Cuba - 11 December 2011

We are supposed to start at 10:00 am to visit individual recipients of assistance. We left on time although some of the people elected not to come. I was concerned that seeing a girl (aged 22) in a completely vegetative state would get to me, but I was able to handle it. I elected not to take any pictures. The family lives in a fairly nice house in what we would call a suburban area. Our next stop was in the home of a boy/man who is autistic, but is a marvelous painter. There were several paintings on the wall for sale. The style of painting is not what I would want to live with, but I was sufficiently impressed with two pictures that I took pictures of them. After we left there, I headed back to the hotel to rest for a while, check e-mail and then go for a walk. We are going to a baseball game at about 1:30.

Work of autistic artist

Work of autistic artist assisted by B'nai B'rith

We arrived at the baseball stadium which would be the size of a minor league stadium in the US. The tickets cost 3 Convertible Pesos (about $3.45). I found the fans more interesting than the game, primarily because I am just not interested in baseball. The stadium was about ¾ to 7/8 full and everyone was very enthusiastic. We didn’t stay for the whole game. The seats were hard and no one had come up with the idea of renting pads. In addition, some of the men were tall and they needed more leg room.

Baseball Park

Stop at the Square of the Revolution - Statue of Jose Marti

central figure in Square of the revolution - From above it is a 5 pointed star

Taxis at Square of the Revolution

Dinner tonight is supposed to be at the best restaurant in Havana. Time will tell and while it was not great, it wasn’t bad. I had fish again. In general, we have a choice between fish and chicken. I understand that here fish is expensive.

Restaurant for dinner

Table at dinner

Door leading into El Templito

After we returned to the hotel, a group walked over to take a look at the Rivieria, which was originally built by Mayer Lanski. The place was virtually deserted and had a bad smell. Steve, our B’nai B’rith guide, explained that every time there is a serious storm, the hotel floods. Since they probably don’t clean it properly afterwards, mold builds up, which causes that odor. From there, we went to the 20^th floor of this hotel (Melia Cohiba) for a drink. I had a daiquiri and I’m slightly tipsy. I have to get to sleep soon as we will be leaving early for Santa Clara.