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To: Tom Miller <tlmolinero@msn.com>
Subject: Literary Havana
January 6 - 13 2013
Date: Jun 6, 2012 8:52 PM
Interested in a literary trip to Cuba? This is entirely legal. It's the third year we've done it, and the response has been gratifying and the knowledge rewarding.
Please read the attached, and get in touch with any questions, ok?
Thanks,
Tom Miller
(author, Trading With the Enemy: A Yankee Travels through Castro's Cuba)
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LITERARY HAVANA – JANUARY 6-13, 2013
Join us on this professional
research trip to Cuba and be exposed to its literary qualities as they
have developed from pre-independence to the life of writers today. Meet
the people of Cuba and enjoy the music and culture of the island. This
trip is open to all professional researchers with documented experience
in the literary world. It is also open to others with a genuine interest
in the literary arts who could benefit by exposure to their practice in
Cuba.
José Martí
Dates, Activities, and Details for Seven Days and Nights in Havana
Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013
* Departure from Miami International Airport
* Arrival in Havana/transfer to Hotel Florida.
Light lunch.
* Visit to Callejón de Hamel.
* Welcome dinner in
Habana Vieja at Santo Angel.
The fine print: You will be sent detailed departure information
well in advance of our trip.
Callejón de Hamel is an alleyway in Centro Habana that, over the years,
has been converted into an elaborate art and dance center focusing on
Santería and other syncretic Afro-Cuban religions. On Sundays Callejón
de Hamel is a crowded and lively affair where visitors watch and take
part with neighborhood participants in the dancing and drumming. The
Callejón with its extensive art space is open to the public daily.
Transportation provided.
Santo Angel, located in an old colonial home at Plaza Vieja, is a
comfortable walk from our hotel.
* * *
Monday Jan. 7, 2013.
* Hotel Florida breakfast
* Study Cuban literary
practices related to Havana’s unique architectural environment by
visiting the four plazas of Old Havana and their neighborhoods with
Isabel Rigol. Included is a visit to the maqueta of Habana Vieja and a
further discussion about how literature, writing, and journalism
flourished in pre revolution Cuba.
* Lunch at a paladar, Doña
Eutimia, located on an alleyway just off the Plaza de la Catedral next
door to the Graphics Workshop (itself worth a visit).
* Afternoon – Further study of literary practices in Cuba and its
relationship to religious freedoms by visiting Havana’s main Cathedral
and the Jewish Community Center. This will be followed by a meeting with
a representative from Cuba’s theater world.
* Dinner on your own at a paladar. For our first weekday dinner, we
recommend the restaurant NAO.
The fine print: Your package cost includes the hotel’s daily breakfast
buffet.
More fine print: The maqueta – a scale model of Havana’s Old City –
gives a great look at how the original Havana grew. Isabel Rigol, an
architectural historian, gives a lively account of the city’s expansion.
Paladars are private licensed restaurants in family homes. At least they
used to be. They’ve since evolved into private restaurants competing
with state-run dining locales. You will be provided with a list of
recommended paladars. One of the attractions of Doña Eutimia is that
it’s next door to the Graphics Workshop, a worthwhile visit in its own
right. NAO ia a highly praised paladar next to the Plaza de Armas.
* * *
Tuesday, Jan. 8
* Hotel Florida buffet breakfast
* Take a launch across Havana
Bay to the village of Regla.
* Explore the town of Regla,
the epicenter of Cuba’s Afro Cuban religion. Be exposed to the role of
this religion in the literary life of this island nation. Travel by van
to Guanabacoa.
* Visit the Guanabacoa Museum to learn about literary activities in Cuba
by the Afro Cuban Community.
* Lunch at Doña Carmela. (voucher; your meal is covered)
* Visit to the estate of Ernest Hemingway, Finca Vigía, in the Havana
suburb of San Francisco de Paula.
* Dinner at the paladar of your choice; we recommend Café Laurent.
Finca Vigía
The fine print: The cross-Bay launch to Regla is one of the few
opportunities to use Cuban pesos. Otherwise, just about everything is
done with convertible pesos, worth approx. $1.20 each, known by their
official initials, CUC (kook).
The small, human-sized church at Regla has the famous black Madonna.
The Guanabacoa Museum is a terrific place to learn the history of
Afro-Cuban spirituality and beliefs, and how they developed
clandestinely from slavery to today.
Lunch takes place on a private outdoor backyard patio in a small housing
complex on the east side of the Bay. (Included in package.)
The Hemingway estate includes a building that houses many of the
author’s archives. In a rare bilateral accord, researchers from Harvard
University’s JFK Library have been allowed to study and photocopy his
papers here. It’s where Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote for most of the
last two decades of his life.
Café Laurent, a paladar option in a penthouse, is walking distance from
the Hotel Nacional in the Vedado section of town.
* * *
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
* Breakfast at the Florida.
* Visit the Museum devoted to author and poet José Lezama Lima.
José Lezama Lima
* Transportation to the city of Matanzas.
* Lunch at the Hotel Velasco in Matanzas. (covered by voucher)
* Afternoon visit and reception with the staff of Ediciones Vigía, an
independent publishing house.
* Return to Havana.
* Paladar dinner back in
Havana. Two recommendations for your meal:
Le Chansonnier and
La Moneda.
* Salsa lessons (optional) with a member of Cuba’s Ballet Folklorico
(first of two nights).
Yet more fine print. Lezama Lima (1910 – 1976) was a poet
and author, whose internationally acclaimed controversial novel
Paradiso (available in English) forced writer non grata status on
the author. Lezama was considered a major writer of his generation, and
is now well praised for the breadth of his output.
The drive to Matanzas will give us a chance to see Cuba outside Havana.
Ediciones Vigía produces lovely limited-run hand-made books.
The salsa lessons will take place in the living room of a Centro Habana
residence not far from Barrio Chino.
Paladars:
le Chansonnier,
in Vedado, is French-oriented (menu, wine, etc.) and is located near the
Bertolt Brecht Theater. La Moneda, likewise highly regarded, can be
found near the Plaza de la Catedral.
* * *
Thursday, January 10, 2013
* Breakfast at the Hotel Florida
* Meet with a playwright and director from Havana’s theater world. See
rehearsal for a play.
* Visit the José Martí Casa Natal.
* A walk through the narrow streets of Barrio Chino, with running
commentary by a life-long resident.
* Lunch at Tien Tan, on the pedestrian walkway in Barrio Chino (or
restaurant of your choice).
* Afternoon: visit to a rooftop mixer with Cuban writers, poets, and
others.
* Back to the hotel before dinner at La Barranca on the north patio at
the Hotel Nacional
* Option: After nine pm, live jazz at the Rincón del Jazz at La Zorra y
El Cuervo.
* Salsa dance lessons, night number two. (Optional)
Teatro Bertolt Brecht
Finer print: The morning theater visit will take place at the Teatro
Bertolt Brecht in the Vedado Neighborhood.
The birthplace of José Martí (b. 1853 d. 1895, architect of Cuban
independence and a writer of international stature) is located in Habana
Vieja. The Casa Natal gives a good overview of his life and importance.
Martí spent most of the last fifteen years of his life living and
working in New York.
The fifth-floor walk-up rooftop mixer takes place at the home of
internationally published poet Reina María Rodríguez who occasionally
has colleagues over for drinks and invigorating chit-chat about
literature and publishing. Spanish, while obviously advantageous, is not
required for this or any of the week’s activities. Other passengers, our
tour leader, and our guide will help out when needed, and of course many
Cubans speak English.
The Hotel Nacional patio has the best view of the Malecón seaside
drive and the Caribbean Sea beyond.
* * *
Friday, January 11, 2013
* Hotel Florida breakfast.
* Museo de Bellas Artes.
* Lunch at El Templete.
* Afternoon option: Baseball game at the Estadio Latinoamericano.
* Dinner at a paladar – La
Guarida is our nomination for this evening’s dinner.
* Theater evening – either a major production and a historic venue or an
avant garde/small theater company at a neighborhood venue.
The Fine Arts Museum
Finest print. The Museo de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Museum)
exhibits an extraordinary collection of Cuban art from early colonial
times to early this week. (Another museum houses international art.)
El Templete sits along the Malecón facing the Bay.
Baseball option: Four of Cuba’s seventeen teams are based in the
Havana area, and there is almost always a game at the Estadio
Latinoamericano. We hope to be
joined by an expert on Cuban baseball to explain the qualities of the
game here. The baseball schedule is not released until late fall, at
which time we’ll know which teams will play this particular day.
Transportation provided.
Theater evening. Our man in Havana is keeping his eyes out for
announcements of productions in January. Once we have a choice we’ll let
you know.
* * *
Saturday, January 12, 2013
* Hotel breakfast.
* Morning: Riverside Santería ceremony.
* Lunch at El Aljibe
* Final afternoon – Used and rare book dealers at the Plaza de Armas or
on your own to visit corners of Havana thus far unexplored (or to
revisit places of particular appeal).
* Farewell dinner at Kadir Lopez Home Studio with guests of our choice.
(Cost covered.)
Fine print: The riverside ceremony at the Bosque de La Habana
involves authentic Yoruba chanting and drumming with genuine equipment
and local Santeros. Regla Albarrán Miller will be present to explain.
The venerable El Aljibe serves comida criolla – that is, very Cuban
food. (And very good.)
Visitors gain a great deal of insight from browsing the second-hand and
rare book stands at the Plaza de Armas and chatting up the booksellers
for not only their knowledge of contemporary and bygone books and
authors, but also the current literary scene.
Our farewell dinner takes place in the backyard of the Kadir López Home
Studio, a casual affair.
* * *
Sunday, January 13, 2013
* Breakfast, then check out of hotel.
* Transfer to airport.
* Go through ticketing process that includes $25 CUC airport exit fee.
* Arrive Miami International Airport, clear immigration and customs,
connect to your destination.
*
* * * *
The Literary Havana package includes:
* Roundtrip, Miami↔Havana
* Cuban visa
* Accommodations, seven nights, Hotel Florida
* Daily breakfast
* five lunches
* three dinners (15 meals in all)
* admission to five museums
* “luxury motor coach” transportation to all destinations including
Matanzas
* Professional fully bilingual guide from Havanatur
* Medical insurance (obligatory)
The package does not include:
* Gratuities (guide, driver, restaurant servers)
* $25 CUC airport departure tax
Package price: $3118. (Single room, +$400)
* Best bet: an early morning or evening stroll along the Malecón.*
Unknowns can pop up. For example, during a similar trip our guide
learned of a performance by the Cuban National Ballet and arranged for
terrific last-minute seats at the García Lorca Theater, a wonderfully
restored art deco venue. There should be no shortage of places and
people to visit and interview to fulfill your literary research.
Cuban National Ballet
Recommended reading and links:
Harper’s Magazine October 2010: “Thirty Days as a Cuban”
http://www.penultimosdias.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Harper-Havana-Oct2010.pdf
The Economist Special Report on Cuba – March 24, 2012:
http://www.economist.com/node/21550418
“Nuestra América” by
José Martí
http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/marti/America.htm
History and information: Cuba:
A Global Studies Handbook, by Ted Henken, or Cuba: What Everyone
Needs to Know, by Julia Sweig
Fiction: Paradiso, by José Lezama Lima
Dirty Havana Trilogy by Pedro Juan Gutiérrez
Poetry: The Whole Island – Six Decades of Cuban Poetry (A Bilingual
Anthology), ed.: Mark Weiss
Photography: Violet Isle, by Alex Webb & Rebecca
Norris Webb
CD bonus track: Traveler’s Tales – Cuba
…and Tom Miller’s Trading With the Enemy: A Yankee Travels
through Castro’s Cuba, which, if you don’t own, we’ll supply you
with a copy.
Trip leader: Tom Miller has been a regular visitor to Cuba since 1987.
He is the author of Trading With the Enemy, editor of
Traveler’s Tales Cuba, co-founder of the (since suspended) U.S.-Cuba
Writers Conference, and has served as tour leader for educational Cuba
trips by the National Geographic Society and other organizations. He has
written frequently about Cuba’s history and its social and cultural life
for a wide range of publications, including Smithsonian, LIFE, the
Washington Post, and Natural History. He lives in Arizona. Co-leader
Regla Albarrán Miller lived the first forty years of her life in Havana,
and visits the island annually. She is currently in the graduate program
in Spanish Literature at the University of Arizona.
If you are a full time professional whose travel to Cuba is directly
related to non-commercial research in your full time professional area
and your trip will comprise a full work schedule in Cuba and has a
substantial likelihood of public dissemination then this trip is for
you.
* for questions about trip activities contact Tom Miller via e-mail:
tlmolinero@msn.com or at (520) 325-3344 daily after 11 a.m. East
coast time.
* to join the group, to inquire about qualifications, and to make
payment arrangements, contact Yaíma and Peter Sanchez at Cuba Tours and
Travel: 1 (888) 225-6439 or write to
tours@cubatoursandtravel.com
The absolute deadline for this
Professional Researcher trip -- sign-up and $500 deposit -- is Monday,
November 12.
* Sign up at
http://tourinfosys.com/signup/tom_miller_lit_hav_2013
* Please note that this trip is designed for Professional Research under
the guidelines of the U.S. Treasury Department. For more information on
Cuba travel restrictions please visit
http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Pages/cuba.aspx
* One final note: we welcome Cuban-born participants. They must jump
through additional hoops, so native Cubans should sign up early.
This invitation is for professionals in the field who qualify for full
time professional research in the fields of literature, journalism,
translation, and writing. This invitation is intended for you and a
small group of other professionals, and therefore is limited in size.
Thank you for understanding.
A July 17, 2012 write-up of
the Jan. 2011 “Literary Havana” trip appeared in the Arizona Republic:
http://www.azcentral.com/travel/articles/2011/07/13/20110713cuba-havana-history-beauty.html
We have many references from similar previous trips if you are
interested in chatting with someone who went. And of course, you can
call Tom Miller (520-325-3344) with questions.
This trip is being offered by Cuba Tours and Travel LLC.
320 Pine Avenue
Suite 503
Long Beach, CA. 90802
1 888 225-6439
Treasury Department License # CU-077926
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