Free Press travel writer Ellen Creager is with the first American tourists on a new “people-to-people” cultural tour that started Thursday. Except for a brief window 2000-2003, it is the first time in 50 years the average American can travel to Cuba. Previous Dispatches: Americans get rare glimpse of island nation. HAVANA -- No lollygagging or beach bathing allowed. I haven’t even used the hotel pool.Under the conditions of the U.S. government’s loosening travel restrictions to allow people-to-people trips here, cultural interaction with Cubans is mandatory for American travelers.">Free Press travel writer Ellen Creager is with the first American tourists on a new “people-to-people” cultural tour that started Thursday. Except for a brief window 2000-2003, it is the first time in 50 years the average American can travel to Cuba. Previous Dispatches: Americans get rare glimpse of island nation. HAVANA -- No lollygagging or beach bathing allowed. I haven’t even used the hotel pool.Under the conditions of the U.S. government’s loosening travel restrictions to allow people-to-people trips here, cultural interaction with Cubans is mandatory for American travelers.">

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Dispatches from Cuba: Cuban culture, politics on the schedule for this tour

Free Press travel writer Ellen Creager is with the first American tourists on a new “people-to-people” cultural tour that started Thursday. Except for a brief window 2000-2003, it is the first time in 50 years the average American can travel to Cuba.

Previous Dispatches: Americans get rare glimpse of island nation. HAVANA -- No lollygagging or beach bathing allowed. I haven’t even used the hotel pool.

Under the conditions of the U.S. government’s loosening travel restrictions to allow people-to-people trips here, cultural interaction with Cubans is mandatory for American travelers. In practical terms, that means this group of about 25 Americans, the first to visit under this program, are keeping a tight schedule.

The first full morning of the week-long trip, our group is up early to visit Friendship House – the Cuban Institute of Friendship to the People – to get about three hours of grounding in Cuban politics, history and to discuss relations between Cuba and the United States.

After lunch, we walk through Old Havana – a splendid mixture of faded colonial glory and interesting architecture – sort of like a combination of Old San Juan, Mexico City and New Orleans – to the Leonor Perez Maternity Home.

On how many trips do you learn about the care of a nation’s pregnant women? The men in the group look a little glazed-eyed, but the American women ask a million questions of the high-risk women who stay at the maternity home during their pregnancies.

The rest of the afternoon is a blur of more museums, mojitos and walking – a challenge, because it’s August in Cuba, which kind of like August in Miami except more humid.

Finally, the sweaty, bedraggled, yet exhilarated group returns to hotel. We get two hours to rest up until their evening event – a visit to the Karl Marx Theater to see a concert marking Fidel Castro’s 85th birthday, which is Saturday. The concert is to last until after midnight.

Can I keep up this pace? We’ll see. I don’t want to miss anything.


Source. http://www.freep.com/article/20110812/FEATURES07/110812058/1032/features/

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