Cuba Day 5

Hola Familias y Amigos!

I’m sending out the blog early today in observance of Shabbat and will include tonight’s activities in our final blog update tomorrow night. 

 

Before I talk about today, I want to include some more quotes from students about yesterday’s programs, which brought so much happiness to both them and the Cubans with which they worked: 

 

“The dance party was special to me because it brought everyone together and we all got to have fun!” -Aaron

 

“My favorite moment from yesterday was going to the acrobatics program because I saw such amazing talent from kids who were way younger than me. They’re more talented than I’ll ever be.” -Kira

 

“My favorite moment was going to Angeles del Futuro to watch the kids do acrobatics. They were all so talented and the tricks they did were insane to watch. It was also great to talk to them about their passion before they performed.” - Avery

 

“My favorite moment of yesterday was the acrobatics show. The girls I talked to were so friendly and mature. The performers were all so talented.” - Shayna 

 

“Yesterday as we walked through the agro-market I pulled out my Polaroid camera to take a picture of the amazing culture I was taking in. All of a sudden a man behind a stand calls me over to take a picture of him and a buddy of his. The ear to ear grin on his face as he saw the picture appear on the film was something I will never forget.” - Nathi

 

“My favorite moment from yesterday was, playing dominos with the Jewish Seniors. Nathi and I met the “Alberto’s”. We played multiple games with them and surprisingly, we beat them! Having conversations in Spanish with them over a simple game of Dominos was so cool. They seemed so happy to see us playing with them!” -Max

 

We began the morning with the most epic wake up call yet, to the tune of “Wonderwall” called “Wake Up Call.” There was precise rhyming and harmony involved because let’s just be honest: Juanito and I just wish we were in college again. 

 

As you all know, Miriam Saul is one of our amazing trip coordinators, and having her and her partner Marla with us has added so much to our experience. We drove to the outskirts of Havana to the city’s Ashkenazi cemetery. Inside the cemetery is the first holocaust memorial constructed in the western hemisphere, and under the monument lies a part of the six million Jewish lives lost preserved through pieces of soap brought from Europe. It’s a startling plaque to read, but it’s also so moving to see our kids surrounding it and placing stones on it.

 

Miriam also led us to a tombstone of one of her family members: a baby brother who she never met who died at one day old. Miriam explained how her mother had always wanted two children. First, she had a daughter, and then she had her second child, a son. But after just one day, before given a bris and a name, he died suddenly. Eventually, Miriam’s mother decided to try again for that second child, and Miriam came into the world. With tears in her eyes, Miriam explained to our students she was with us in that moment only because of this lost brother. Our students were arrested by her vulnerability and by the excruciatingly small grave in front of them. The pile of stones on that grave, like the crumbling piles of concrete on many street corners of Havana, are hard to see yet still so hopeful that we, like Cubans, are a people who remember those who no longer walk beside us.

 

After the cemetery, we went to a private residence on a farm in which a family teaches ecology and environmental activities to children as well as provides a senior-center type space to the elderly in the area. To fund these projects, the family converted a part of their property to a farm-to-table restaurant. There’s something holy about eating off of one’s land—a sacredness so rare to experience in suburban America. We picked and ate new fruits and even cacao off of trees and walked around with dogs, cats, chickens, and geese all around us. 

 

We took advantage of the nature around us to sit together in a circle and reflect together on compassion. Rabbi Mayer began by sharing his own personal struggle with compassion and how important it is to be generous but also not give “too much.” He defined “too much” as when it’s too much on yourself (hurting your own mental health) and even when it’s too much on someone else (when giving strips a person of their dignity). This opened a conversation in which at least fifteen students shot their hands up to share moments from the trip that illuminated a truth or problem for them around compassion. Surrounded by piercingly green plants and under a clear sky, I was literally at the edge of my seat as I drank in every word each kid said. All I can say is that they get it. They get this life is so complex and unfair, but full of opportunity to grip our values with white knuckles and never let go. 

 

After a small cooking demonstration of how to make one of Cuba’s most famous dishes—“ropa vieja”— (shredded beef), we sat down for a meal in a bohío—a thatched roof structure. Prefacing Shabbat al aire libre felt just right.

 

I’m attaching some photos taken with permission from the synagogue and the group, that illustrate two important events that took place: A shabbat service and Cuba’s inaugural ceremony welcoming The Daffodil Project to the island, led by our students. When we have stronger Wi-Fi in our long layover in Miami, I will add to this folder photos from our time getting ice cream after dinner with Jewish teens from Rikudim as well as the recorded ceremony of the Daffodil Project (about twelve minutes in length). I will also do my best to cover our weekend from Friday night to Saturday night. Thank you again for your patience.

 

Get ready for some truly beautiful stories of humanity ahead, but I’ll end with a lighthearted one: on the way to Havdalah tonight, Dawson got in the hotel elevator with…wait for it…Gordon Ramsey. He stood next to him and said, “OH MY GOD YOU’RE GORDON RAMSEY.” And Gordon was kind enough to not only ask Dawson how he liked Cuba, but also entertain the SCREAMING MOB of Weber students who then spotted him when he stepped off the elevator. He said hello to the group and then before walking away, without any context, said one of his infamous phrases: ‘F---ing delicious!’” The kids lost. their. minds. I missed this entire interaction, and when I asked Jolie if she played it cool and represented us well with Gordon, she said, “NOPE NOT ONE BIT. WE WERE SO OBNOXIOUS!”

 

Buenas noches.