Category Cuba

Cuba’s Finca Marta: A Model Organic Farm: Part II

December 16, 2016 2 Comments Cuba, Travel

Continued from previous post on Finca Marta, Part I

Finca marta havana cuba — We’re introduced to Juan Machado, an 80-year-old local farmer who has been part of the project since its inception in 2011. Known as “Pozo,” which means “spring” in Spanish, Juan is also a dowser and responsible for locating the sites of wells for the farm, which were then dug by hand the extremely rocky soil, as no well-drilling machinery is available. The rocks are utilized in the terraced walls. All water is moved in canals that connect rainwater to wells and held in cisterns with a capacity of 200,000 liters. Solar panels provide electricity and worms thrive in cow manure creating rich hummus for fertilizing the soil.

Finca Marta, Armesia, havana, Cuba, organic farm — Cows are herded into this barn at night, their dung hosed out each morning into a tank from which methane is extracted and provides all the gas (biogas) for cooking in the farm’s kitchens.

Fernando’s vision is broad, sincere and actually working: “I want to demonstrate that’s it’s possible to improve rural life and expand opportunities for the workers. There are lots of farms; many led by professionals – academic agricology projects, organic farms on a bigger scale – but we need the involvement of many more people in the process and the social commitment to invest and put in place new models and systems that have an impact in the market to activate rural economy. We cannot count on governments, institutions and philanthropy… we must build systems on logic of the systems and markets.”

While his ideas of capacity building among farmers as stakeholders, job creation and well-paid workers, diversification and wise land use are modeled at Finca Marta, he acknowledges that all this requires money. And therein lies the rub… or, in this case, the honey.

finca marta — In the first years, 100 beehives (of this particular type of stingless bee with more than one queen per hive) produced 700-800 liter bottles of honey a year and at $2 each, yielded $1,500 in profit. This may sound like a paltry sum but you must keep in mind that a doctor or engineer’s annual salary is about $360. Honey continues to provide some steady income.

finca marta, havana organic farm cuba — And then there is the honey of tourism. Crops like white arugula, cherry tomatoes, radish, endive, cilantro and some 50 others have found demand and top dollar in Havana’s swank privatized restaurants (Paladars) where foreigners think nothing of New York prices and probably not ever considering that the vast majority of Cuban people have never seen – nor likely imagined – the quality, diversity and fresh flavor of such consciously tended and organically grown vegetables. Hosting visitors to Finca Marta for a snack, an informative talk, tour and lunch provides additional income.

When asked how sales of Finca Marta’s products jive with socialist ones, Fernando replied thar the difference between Finca Marta’s philosophies and capitalism is “social awareness, more consciousness about nature and a balance of imports and exports that supports local enterprises and their workers.” He summed up with, “I adhere to spiritual and capitalist values, with a socialist heart.”

finca marta, anitas feast — Portugal-based travel food writer, Anita Breland (AnitasFeast.com), with Claudia and Fernando Funes Monzote at Finca Marta.
Few groups except academics, foundations and agricultural interests get to visit Finca Marta, so it was a great honor and pleasure for my group to spend four hours with Fernando, learning about Finca Marta and being treated to a fabulous farm-to-table lunch prepared by his partner and wonderful chef, Claudia.

Organic Farming in Cuba: It’s Not What You Think

December 16, 2016 2 Comments Cuba, Travel

Cuba’s Finca Marta: A Model Organic Farm:
Part I

West of Havana, 45-minutes’ drive, past the billboard announcing the province of Artemisa, an unmarked dirt road leads to Finca Marta, an impressive model of organic practices, integrated systems and respectful human relationships.

But please, do not get too excited that this is the future of Cuba agriculture. Despite the impression given by several documentaries and permaculture enthusiasts, organic farming in Cuba is very limited, uncommon and its produce not available to the general population.

I will let Fernando R. Funes Monzote, Ph.D. agroecologist explain, as he did to a group of a dozen of us one recent and glorious afternoon spent at the paradisical Finca Marta.

Fernando R. Funes Monzote, Ph.D. agroecologist, shares his organic farming methods and philosophies at Finca Marta, his model organic farm west of Havana, Cuba — Fernando R. Funes Monzote is a man who whose credentials, international experience, vision, dedication and genuine warmth of spirit are extraordinary. Here, he explains the terracing of types of lettuce, arugula and other greens mostly unknown in Cuba. A drip system will soon replace hand watering.

This is Fernando and Finca Marta is his brainchild and labor of love. His father was a scientist and his mother, Marta – for whom the Finca (farm) is named – was a biologist. Fernando and Marta worked together for 15 years, and between 1996 and 2000 they visited 93 farms and documented the work of the Cuban organic farming organization to help develop in Cuba sustainable systems in what was – and largely still is – a monoculture model for industrial production: deforestation, sugar cane, coffee and tobacco.

But before that and after, Fernando spent years abroad; a rather unique situation for any Cuban. How did Fernando leave Cuba and learn from farmers around the world? As president of the student’s league at the University of Havana, he was invited to Italy in 1984-1992 and visited more than 20 countries. In 1996 he received a master in science in agrocology in Spain and returned to Cuba. After repeatedly being denied permission to go to the Netherlands, despite valid invitations, Fernando finally was able to leave Cuba again in 2000 and spent much of the next decade traveling and collaborating with agronomist colleagues in Europe, Africa and Latin America, while earning his Ph.D in 2008.

In 2011, he started Finca Marta, 8 hectres (16 acres) of land owned by a 97-year-old-man who granted Funes-Monzote the right to farm. (Remarkably, given their limited diet and the stresses of daily life in sourcing basic goods, Cuban’s lifespans are among the longest in the world, but that’s another story). But these rights are, like most things in Cuba, complicado, and Fernando may have to fight for succession and user rights. He hopes they will be granted, given all the work he and his workers have done to create this innovative operation. But he knows nothing in Cuba is certain.

Some history of Agriculture in Cuba

Finca Marta Cuba, — Fernando generously shares his philosophy and vision of organic farming in Cuba with a group of creative journeyers to Havana.

Fernando explained that from the end of the19th century (when the U.S. helped Cuba win independence from Spain and was then able to claim commercial rights) until the revolution in 1959, U.S. companies used pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. Part of the reason for the revolution was “agrarian reform.” Lots of money was in the hands of a few and the issues of inequity were obvious – social, economic, environmental, and oppressed rural populations. The revolution promised reorganization and redistribution of lands into the hands of the farmers.

After 1963, and the U.S. embargo, Cuba had to look for new allies and reorient to Eastern European imports and exports. The 80/20 population distribution flipped from rural to urban. Cuba became a laboratory for modern Soviet-funded technologies, built on productivity and competition.

This was embodied in “Fidel’s Cow” recorded in the Guinness World Book of Records as producing 27,000 liters of milk in its productive life, up to 11 liters in one day. This was evidence of Cuban prowess. There were also developments of new water systems – lakes, ponds and reservoirs, and scientists assigned to these projects. But, the industrial agricultural production of the 1970s and 80s came to an abrupt and devastating halt after the fall of Cuba’s main trading partner.

Everything fell apart. Tractors, trucks and other machinery without parts and fuel for operation and distribution of goods rusted in the fields, no more fertilizers and pesticides meant common crops no long grew or were harvested. Oxen were used as in centuries past and a dystopian period descended on the island.

Although Fernando did not go into detail, if you’ve not read about what Fidel Castro optimistically called “the Special Period in the time of peace,” I suggest you do so. Because the U.S. had no ostensible relationship with Cuba, the fact that the average Cuban lost 20% of their weight in a prolonged period of austerity, scarcity and fear – from which, questionably, it has never recovered – did not register in American media nor most of its allies.

To be Continued in Part II

How Real Was The Grief Over Fidel Castro’s Death?

December 12, 2016 3 Comments Cuba, Travel

On Nov. 30, five days into the declared nine days of mourning for the death of Fidel Castro, I arrived in Cuba – on my 9th trip in 4 years – with a group of American travelers. Like some of my Cuban friends, I conjectured (in a previous post) that Cubans would compensate for this time of imposed grieving by busting loose as soon as it ended.

Fidel Castro's death — No liquor sales, no music and no dancing for 9 days!

That proved to be not true, evidencing that there was and is, perhaps, more genuine sorrow and sense of loss than I – as an American with some understanding of the complexity and celebratory nature of Cubanos – could immediately grasp.

For many who stayed in Cuba after the revolution of 1959, it was with an investment of mind and heart in Fidel’s initial vision of equality, literacy and a world devoid of imperialism and exploitation. For more than 50 years they had a leader who inspired and sustained them with verbose and persistent rhetoric of a different world they were rightly struggling to create. For many, he instilled a sense of dignity previously unknown, and forever appreciated.

After decades of unwarranted idealism, broken promises, global isolation, oppression, severe austerity and relentless suffering, many citizens have had a difficult time facing the disappointment of a system that failed to deliver the dream for which they sacrificed so much. While millions left the country, those who remained seem to fall into two camps: those ever hopeful of an eventual redemption and those ever desperate for the opportunity to escape.

Fidel Castro books, Che Guevara — Ubiquitious images of and books by Fidel Castro (and the long-ago martyred Che Guevara) remain but markedly less than in years past.

The lack of personal freedoms and professional opportunities they’ve endured and the possibilities for change they’ve been denied are now acknowledged by a growing number, along with the desperate desire to believe there was – and still maybe could be – something worthwhile amid it all. And so, understandably, there is grief. Perhaps it is the mourning of the end of an era, a collective sadness for what might-have-been and regret that the dream to which they’ve clung never has and never can be realized.

But, we cannot talk of the show of solidarity of grief – as broadcast round the clock on Cuban TV – without acknowledging the fact that thousands of dissidents were rounded up and incarcerated as soon as Fidel died. As it has been under all of Cuba’s long history of dictatorships, there would be no other voices heard in Cuba but those in support of El Jefe.

To further understand their show of respect for Fidel – and incomprehensible disgust for Cubans-in-exile who celebrated his passing – we must take into account that Cubans in general are uncomfortable with the idea of death itself. They refuse to talk about their own or another’s inevitable demise, as if by denial they can keep death at bay.

They would not wish death on anyone – except maybe Hitler, they say – and certainly not the man whose image and words have accompanied their life and lent a sense of nobility and righteousness to the cause he purported. Many concede he may have become “misguided” in his alliance with the Soviet Union, his megalomania and selfishness, his dispersing of their resources to foreign wars and interests, but they do not see him as “an evil person.”

While all have relations of some sort abroad, and they themself may aspire to leave this land of scarcity where “nothing changes,” they still feel – as they’ve been told from earliest memory – that they are lucky and should feel proud to have free education, free health care, some form of housing, and no drugs or gun violence . . . in contrast to the nasty empire to the north and thanks to Fidel.

death of Fidel Castro, quiet in Havana — Unusual quiet blanketed the streets of Havana and all across Cuba during 5 says of mourning the death of Fidel Castro

But I must wonder, how different is this from the U.S., with its skewed history which ignores its own genocides, persecutions and corruptions; its corporate media that controls information, silences dissidents and promotes a divisive form of patriotism; its profit-driven privetization of health care, education and prisons; its enslavement of domestic and foreign work forces… all with the unspoken assumption that “might makes right” and the propaganda that it is “the greatest country on earth”?

Just as many Americans fail to question “the truth” served to them, so it has been for many of the 11 million Cubans who remain in their homeland. Humans like to believe they are right, and that those in positions of power will act in the best interest of their people, despite history’s evidence to the contrary.

Surprisingly to me and many residents, Cubans did not take to the streets to “let loose” or celebrate after the nine days of mourning had passed with the prohibition of music, dancing, public events and the sale of alcohol (although tourist hotels and resorts were permitted to serve alcohol lest they went too far in upsetting the cash-cow of visitor dollars, which benefit very few Cubans).

Fidel was renowned for his intolerance of any disagreement to the point of incarcerating and murdering anyone who dared question his authority. He demanded absolute loyalty, and even in death his functionaries assured he received it, one way or another.

What is “the truth” of how Cubans really feel about Fidel’s passing? Like every question posed in Cuba it can only be answered with, “es complicado.” Whether it is grief for the loss of a powerful leader or for the loss of the familiar – however miserable and worthy of complaint – a more somber sense seems to now prevail in Cuba. There is no going back and no knowing the way forward. “Viva Fidel”? Not anymore.

In the Wake of Fidel Castro

December 4, 2016 4 Comments Cuba, Travel

What is a trip to Havana without music, dancing and mojitos? My group of 11 U.S. travelers and I were about to find out. The Cuban government, which controls most aspects of everyone’s life, declared that there woulld be no music, no dancing, no alcohol and all public events would be cancelled for 9 days to honor the death of Fidel Castro.

While most Cubans must at least pretend they are sad – and all government workers were “suggested” thay attend a rally in Plaza de La Revolución and sign a recommitment to the communist party – many serepitiously admit they are greatly relieved and share with their countrymen-in-exile’s a desire to celebrate “the man who passed away.”

For many months I’d planned an extensive itinerary that would include music and dancing, drinking and partying Cuban-style. At the last minute, my coordinator on the ground, Ruby Aguilar, and I scrambled to rearrange our 8 days and offer different activities amid the somber atmosphere.

Surprisingly, there was little evidence of this mourning, besides the unusual quiet in the streets. Thinking we’d have no access to alcohol, some of bought bottles in our ship-though luggage. But tourist hotels like Ambos Mundos (of Hemingway fame), the Nacional Hotel and others were not about to miss out on additional revenue or bad vibes by denying tourists their mojitos, cerveza and wine. We’ve been drinking. Perhaps more than normal to compensate for this time of austerity and false mourning.

American cars in Cuba — some of my wonderful American ‘journeyers’ in a 1950’s classic American car, one of our taxis.

As of tomorrow, December 5th, 2016, many conjecture there will be a giant party to ‘let loose’ all this pent-up nergy. We shall see. But one thing we’ve already seen is a huge increase in the number of tourists. Airport lines for immigration and customes (Aduana) were absurd and the streets of Habana Vieja are more crowded than ever with foreign wanderers… us among them.

Stay tuned for more.

Cuban profiles

August 20, 2016 0 Comments Cuba, Travel

It’s the people, the encounters, the relationships, that make any travels special… or, for that matter, our lives, wherever we find ourselves. And this is especially true in Cuba. Here are a few special souls I’ve encountered.

Cuban mother and child — Kariber and Enzo, my comadre and godson, and among the best reasons I feel so connected to this complex, and often frustrating country.

Cuban father and daughter — Omar, my favorite Cuban Buddhist astrologer, and his new baby, at their apartment where I am welcome with tazitas de cafe, hugs and philosophical conversations about the nature of joy and suffering and the power of conscious awareness.

Cuban pianist — Pablo Marzol, classical pianist, masseuse and student of the Kabbala… his cell phone screen saver is the tree of life and we spoke at length about the sephira and the power of vibratory sounds.

Cuban woman and her cat. — Maria Julia was sitting in front of a crumbling mansion in Vedado with an exceptionally affectionate cat. The house, she told me, was once the German Embassy. After the revolution, a woman converted it to a guesthouse. It is due for renovation this winter. Maybe. Maria, 78, has been living there for 37 years, with 2 sisters, 5 grown kids, 8 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. The cat has become her special companion.

Scenes from Old Havana

August 15, 2016 4 Comments Cuba, Travel

Hotel Inglaterra, Habana Vieja — Rooftop view from Hotel Inglaterra, across from Parque Central in La Habana Vieja

Plaza Vieja, habana vieja — A glorious ruin of a building in Plaza Vieja, Habana Vieja, that’s been awaiting renovation for decades.

Havana apartments — Apartment building interior next door to the fabulous Hotal Santa Isabel, at the end of Calle Obispo in the most heavily-tourist end area of Old Havana… What most tourists don’t see.

Collapsing buildings in Havana — The Office of the City Historian of Havana says one building a day collapses in Havana…

Che Guevera — The ubiquitous image of Che.

Paladares in La Habana

August 13, 2016 6 Comments Cuba, Travel

A world-class paladar in Havana's Vedado neighborhood — A world-class paladar in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood

Since Cuban President Raul Castro permitted a number of categories for self-employment (Cuesta propistas) in 2011, some 500,000 people are estimated to now run their own businesses in Cuba. Most popular are taxis, paladares (restaurants) and casas particulates (like B&Bs), although bakeries, digital print shops, beauty salons and spas, etc. are sprouting in neighborhoods around the city, often based in a home or garage.

When it comes to the “new restauranteurs,” some places are more basic than imaginable – a single blender or juicer offering for a few pesos Cubanos whatever fruit juice is in season from a card table at the front door. In August, that’s mango and pineapple; it’s not yet orange season. Others are surprising and extravagant renovations of fabulous, previously crumbling, early-20th century mansions, with menus and service that would delight in any city in the world, and prices to match. Such is the case of Los Naranjos.

My dear Cuban 'hermanita' savoring her first daiquiri ever in celebration of her birthday at Los Naranjos. — My dear Cuban ‘hermanita’ savoring her first daiquiri ever in celebration of her birthday at Los Naranjos.

This large residence, two doors from the broad tree-lined avenue of Paseo, in then-wealthy and burgeoning El Vedado, was built in 1930 with marble columns and stairways, intricately-carved pilasters and plinths, exquisite floor tiles, crystal chandeliers, and the finest furniture of the period, all imported from Europe. The family stayed after the Revolution and, like those who chose to stay – either believing in the possibilities of the youthful idealists or a quick overthrown and reversal to previous times – were left with a house and it’s furnishings and no funds or materials by which to maintain it.

Forty-five years later, Alexis, one of the heirs, left his parents in the decrepit house as he went to Spain. Working in boutique hotel, he learned management and service and saved his money to return, with impeccable taste and standards, to revitalize the entire second floor, beyond its original glory, and open Restaurante Los Naranjos.

Modern and classic fuse in the dining rooms and patio, with white tablecloths and a broad menu of international cuisine, such as Caprice and Caesar salads, innovative soups, fish Termador, curried chicken, a full bar, and impeccable service by a bilingual staff. With a starter, main and a drink, figure $30 per person. With one of the chef’s specials, a bottle of wine and dessert, you may be set back $50 per person. The Thursday night I took my friend for a belated birthday dinner, there were about 20 other dinner, a live 4-piece band, a couple demonstrating “casino,” a Cuban dance form and then inviting guests to join them in an elementary dance class.

Los Naranjos paladar havana — Dance demonstration during dinner at Los Naranjos

I asked owner Alexis how the restaurant was doing. “Very well, but not as good as six months ago. We were number one on Trip Advisor, thanks to all the great reviews we’d received. Then we had a family of nine from Atlanta. Each posted a rave review the same day and TripAdvisor assumed we were manipulating the system, which we were not but there was no process for explaining. So they punished us by moving to the bottom of the list of Havana restaurants. We’ve been climbing up again ever since.” Resigned, he added, “It is what it is, and soon we’ll be back at the top.”

Despite what I consider absurd prices in this country, gauging tourists, if the other top-rated paladares are as good as Los Naranjos, Havana can reasonably claim “world-class” restaurants for the first time in almost 60 years.

Los Naranjos is located on 17th near Paseo, El Vedado.

Visiting Havana August 2016

August 11, 2016 6 Comments Cuba, Travel

Early morning sun across the Malecon to Vedado from Central Habana

Perhaps because it is August and the long days of oppressive tropical sun simulate a photographic effect of a landscape overexposed. In Havana where, on my past six visits in 3-1/2 years, stark contrasts have been obvious, now few contrasts seem evident. All is worse than before. Even the glorious colonial restorations of portions of Habana Vieja do not disguise the general state of disintegration of all the tens of thousands of other edifices, housing the nearly 3 million residents in generally horrific conditions of squalor. Even the office of the City Historian admits buildings in Havana are collapsing at the appalling rate of one a day. The main arteries are lined with people, arms outstretched, trying to hail a community taxi or guagua (bus) that might squeeze in one more person. A commute to and from work – always a challenge – can take even more hours than before. Shop and office times are abbreviated to save electricity, and perhaps, most telling of an energy crisis is that air conditioning at the arrivals terminal at José Martí International Airport has been turned off until further notice. Welcome to Cuba.

Every time I’ve arrived, the process has been different. The first time, a young Customs officer in mini skirt and fishnet stockings cornered my friend and me and wrote on her clipboard our repeated answers to why we were there, where we were staying and what we planned to do. The second time, arriving with a cultural visa as a guest of the Cuban Book Institute, I was detained for bringing 50 USB thumb drives, with data on self-publishing recorded on each to give to the publishers and editors who were officially invited to attend my workshops. But even the sanction of the Ministry of Culture could not save me from two hours of bureaucratic absurdity as five functionaries wrote and transcribed my story, counted and recounted the 45 Drives ( I was permitted 5) and confiscated them securely in a large canvas sack. The Book Institute’s attorneys eventually freed them but the inconvenience to all was extraordinary, and yet “Normal.”

Subsequent arrivals included long waits at immigration, being detained at “Aduana” (customs) for declaring $75 in gifts, which cost me $27 in taxes but, moreover, more than an hour trying to pay the fee. Word to the wise: DECLARE NOTHING! (Unless you’re bringing in a big screen TV or the like). This time, there was no wait at Immigration (albeit, I was in the front of the Interjet flight from Mexico City). I was not asked for proof of health insurance, as in previous arrivals. I was asked if I wanted my US passport stamped, whereas before it was routinely not done. Then, I put my carry-on bags through the screening process and went to wait for baggage to arrive at the carousel. There are free carts and soon my 3 suitcases were wheeled through the final checkpoint, I handed in my “nothing to declare” customs forms, the magic doors slid open and there I was, back in La Habana. Seamlessly, miraculously, and likely never to happen so smoothly again.

As I chose to substitute a new iPad for the heavy MacBook Pro I usually schlep on trips, I am unfamiliar with how to use it and therefore photos may be lacking in any reports over the next few weeks here, as I catch-as-catch-can a hour at one hotel or another to access internet. Please bear with me.

Every time I arrive, I ask the taxista who drives me from the airport to “my room” at the home of my adopted family in Vedado (which everyone agrees is the best neighborhood in which to live; especially those who live there), “What is changing in Havana?” Usually, the answer is, “Nothing changes here.” This time, the driver said, “We’re in a petroleum crisis.” I knew this from the many notices and online magazines I receive, but I was unprepared for how bad it is. As if to squash any hope offered by the ‘reapproachment’.

Americans are ridiculous when they say, “Go to Cuba now, before it changes!” They lack all understanding of the depth and complexity of the almost 60 years of failed communism. Every aspect of society here needs help — from infrastructure to economic systems to distribution to access to basic medicines to, most desired: internet access. How and where would you begin to build upon rubble, when there are are no materials and little expertise? It’s is a situation of increasing despair.

And while we’d expect some disparity between prices of goods and services from those paid by locals and tourists, the disparity here is multiples of difference, and the “worth” of anything is unknown. Do not romance this beautiful island full of genuine and gracious people, as life remains extraordinarily difficult for almost everyone here.

Meanwhile, I will continue to look for signs of hope but, as of this first week back among my beloveds, I am more discouraged than on past adventures.

Cuba Stole My Heart

May 13, 2016 6 Comments Cuba, Passion & Joy, Travel

This post is from the introduction to my book in progress, “Cuba Stole My Heart.”
Please consider joining me and a group of friends for the next
“Journey for the Creative Spirit!” to Havana
Nov. 30-Dec. 8, 2016.

School for the arts, Havana — Instituto Superior del Arte, Havana

Cuba embraced me and I returned with a kiss. It was spontaneous, unimagined, unbidden… at least on a conscious level. Since my first visit, March 2013, I became enraptured, entangled and connected. My best friends, valued acquaintances, two adopted families, and baby godson live there. But for a chance encounter, a moment in time/space that cracked open, I would not have been ushered into this astonishing and complex world which has become an integral part of my life.

Without Latin decent and having lived and traveled extensively in the English-speaking world, Cuba was never on my mind or in my heart, as it is for all exiles. So I am surprised and delighted to find myself so deeply intrigued and absorbed by this society ostensibly on the verge of change.

I suspect my personal connection lies in fascination with those who have stayed through all the challenges and deprivations of the revolution, committed to home-as-place and family, a sense of belonging I’d sought but had evaded me. And I relate to the perennial Cuban struggle for identity as a people, a community and society, as it too is part of my search.

This is the story of my Cuban experiences over 3 years and five visits totally 6 months. It is not a guidebook in any traditional sense, although I hope you gain insight and guidance to serve if you are planning a trip to Cuba, or simply enjoy a personal journey informed by this island nation, which even its own citizens rightly describe as “complicado.”