This past December I traveled with my Mother and my two Brothers to the country I was born in, Cuba. It was our first time back as a family in 37 years. I lived in Cuba till I was 9 years old, then moved to Spain and then finally to the US.
We arrived in Havana on December 11. Our chartered flight, which originated from Miami, took a little over an hour. I was so excited but also anxious, I did not know what to expect. I could not wait to meet my Cousins and see my Aunt and Uncle.
As a Cuban /American you are allowed to travel to Cuba legally if you still have family there. You are limited to 44 lbs of accompanied baggage, 20 lbs of packaged foods and 15 lbs of medicine.
Upon arrival, we were escorted to a hangar where we had to go through a series of checkpoints with our luggage. They are very strict with the allotted weight, if you go over the limit they fine you, heavily.
My Cousin Carmen, whom I had not seen since the late 70’s, lives part of the year in Cuba and the rest in Spain, which is where I had seen her last, greeted us at the airport in Havana with a friend and his ’57 Chevy. They drove us back to our hometown, San Nicolas de Bari.
Wow, dirt roads, boarded up houses, old cars, horse drawn buggies, very weathered and tired looking people, I felt as if I was in the set of an old western movie, it was surreal.
View from the sky
Common form of transportation
"Taxi"
"Laundry Day"
The pizza man
Horse drawn buggy
José Martí (1853-1895), was a poet, journalist, teacher, philosopher and a political activist. He became the national hero of Cuba. The barber in this picture is an admirer of José Martí and he also resembles him a great deal.
"Taxi"
Friendly local
More laundry, one of my favorite subjects to photograph in all of my travels.
"Buñuelos"
Breakfast
My Brother Joe helping Carmen in her kitchen
My Aunt Migdalia invited us for lunch at her house, she lives very comfortably, she's in her late 70's but not in the best of health.
Dining room and patio
Lunch time
Drinking rum with my Brother Ron, note the recycled shot glasses.
At our Cousin Elia's house playing dominoes, the national game of Cuba.
Cousin Elia's kitchen
My Cousin Noel's daughter was expecting her first baby, she showed us her closet full of baby things.
Not far from our town there's a beach called "Playa Caimito", we drove there to watch the sunset, it was a bit chilly to swim, but that did not stop my Brother Joe.
Residents of Playa Caimito
These three boys were playing near by so I asked them if they would sit for me so that I could take this picture.
A one legged bicyclist and an old lady from Playa Caimito
The cemetery
Our Grandmother's house, I have fond memories of this place, running around in her flower garden catching butterflies with a net. I had quite the collection, neatly placed in a picture album. My Grandmother had a very large sugar cane farm, she had horses, pigs, chickens, donkeys..., she also had live-in servants. Her house as I remember back then was pretty spectacular, not anymore, it's in great disrepair, very sad.
Living room
Kitchen
Our old house
Marked on the back stoop of our house, is the year our parents got married, January 1, 1958
Our kitchen
Living room and dining room
Our old church
This is one of the ways rice is dried, by spreading it on the road for a couple of days when they know that it's not suppose to rain. They also dry it on flat roof tops.
"Beach piggies"
My dream house? Could be? For now it's just a dream.
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This is part one of my Cuba trip, the next post will be on Trinidad which was our first long journey from our town.
Trinidad is a small city rich in architecture and history. It has been declared a national monument by the Cuban government.
Till then, enjoy,
Julia
