Week One: First Observations

There’s definitely a lot of history here. Many of the buildings are crumbling, but they are still very functional. The people are friendly, and I can ask for directions from any Cuban I see. Not many of them speak English, but even a bit of Spanish is enough to get around well enough here. The police have a large presence, and as a result there is effectively no serious crime in Havana.

Orientation had two phases. The first was in Boston. Luis taught us a ton about both Cuba and photography, and it was really exciting. Once we got here, there was another mini-orientation about Havana, which was very informative. A few things stuck out to me in particular. The first was my first day with the camera. I think that taking a snap shot of the world is a very powerful thing, and this was my first time taking a DSLR and actively seeking out opportunities to do just that, which I found very interesting. The second is the welcome we receieved when we arrived. All of the students sat down in the lobby and we were each given a Cubana Libre as our welcome to Cuba, which was really neat. The third thing that stuck out most is the Malecon, which is the ocean walkway a few blocks away from the hotel. I went out with the group and met so many friendly Cubans! It was a really amazing night.