Christmas in Caibarien and Remedios, Cuba (2003 Archives)

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In Caibarien, our room at Señora Virginia’s casa is occupied. She arranged for us to stay at her friend Señor Eladio’s house until the lone Italian tenant leaves Christmas day. Señora Virginia’s husband, Señor Osmany, reminded us that we should consider eating inside the casas for the rest of our stay in Caibarien because the holidays are the only time the town is mobbed by tourists.

Eating home-cooked meals in Caibarien was an easy request for us to fulfill: the town doesn’t have much to show for except for horse carriages. We asked Señor Eladio for chicken for dinner because it was the simplest meal to prepare. But when it was time to eat, we were also served pork and shrimps. He told us that it is tradition to eat a feast on Christmas Eve. We are grateful each time we are shown hospitality and abundance at meal times.

Remedios, the next town over, is famous for its parrandas, festivals that go all night and into the dawn. We arranged for a cab to drive us there to witness the two sections of the town “compete” for the honor of having the best light show. The two districts, Carmen and San Salvador, prepare long in advance, and in secret, build tall towers of lights and fireworks with a different theme each year. Tonight we saw Indonesian gods and Egyptian-style temples erected on giant static floats situated in each corner of the town plaza. We bought a couple of beers inside the El Louvre bar and people watch in the main square. We even bought a “champagne” bottle for US$2.40 to celebrate!

We read that the event originated when a local priest told the children to wake the residents up for midnight mass by making noise. It soon became a tradition. We sat in on the mass, which continued even though the noise from the festivities outside and of people milling about inside made it impossible to hear any part of the service. Imagine trying to listen to the priest while the person next to you has his video camera on recording every detail of the light show outside. Imagine trying to hear the prayers while vendors continued to walk around selling souvenirs. We decided to leave in the middle of the sermon as soon as churchgoers started running out to witness the fireworks show, all while the priest was delivering his homily. We stepped out to find several men relieving themselves on the church walls from all the beer they have been drinking since the afternoon.

Our driver was waiting for us. He drove us home while he listened to us, amused as we describe the whole party as loco, crazy. It’s officially December 25th and I’m a year older, but it’s also time to sleep so that we can wake up in a couple of hours and celebrate Christmas on the beach.

We awake to the jingle that I will most often repeat and use to annoy the boy throughout the rest of the trip: Calieeente! El paaan! The bread man was doing his early rounds and he was loudly selling his hot bread just like the balut men of the Philippines. I drink my coffee on the balcony and watch the cookie man pass by with his Styrofoam box full of freshly-baked cookies (Koooki! Koooki! Koooki!). The ice man unloaded his melting goods from his horse carriage (Hielo! Hielo! Hielo!).

We say good-bye to Señor Eladio and move back to Señora Virginia’s a few blocks away. We settle in and unpack our belongings. For the first time since our Belize trip a few months ago, I pack a day bag containing our bathing suits, beach blankets and towels. I prepare our reading books and my compact Scrabble, ready to spend six hours on the beach.

Related post/s:
Remedios and Caibarien, Cuba photos on Flickr
Visiting Che’s monument in Santa Clara, Cuba

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Che’s Monument in Santa Clara, Cuba (2003 Archives)

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It’s only our third day in Cuba and we’ve already made plans to get out of Havana. We visited the primary school across from Aleida’s house to give the principal a few boxes of pencils, Crayons and coloring pens for the children. They were thankful, uttering Qué bueno as we told them about our impressions of the county.

Vicente drove us to the Viazul bus station where we had reservations to Santa Clara in the province of Villa Clara, the home of Che’s monument. We pulled into the Santa Clara bus station before 8pm where an older gentleman from our casa particular greeted us. A cab ride later, his family, Señora Consuelo and their daughter welcomed us into their home with a couple cold beers. Their place is booked but they’ve already talked to another Señora about us staying for the night. This is the case with most of our casas in Cuba–reservations would be given up if other guests arrived first. But our hosts would also go out of their way to make sure that a Plan B was available. We walked to Señora Berta’s house and unpacked for the night. We did however eat dinner back at Señora Consuelo’s house because they had lobsters. As dinner was being prepared we talked to a French couple and drank our Cuba libres, rum and cola. Our lobster and chicken dinner was excellent, an unexpected feast.

The next morning, the town center was buzzing with Cubans going about their own business. We decided to walk to the Plaza de la Revolución Ernesto Guevara where a huge bronze statue of Che stands next to an inscription of a letter he wrote to Fidel Castro when he left Cuba. The plaza has enough spotlights to light a stadium and commemorative events still take place here on a regular basis. The plaza is immaculately manicured with a group of men gardening the lawns and more than five guarding the monument and Che’s mausoleum below where
Che is interred together with thirty-eight of his comrades. The memorial is very tranquil and is indeed a room for contemplation and silence; no cameras are allowed inside.

Santa Clara is also the site of the last battle of the Cuban revolution before Castro entered Havana. Batista sent a train full of military weapons to the other side of the country but on the way to Santa Clara, Che and his troops ambushed the train. It is said that this is the beginning of the triumph of the Revolution. The Monumento a la Toma del Tren Blindado is now also a tourist attraction where four of the train cars and a bulldozer that was used to derail the train are preserved.

Our stay in Santa Clara was brief because it’s Christmas Eve and we have to go to the next town to celebrate. Señora Consuelo arranged for a cab to take us to the next town over, in Caibarien, where we will stay for the next three days. Our driver is keen on pointing out sugar cane factories, universities and tobacco fields as we drive past. Our cab was built in 1957, of French make. Even in its worn condition, we arrived in Caibarien an hour later.

Related post/s:
Santa Clara, Cuba photos on Flickr
Mogotes in Pinar del Rio, Cuba

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