know anything about CSAs, you have a pretty distinct idea of what it is. We were sorely disappointed to realize that the Executive Director's idea of a CSA is not the standard and that any comments or constructive solutions to address this issue are met first with excuses, then stonewalled and finally with personal insults. For a centre that prides itself on rural sustainability and attempts to improve rural food security, the Executive Director refuses to acknowledge either that there is a problem or that there could be solutions. There was not even any willingness to open up an avenue for conversation. This refusal to even talk about it was the most frustrating part. The centre is supposed to be a place for innovation, creativity, learning, trying new things, making mistakes, doing things differently from the norm. The Ap Tech boys managed to combine all of these elements of ingenuity into one project and inspired us all to think outside the box.

Making a green roof

The project that was proposed by the two engineers came from the need to increase the growing season and promote food security in this rural area. It would also allow future interns to have fresh food available when they arrive in early May. The overarching objective seemed to be to learn. Experiment. Trial and error. Attempting the impossible has never seemed like a bad idea to me and it is difficult to imagine why the "possimpible" should not be attempted.





 In the case of FBC, the growing season in Knowlesville is approximately 70 days of frost free weather. Not very long. The idea behind the boy's project was to extend the growing season by approximately one month on either end.

Here is my friend's blog, talking about his project. Notice the credits on some of the pictures ;)

http://julienroberge.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/a-passive-solar-food-revolution/

These two boys showed everyone that by working hard, trying something outside of the norm, being creative and being brave enough to make mistakes, amazing things can happen. Let's hope that there are more people like this in the world.

Glimpses

Road Tripping to Maine

A lot has been happening here at FBC and away from it.

I don't quite know how to explain the general mood amongst the interns these days here so I won't until I can.

Our deadlines are fast approaching, much to our surprise. We were told today, after not hearing anything about deadlines for two months, that everything has to be finished by Thursday.

The good news is that we got away from here this past weekend and spent three days by a lake in Maine.

It ain't Maine without Lobster

It was magical to be by a lake again. E and I spent girl time on the dock chatting and taking pictures of our eyes...

A universe in an eye

The Emmerika album cover!

Correction...

Serengeti road to be built after all...