Road Trip USA (Summer 2017)

One year ago Chris Magee and I found ourselves sharing a homestay in Cuidad Sandino, Nicaragua doing the fieldwork portion of our Global Competency Certificate Program. During this time we learned that we each liked exploring the outdoors. He then suggested that we go fishing and portaging in Minnesota in the Boundary Water (portaging means canoeing across a lake, then carrying your canoe and gear to the next, and then repeating). 

I said yes, and one year later I found myself facing the dilemma of how to get to Minnesota - plane, car, train, bus, bike, rollerblade (jk) ??? After the presidential election and feeling like I didn't understand our country very well, in addition to wanting to see many of the USA's national parks to make a (car) road trip out of it. 

It would last 32 days, cover 6,700 miles, and require 5 audio books. It was long, at times it was lonely, it was very hot, but it was so worthwhile!

I spent most of my time in the geologically-interesting parts of the Western USA i.e. Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and then spent a bunch of time in Oregon visiting my aunt and uncle who live on the Mackenzie River in Vida, and then camping with friends at Diamond Lake thirty minutes north of Crater Lake.

You can see the route I take from the picture below (blue means outward bound, and orange means homeward bound).

Here is a link to pictures from the places I went. Enjoy!

Outdoor Summer Fun with Students and Friends

I am truly blessed. During the second half of summer vacation I was able to be in the outdoors in three different settings with three different groups of people: the first was a week-long backpacking and outdoor skills camp with 7th & 8th graders located in Santa Rosa; the second was a 5-day running camp with 19 high schoolers located on the west side of Lake Tahoe; the third was a backpacking trip with three friends on the JMT trails located in Sierra Nevada Mts. between Mammoth Mountain and Yosemite National Park.

The 7th and 8th Grade Backpacking and Outdoor Skills Camp

The purpose of this camp was a to equip handful of pre-teens with the skills and confidence to be able to venture into the outdoors on their own.

We hiked up Taylor Mt. to get an idea what physical exertion feels like and how to stay protected from the sun among other things.

Jim, another teacher at Sonoma Academy, came and gave a guest lesson on the geology of Taylor Mt.

We put out backpacking skills to the test at Sugarloaf Ridge State park where we completed 4 or so mile loop with all our gear on our backs. 

I was proud of how our crew handled it.

They set up their tents on their own.

Had some fun slack-lining,

and even cooked for themselves. In fact they had to plan and purchase their own food for a dinner, break, lunch and snacks during out overnight.

Ramen with broccoli ... not too shabby!

My friend Bill also came in and did a lesson on orienteering. 

High School Cross Country Camp

Going away for camp to kick off the cross country (XC) season is annual tradition of many cross country teams. Sonoma Academy's XC team goes up to the west side of Lake Tahoe for its camp. It is 5 days of a wonderfully simple agenda: run, swim, eat, repeat, hangout, and sleep. I don't have a ton of photos but here are some.

This is the eat part.

This is more of the eating part. What would you expect from a group of high school athletes?!

John Muir Trail: Part II

To finish the summer I had the opportunity to do another section of the John Muir Trail with three friends over the course of four days. Here is a link to pictures of that.

Cuba

Cuba - Sonoma Academy Intersession Winter 2017

Just after winter break 18 students from Sonoma Academy, Alissa (one of our Spanish language teachers), and I went to Cuba for ten days. The purpose of our travel was two-fold: to learn about the culture, history, and lifestyle of the people of Cuba, and second improve our Spanish. 

We went with a tour guide company called Chill Expeditions, which I highly recommend if you're planning on traveling to Cuba, Costa Rica, Spain, Greece, or other countries in Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and some other countries near the Mediterranean Sea. When we arrived in Havana (or Habana in Cuba) we met our "Chill guide" - a 31 year old Costa Rican guy named Quique.

Also when touring through Cuba you are automatically assigned a guide from the government. Our guide was a 25 year old Cuban named Gabby, who also teaches literature and is an editor at one of the universities in Havana. Gabby was not rare in the sense that she had multiple jobs to make financial ends meet. We met many people doing this, especially people who have jobs con el estado (with the state), which don't pay especially well.

The third and final addition to our Sonoma Academy crew was our ever-present, fun, and interactive bus driver, Heriberto. 

During our ten days we moved between three locations on the island - Havana, Puerto Esperanza, and Trinidad....more on that to come.

Day 1

Even before arriving in Havana, during our lay-over in Miami, we were hearing Spanish being spoken. This is no doubt in part due to the many Cubans who now live in Miami (hence the section of Miami called Little Havana) that fled from Cuba during the last half-century.

Upon arriving in Havana my immediate impressions were that this place really does feel frozen in time due to the US-imposed embargo implemented in 1962 by President Kennedy. The embargo has drastically isolated Cuba from much of the rest of the world for the past half century. Kennedy imposed this after Fidel Castro took power from a US-backed government with his revolutionary group in 1959, decided to reject the western/capitalist culture, and began expropriating American businesses.

And yes, the 1950’s car thing is real! I saw more 1950’s Chevy's in Havana than I could count! But it's not just the cars - the buildings also look old on the outside, like they haven’t been changed for 60 years - all due to them not being able to have access to materials, tools, and imports from the rest of the world. On the inside of these buildings however, they were well-cared for and welcoming much like the Cuban people themselves.

The embargo affected many other areas of life as well, one being Cuban agriculture. Agriculture there is organic and sustainable not by choice, like some places in the USA, but rather by necessity since they haven't had access to pesticides and conventional farming equipment due to the embargo.

Another thing to note was that there are no advertisements or build boards bombarding you with things you should buy when walking down the street or driving down the free way - evidence that this is not a capitalist society. Instead there were lots of pro-government signs saying things like Fidel, Patria o Muerte (country or death), and Nuestro Major Amigo (our best friend) with a picture of the late Venezuelan dictator - Hugo Chavez.

On our first night in Havana we visited el Castillo de Morro - an old limestone fortress built at the mouth of Port of Havana where it protected the port from past naval enemies. Amazingly every single night a group of costumed re-enactors parade through the castillo to perform the cañonazo - the firing a blank shot from a cannon out over the entrance to the port. 

(image taken from internet)

Day 2 

Our second day in Cuba began with a group language class taught by Don Amado, an older english teacher, who works at a private language school and is fascinated by the study of language. Every morning he wakes up early to study English to keep consistent with what he told us se nutre la idioma cada dia (language has to be nourished every day). Given the size of our group - 18 students and two teachers - he did quite well with us and taught us phrases like ¿Que bola, acere? (what’s up dude?) and gaugua (bus).

(students on left, Don Amado in center, Quique on right)

Perhaps most interesting though, was when our students asked him about Fidel's revolution - something that people seemed to have strong and differing opinions about depending on who you ask. Those who fled Cuba and now live in the United states will likely have a strong dislike of the Fidel and his revolution, while Don Amado had a different perspective which he put quite simply: “Before the revolution I (was poor and) had no shoes, after the revolution I had shoes.” 

Although the American perspective on Fidel Castro might be negative because he led a socialist government, was allies with the communist Soviet Union, and gave the United states one of the greatest scares in recent history with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, our guide told us that many Cubans feel differently toward him. To them Fidel was a leader who cared about his own people. He made sure that people like Don Amado had shoes. After many of the wealthy and educated Cubans left for the USA (an event known as the “brain drain” emigration), he made education from kindergarten through doctoral studies free in order to reeducate Cuba. He also made health care free. Not only that, but during his time much progress was made in the areas of gender and racial equality. In fact Cuba ranks among the highest among Latin American countries for various human development indices such as infant mortality rates, ratio of women to men in government, and literacy rates. I asked our bus driver Heriberto at one point during the trip what his thoughts were on the recently deceased Fidel. He responded, El fue unico. (He was one of a kind.)

(Fidel is the people.)

Besides all this heavy political and historical talk, we enjoyed the wonderful city that Havana is. We walked on the Malecón (the boardwalk/seaside walkway) as well as through Habana Vieja (Old Havana), which is home to La Bodeguita and La Floridita - two bars that Ernest Hemmingway frequented while sipping mojitos and daiquiris and maybe even writing El Viejo y el Mar (The Old Man and the Sea.) Habana Vieja is also a fun place for all you baseball fans out there, as it is home to La Esquina Caliente (the hot corner), where men (likely drunk) stand and animately debate biesbol (baseball) - one of Cuba's favorite pastimes. 

(left-on the Malecón, center-painting of Ernest Hemingway, right-near la Esquina Caliente)

Day 3

This day found us in a large indoor market in Havana where vendors were selling everything from paintings, wooden crafts, jewelry, clothes, and even predictions of your future - offered by elderly cigar-smoking Afro-Cuban women. The market vendors were different than those I have seen in many other Latin countries in which they are typically begging your to buy their items with long, sorrowful faces. These vendors wanted to chat with you, know where you are from, and even give you a small souvenir for free. Perhaps this is because tourism is still somewhat new (at least tourism from the USA), and they haven’t been hardened and made cold by droves of tourists yet. Regardless of why, I hope these vendors' interest, curiosity, and generosity towards foreigners always remains as it is. In the same way I hope that we all might find ways to stay fresh, curious, positive, and generous in the work we find ourselves in.

After the market we made our way to one of the nearby beaches of Havana where we enjoyed the warm Caribbean water and buried one of our poor students, Aris, in the sand like the treasures that were buried on this island in the times of pirates and buccaneers.

Day 4

After three days in Havana we took off for the city of Puerto Esperanza but not before driving through Valle de Viñales, which looks like something out of Jurassic Park due to its huge magotes (limestone rock formations). We also stopped at one of the many reserves in Cuba called Las Terrazas (the terraces) where they are doing lots of reforestation, not to mention maintaining a super tasty and healthy restaurant supplied from a neighboring organic farm.

(magote rock formations in Valle de Viñales, organic farm at Las Terrazaz, live music as Las Terrazas)

Puerto Esperanza is a much smaller city than Havana - you could probably run across it in ten minutes. Like in Havana we stayed with host families. In fact, most visitors stay with host families when visiting in casas particulares (homestays), instead of hotels, which I saw very few of. The bonus of the Puerto Esperanza was that we experienced much more personal interaction with Cubans than in the larger, more fast-paced Havana. Our students learned Cuban dominos from some of our local Puerto Esperanza guides - Chicho and Faure - in exchange for teaching them how to play poker.

(Chico and his sister - some of our guides in Puerto Esperanza - with Alissa)

Eva, the mother of my homestay, used to work as a high school science teacher but, even though she found the work enjoyable, left it because she could make considerably more money running a casa particular. On the first morning at my homestay I wandered into the outdoor kitchen area to find Ruxlan, the father of my homestay, washing out old beer bottles with a pile of tomatoes next to him. When I asked what he was doing he told me that he was going puree and boil the tomatoes and then bottle them so that they would have tomato puree for the next several months - just another example of cuban resourcefulness, like the restored 1950’s Chevy’s in Havana.

(Ruxlan, Eva, and me at Puerto Esperanza homestay) (tomato puree bottling operation)

We were all happy to be with our host families because it was the first time we had gotten off the insulated tourist track and had to fend for ourselves a bit i.e. We had to use our Spanish to converse with our host families or else sit in our rooms and twiddle our thumbs. Sometimes being in a situation where failure is real is when you really feel alive!

Day 5

Day five was also full of amazing experiences. We visit a vega (tobacco plantation) where we not only learned about how tobacco is cultivated but also danced and sang with a children's group,  who use the space as a center for promoting dancing, singing, and the arts. Regarding tobacco cultivation, we were shown the entire process from how the plants grow, to how the tobacco leaves are strung up in a drying barn, to how they are cut and rolled into cigars. And yes, all of us, students included, puffed and passed two different types of cigars. The things you find yourself doing as a teacher never cease to amaze me.

(dancing with children's art/dance/singing group)  (amongst the tobacco leaves at the vega)

(in the drying house for the tobacco leaves)           (seeing how dried leaves are cut and rolled into cigars)

(me and our guide holding high quality Cuban cigars a.k.a Habanos)

Speaking of awkward situations, one of the little traditions I have when traveling abroad is to get a corte de pelo (haircut) or in Cuba, a pelado. Going to a local barber shop gives you a unique opportunity to interact and observe locals in a non-staged setting. After mentioning this to our group, four of my boys decided they wanted haircuts too, so the next thing you know the five us found ourselves in a crowded, one-room barber shop with one barber chair, a couple of benches strewn with magazines of half-naked girls, and a half-dozen young men in their cut off shirts talking about soccer and the latest gossip of Puerto Esperanza. 

Initially I was mortified at what I had dragged my students into. Would one of the local guys say something towards us that we couldn't understand? Would one of my students say something stupid and then would be ridiculed for it? Would they beat us up just because we were outsiders? It turned out that none of these fears came true. Everyone was tranquilo (cool) and my guys each took their turns int the barber chair, told the barber how to cut their hair in spanish, and even made some acceptable small talk about their favorite soccer teams. It some strange way it was a male right of passage.

Having survived the barbershop and now looking sharp with our new pelados, we feasted at a local outdoor seafood restaurant, and then took in a show put on by adolescent dancers and singers. Highlights included a spanish rendition of Allelujah and a dance to one of Cuba most popular songs, Guantanamera!

Day 6

With our trip now halfway over, we left Puerto Esperanza for La Havana again, but not without a stop in Valle de Viñales. Here we spelunked through the caves that burrow through the valley's massive magotes where we saw murciélagos, estalactitas y estalagmitas (bats, stalactites, and stalagmites.) 

(spelunking with students in los magotes)

After spelunking we toured and ate a organic, sustainable farm-to-table restaurant called Finca Agroecologica El Paraiso in Viñales. If you are ever in that region of Cuba, you must stop here. The farm is beautiful, the vista (view) is breathtaking, and the abundance of food is unforgettable (note: you may wish to plan a siesta (nap) after visiting El Paraiso). This is the point of the trip where I started called our tour of Cuba, a tour of comida (food) ... delicious puerco (pork), pollo (chicken), pescado (fish), congri (rice and beans), and ropa vieja (shredded beaf) ... mmmmmm!

(pano of la Finca Agroecologica El Paraiso in Viñales)

(beautiful organic veggies!)

(a feast for lunch ... and the aftermath :-)

Now five pounds heavier and back in Havana we had a our nightly reflection circle. Here (and at numerous other points throughout the trip) I was reminded of how thoughtful, open-minded, willing, kind, resilient, funny, spontaneous, and "expedition mentality-minded" our students were during this trip. Some of our students were pushing through sickness, struggling to connect with the locals due to limited spanish skills, not to mention being patient with each other after spending numerous hours together day in and day out. ¡Que fortuna tengo yo (What fortune I have!) to work with such awesome students!

(our group of 18 awesome students at Funsterlandia ... a mosaic art neighborhood near Havana)

Day 7

Audrey, one of my students, and I began the seventh day with a run on the malécon (boardwalk) as the sun began to rise over Havana and shown on the recently-opened US embassy to our left. Then our group departed for the city of Trinidad, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its Spanish colonial architecture and history of being a center of the slave-driven sugarcane industry. Although touristy, I very much enjoyed Trinidad. Maybe it was the cobblestone streets, the colorful old architecture, the breezy rooftop restaurants, the comfortable casas particulares whose balconies overlook the busy streets in front, or nightly live music, dancing, and entertainment on the central plaza stairs, but I would have been sad to have missed Trinidad.

(left - near the central in Trinidad, right - colorful buildings in Trinidad)

I would have also been sad to have missed when two of our students were called from the crowd onto the stage at the central plaza stairs that night to participate in the nightly entertainment. Quique and I looked on with horror, when one of our boys, Everette, was directed to stick a machete down the front of his shorts and gyrate in front of the crowd or when Lily was sat on a table and lifted off the ground by five shirtless guys. But even through that and some of our girls being pursued by local guys on the dance floor we walked home with smiles on our face. Working with teens has its real advantages - although they still need direction and guidance with growing up, they are old enough to have some real adventures and fun like we did that night!

(Everett on the right, winning best stage performance at an evening show in Trinidad)

Day 8

Speaking of adventures, the start of our eighth day found all 23 of us piled into the back of a massive old soviet diesel truck and flying up and down the mountains roads of the Escambray Mountains in route to the Topes de Collantes nature reserve. Upon arriving with pelo parado, cachete inflado (hair standing up, cheeks full [ready to vomit]), our guide Rambo (yes, Rambo) led us on a 3 km hike through the reserve where we learned about how coffee and other plants grow there. Although we didn't see the world's smallest bird, the bee hummingbird, which lives here, we did see Cuba's national bird, the Cuban trogon.

(left - our Soviet transportation truck, right - the view from Escambray Mountains where Topes de Collantes is situated) 

right - Rambo giving us a talk before our hike through the park, left- students at waterfall)

In addition to that we passed a beautiful waterfall, swam in natural pool complete with jumping rock, which one student found to be the home of a boa constrictor … it was pretty sacred of us and so stayed in its hole. On the drive back down from Topes de Collantes to Trinidad we stopped at a quaint little bed and breakfast called Manantial. A house with several guest bedrooms, a kitchen run by the owners and a few aids, a little river and pool, a garden that grows the food they eat, and a patio lined with plants with places to relax. Not a bad place for a luna de miel (honeymoon).

(Manatial bed and breakfast)

That night, back in Trinidad, Quique had arranged for our students to chat with a local, Ronald, who he had met the last time he was in Cuba. Ronald had been a math teacher but, like Chicho from Puerto Esperanza, left that profession, as well as not embracing the legacy work of his family as artisans, to turn his house into a casa particular and run a nearby restaurant. This was another example of an individual leaving a government paid profession (teaching) to work in a more lucrative business (tourism). 

(Ronald talking with us about his careers and life in Cuba)

One of our students later pointed out that Cubans seem less defined by their professions than we are in the United States and more by the relationships they maintain. It is in moments like these, after hearing Ronald's story, or chatting with Gabby, Quique, or Heriberto, about their life and work that I am so grateful to travel. In these moments I am given a chance to step outside of my normal routine, gain some perspective on it, and see another way of approaching life and work.

Day 9

On our second to last day, after an intimate breakfast in our homestay with Alissa, Audrey, Lainy, and Grace with the standard options of eggs, juice, coffee, bread, papaya, pineapple, and guava, we paid a visit Ronald’s grand uncle at his ceramic studio. There he masterfully demonstrated how to make pots and vases on this potter's wheel. After buying ceramic souvenirs for our family, we headed out of Trinidad towards the city of Santa Clara, but not without first stopping at the super high tower of Manaca-Iznaga, from which the Spaniards, once kept watch over their slaves in the sugar can fields below. 

(left - ceramics studio, right - the Tower of Manaca-Iznaga)

If you've ever been curious to know more about that Che guy frequently printed onto people's t-shirts, you'll want to visit Santa Clara. Here is where the remains of Ernesto "Che" Guevara are located along with his other 29 combatants that died in an attempted uprising in Bolivia in 1967 (wikipedia.org). Beside where they keep the ashes of these 30 revolutionaries, there is a museum narrating the life of Che from his childhood in Argentina, where he met Fidel in Mexico, his role in the Cuban Revolution, his revolutionary efforts in Africa, and eventually his execution in Bolivia.

(El Che)

In Cuba, Che is more than just a face on a shirt. There seems to be a deep reverence and awe for Che and the other barbudos (bearded ones), who led the revolution - Fidel and Raul Castro, Camilio Cienfuegos, Vilma Espín, Celia Sánchez, and many more. I must say that I was also moved by the ideals which these revolutionaries lived, fought and died for. For example, they opposed the materialistic way of life so common in the United States. They stayed true to their beliefs and suffered greatly for them either in death during the revolution or afterwards during the time of the embargo, which still remains today.

(some of the leaders of the Cuban revolution - Fidel, Cienfuegos, Espín)

Despite the suffering of this country the people are so warm and welcoming. This was never more apparent than that night when we returned to Havana and Gabby invited us to her house to dance Cuban salsa and eat cake with her mom and friends. Who knew our government-issued guide would be so cool! 

(Lainy, Gabby and Claire at Gabby's last night's dance party)

Day 10

On our last day before heading to the airport we visited the Museo de la Revolucion, which was once the presidential palace. We stood next to the bullet holes that had been made during a failed attempt by university students to storm the palace before Fidel and his accomplices later did. After soaking this in it was time to head to the airport, where we said goodbye to Heriberto, Gabby, and Quique among many hugs, pictures, even tears.

(Museo de la Revolucion)

(Heriberto, Alissa, Quique, Gabby, and me)

We held one last group circle in the airport before boarding our flight to talk our role as tourists as an important source of income for the Cuban economy, how to be a grateful and conscientious, tourists, rather than entitled and indifferent. This trip was as much, to me, about learning to be a competent global traveler as it was about the culture, history, and language of Cuba.

I will add that I was saddened upon reentering the USA at Miami. Specifically because of how we were rushed through security, treated rudely by airport staff, and shown indifference by them when one of our students was pulled at immigration. This was such a stark contrast to the patience, warmth, and humanity we were treated with in Cuba just hours before and less than 250 miles away. There is hope for the USA but we have a lot of work to do.

Before leaving Cuba we asked ourselves what we wanted to bring back or change in our lives in the USA after experiencing Cuba. Answers varied between investing more energy into our relationships, dancing more, acknowledging people’s humanity (even if that means just making eye-contact with a stranger on the street), having an expedition mentality, and learning how to treat our fellow human beings better.

Thank you Cuba, and now let’s get to work!

¡Hasta la Victoria Siempre!