Today was more art than music. We visited three artists' studios, each different, young and in their homes. I'm searching for words, and the art was interesting, original, pleasing to the eye and intellectually informed with very sophisticated social commentary. Better viewed through the photos you will will be able to see in a couple of weeks. In an interlude between artists' studios, we visited a rather post recording studio- Abdala- where Yasek Mansano, at young trumpet player friend of Ariana's, is finishing up a CD featuring Janet Valdez. Yasik played us a couple of cuts and talked about what he is doing with his music. Their names are worth remembering, both for the quality of the music, and because Yasik will be teaching at Stanford this summer, and if he tours and if you have the opportunity to hear him, you should.
Lunch was at a Palador called Cocina de Liliam. Liliam is the chef and the paladors is in her home. As I understand it, paladors are a growing part of the Cuban economy, and only lately have been required (or perhaps allowed) to pay into the social security system for their employees (mostly family members). This was our best food to date in Cuba- delicious, beautifully presented, with lots of color and flavor. All the tables were in lovely patios around the house. People warned us not to expect much of Cuban food. This was a restaurant I would visit a lot if it were in Prescott!
I've been curious about how access to information (my stock in trade) works in Cuba. Here's my understanding of the moment. There is an isolation from U.S. books and music, more because of the infrastructure (and perhaps the blockade) than because of censorship on the part of the Cuban authorities. If people have internet at home, it's dial-up and hardly suited to downloading music or books. Hotel internet costs six CUCs (a little more than $6) an hour and is well out of the reach of most Cubans. If you come to Cuba, a good gift might be a flash drive with lots of memory for transferring information and music.
A quick side note- We've seen a couple of large urban gardens, maybe community gardens, maybe truck farms, and Lucila said Cubans who have space to grow, do.
Tonight five of us have reservations for the show at the Tropicana. Kind of a splurge and who knows when we will have another opportunity to see the show that inspired the big Las Vegas reviews. Tomorrow some free time, then the beach east of Havana. Saturday we leave the hotel at 5 a.m. for our flight to Santiago de Cuba.
Toni
Lunch was at a Palador called Cocina de Liliam. Liliam is the chef and the paladors is in her home. As I understand it, paladors are a growing part of the Cuban economy, and only lately have been required (or perhaps allowed) to pay into the social security system for their employees (mostly family members). This was our best food to date in Cuba- delicious, beautifully presented, with lots of color and flavor. All the tables were in lovely patios around the house. People warned us not to expect much of Cuban food. This was a restaurant I would visit a lot if it were in Prescott!
I've been curious about how access to information (my stock in trade) works in Cuba. Here's my understanding of the moment. There is an isolation from U.S. books and music, more because of the infrastructure (and perhaps the blockade) than because of censorship on the part of the Cuban authorities. If people have internet at home, it's dial-up and hardly suited to downloading music or books. Hotel internet costs six CUCs (a little more than $6) an hour and is well out of the reach of most Cubans. If you come to Cuba, a good gift might be a flash drive with lots of memory for transferring information and music.
A quick side note- We've seen a couple of large urban gardens, maybe community gardens, maybe truck farms, and Lucila said Cubans who have space to grow, do.
Tonight five of us have reservations for the show at the Tropicana. Kind of a splurge and who knows when we will have another opportunity to see the show that inspired the big Las Vegas reviews. Tomorrow some free time, then the beach east of Havana. Saturday we leave the hotel at 5 a.m. for our flight to Santiago de Cuba.
Toni
No comments:
Post a Comment