Monday, January 30, 2017
For the third time that morning, Jim Fitch, our Road Scholar
guide, reminded us that we were going to the city of Guantanamo and that it had
nothing to do with, was nowhere near, the infamous US military prison about due
south.
The city was about an hour (55 km) from Santiago de Cuba and
is a Catalonian and French colonial town with strong influence from Haiti which
is about 100 km to the east.
Once there we were treated to a full-on morning of music and
dance followed by a visit to the studio of Carlos Rafael (editor's note: thanks to Cindy for providing the name), but we did buy some prints.
Our first visit was to La Tumba Francesa Pompadour, one of
only three surviving groups practicing this Afro-Cuban form of music and dance.
The pictures tell the story and if you are interested there is a Wikipedia
essay.
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| This is the director of the Tumba society and our Cuban guide José Antonio. We soon came to realize that José knew just about everything and unlike many of us teachers in the group rarely needed to make stuff up. A very erudite man. |
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| The dancers, note the unlit cigar in the man's mouth, part of the ritual. |
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| Everybody was called on to dance, some of us very badly. |
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| La mayoría de plaza, who presides. I got to sit next to her which makes me . . . a bad dancer |
Literally across the street is the Casa de Changüí. Changüí is another form of music indigenous to Guantanamo and is a fusion, again, of European and African music, and it is a precursor to
son and
salsa.
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| The group from La Casa de Changüí |
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| Despite my intense expression I am enjoying this, but trying not to do something wrong. |
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| Shoes. Cuban wimmens got cool shoes. At Sharon's suggestion I began noticing feets and shoes. |
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| The rest of said woman, a dancer. Note José in the background |
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| Now he gets center stage. |
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| This is Cindy, Cindy was part of our group. Cindy is a dancer. You will see more of Cindy. |
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| Even Rosa and her new friend got into the spirit |
In the afternoon we rambled the streets of Guantanamo and
then met with a local artist.
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| Guys hanging out |
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| The statue is not of Martí, even though this is Parque Martí |
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| A pedestrian walkway lines with shops and stuff |
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| A '49 Chevy, I believe. |
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| The art studio of Carlos Rafael |
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| He also does set decoration for local theaters up on the roof |
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| One of four small prints we purchased |
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| Street scenes |
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| With '54 Ford |
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| and without |
And then back to the Meliá in Santiago de Cuba and dinner. The
day speaks for itself.
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