A Fall 2012 KWC class, entitled Justice and Revolution in Cuba, gave a group from Kentucky Wesleyan a rare chance to study the history of the Cuban Revolution and the status of the current legal system in Cuba. The group travelled throughout the country, and met with Cuban government officials, law professors from the University of Havana, and veterans of the Cuban Revolution, as well as local Cuban citizens. 

Students Jonathan Bell and Dustin Staves kept a journal of their activities while in Cuba. This is the fourth post in the series. If you missed the others, you can read their account from the beginning. You can also see a full photo gallery of the trip on KWC’s Flickr account.

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Day 3

Today, we started by touring Ernest Hemingway’s hotel room in Old Havana, Cuba. We got to see his belongings, including his typewriter, where many of his famous stories came to life. We continued the day by travelling to the other side of the harbor to see a gigantic statue of Jesus, which greeted the sailors as they came to port. The designer, a woman, wanted the statue to be larger than the one in Brazil; however, the statue had to be completely blocked by the hillside to prevent damage from annual hurricanes.

From here, we travelled to another bay, where Ernest Hemingway wrote “The Old Man, and the Sea.” Here we ate an interesting lunch, while surrounded by pictures of the man many believe is the inspiration for the old man in the novel.

Our next stop was the revolution museum. This building was originally the presidential palace, for Batista. There were many remnants of the Cuban Revolution, including many bullet holes, when Batista was overthrown. We saw the presidential desk, and a secret passageway where Batista managed to escape.

Revolution Museum

Dinner was on our own tonight, and the group decided to travel to Havana’s Chinatown. We travelled by taxi, an interesting adventure in itself. The Chinatown was much like what you would see anywhere, however, it was much smaller. The restaurants only extended down a few blocks on the same street. After dinner, we took the taxis back to the hotel, for much-needed down time.

Because Americans cannot travel to Cuba as tourists, we maintained an Academic status, thus our days had to be completely filled with activities. So as you can imagine, most of us were worn out by the day’s end.

A pickup soccer game ...

Next time: Voting in Cuba and the best sandwich you’ve ever had …

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A Fall 2012 KWC class, entitled Justice and Revolution in Cuba, gave a group from Kentucky Wesleyan a rare chance to study the history of the Cuban Revolution, and the status of the current legal system in Cuba. The group travelled throughout the country, and met with Cuban government officials, law professors from the University of Havana, and veterans of the Cuban Revolution, as well as local Cuban citizens.

Students Jonathan Bell and Dustin Staves kept a journal of their activities while in Cuba. This is the second post in the series. If you missed the first post, you can read their account from the beginning. You can also see a full photo gallery of the trip on KWC’s Flickr account.

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Day 1 — Part 2

Saran-Wrapped Luggage

Waiting at the Havana Airport. Check out the wrapped-up lugagge.

This was the first time anyone from our group had been in Cuba and we were all anxious, as the next step was Cuban customs. We stood in a single file line, being called to speak with a Cuban customs officer, one at a time. If we were cleared, a buzzer sounded and the door opened to the other side where baggage claim was. Fortunately, everyone cleared customs, and was granted access to Cuba.

We all waited for our baggage to come around on the conveyor belt, just as we would in the United States. Baggage began to come out, and after an hour of not receiving ours, we all became concerned. Everyone’s luggage was coming out, except ours, but it was saran-wrapped. Did the Cubans know something we didn’t? Hour two passed, and still no luggage. After hour three, we found someone who spoke English and Spanish and they happily informed us what the PA system had been announcing since we arrived: Our luggage was on a second plane that had just left Miami.

During hour four of our wait we learned why our luggage was on the second plane. During President George W. Bush’s administration, the Cuban-Americans were strictly regulated as to how many times they could visit Cuba, and what they could bring. During Obama’s administration, the Cuban-Americans had less restriction, and were allowed to bring whatever they wanted within the limits of the airlines.

Apparently, every Cuban-American on our flight brought the maximum allowable luggage along, which was what had been saran-wrapped. They brought everything from food, to clothing, to medicine, and even several flat-screen TVs. So much luggage had been checked, that a second plane was sent from Miami to Cuba with nothing but extra luggage. Four hours, two planes, and hundreds of saran-wrapped packages later, we finally retrieved our luggage.

Hotel Presidente
We left the airport terminal and made our way through an emotional crowd of Cubans at the entrance to the airport. Many of the Cubans were emotional because, for most of them, it was the first time they were being reunited with their family after many years apart. We made it to our permanent tour bus for the trip, and met our assigned guide, Jesus (pronounced Hay-Zeus). He said we could pronounce it like the Christian version if we felt he was that great.

We travelled via bus to our hotel, the “Hotel Presidente,” where we would spend the next four nights. We were greeted by the hotel manager, who welcomed us to Cuba, and then proceeded to exchange our money. We were told that we could not exchange U.S. dollars in Cuba. Our money was exchanged in Miami to the Euro, and our Euros were exchanged at the hotel for Cuban pesos (aka CUCs).

Our luggage was taken to our rooms, and we travelled via bus to Old Havana, for a quick night-time tour, and dinner at “La Imprenta,” an old printing company, turned restaurant. After a dinner of Banana Cream and Garlic Soup, and Jambalaya with mashed plantains and rice, we returned to our hotel and called it a night.

Next time: Revolutionary Square, the City of the Dead, and hand-rolled cigars …

This semester, a group from Kentucky Wesleyan College had an opportunity to travel to Cuba as participants in a joint academic program with Eastern Kentucky University. Jonathan Bell and Dustin Staves are students in the Criminal Justice, Criminology, and Law program at Kentucky Wesleyan College and were the students in the group that travelled from KWC, alongside their professor, Dr. Ken Ayers, who is the director of the Criminal Justice, Criminology, and Law program, and trustee Jack Wells and his wife Gina.

The class, entitled Justice and Revolution in Cuba, gave the group a unique account of the history of the Cuban Revolution, and the status of the current legal system in Cuba. The group travelled throughout the country, and met with Cuban government officials, law professors from the University of Havana, and veterans of the Cuban Revolution, as well as local Cuban citizens.

Jonathan and Dustin kept a journal of their activities while in Cuba, and this is their first-hand account of their journey. This is the first post in the series. You can also see a photo gallery of the trip on KWC’s Flickr account.
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Day 1

Landing at the Havana airport for the beginning of the adventure.

We arrived in Cuba today after a short, one-hour plane ride from Miami, Florida, to Havana, Cuba. When the plane touched down in Cuba, all of the Cubans on board began to cheer and applaud. We could all tell they were excited to be here. Dustin had an interesting discussion during the flight with a Cuban-American who was seated next to him. Here is Dustin’s account:

Carlos’ Story
As we boarded the flight, I found my seat in the middle, next to a very large man. My first thought was, ‘This is going to be uncomfortable.’ The plane took off, and due to the heat of Miami, everyone was anxious to get the air flowing. Each seat had its own air vent, so I positioned mine to flow air in my direction. About five minutes later, the man sitting next to me grabbed my vent and moved it to his direction. I was on a chartered plane full of Cubans and didn’t know how the man would react if I grabbed it back, so I simply sat there.

Roughly ten minutes passed and I decided to move my air vent back, which I did, cautiously. Minutes went by, and neither I, nor the man moved or made any comments. Eventually, I decided to lighten the mood, and said, “Hot airplane, huh?” Much to my surprise, the man laughed, and in a Cuban accent, speaking in English, introduced himself as Carlos.

Carlos and I spoke the rest of the flight to Cuba. Based on my uneducated assumptions about Cuba, I was hesitant to ask the man any questions. But he asked where I was from, and the conversation, and my abundance of questions began.

I learned that Carlos had made three attempts to flee Cuba to the United States, for reasons he described as being suppressed. On his second attempt he was caught by the U.S. Coast Guard and sent to Guantanamo Bay for 17 months. Upon being released, Carlos tried again, and succeeded. He spent five days at sea in a raft with other Cubans. Some did not survive.

Now Carlos is an American citizen and has his own company in the real estate business. Carlos was coming back to Cuba to visit his son, who is in medical school at the University of Havana. I asked Carlos if it was worth the risk, to which he replied, “Absolutely.” Carlos said he would do it all over again if he had to, and he loves the United States.

Carlos also gave me some advice for my trip. He told me that most Cubans would speak openly about Cuba, including about the government, but not to pressure them into it. He also relieved my worries by telling me that Cubans are very open and welcoming to Americans, as they aspire to be Americans, or to travel to America.

When the plane landed, Carlos told me to take back my stories of Cuba, and to spread the word about the Cuban people to Americans, who may not be aware of what being a Cuban is like. With this advice, I stepped out of the airplane onto Cuban grounds for the first time, and was eager to begin my travels.

Next time: Saran-wrapped luggage and the Hotel Presidente …

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