March 30 Architecture, Walking Havana, Song and Dance

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Havana

Alongside the elevators in the Hotel Nacional we noted a mail chute, and in the lobby, it emptied into a beautiful mailbox.  Those of us of a certain age remember them—they were made by a company called Cutler which was in Rochester, NY!  It still exists here in Havana, and is still functional:

Our morning began with a wonderful lecture from a Cuban architect, Miguel Coyula, who knows our brother-in-law Lee Cott (who did work in Havana).  Coyula discussed the old colonial architecture and the rehabilitation efforts underway to maintain what was here.  He also talked about the conflict between developers who wish to raze decrepit buildings to put up housing and other modern buildings, and the preservationists who are afraid that if the character of old Havana is lost the attraction to tourists will diminish greatly.  The main plazas of Havana have been completely rehabilitated, and those efforts are moving to the streets which adjoin the Plazas.  All the increased income from tourism is being funneled into rehabilitation efforts but they have a long long way to go.

Following the lecture we were entertained by a children’s chorus who came, with many parents, to sing for us.  An aside here:  Our Cuban guide, responding to a question about racism, had made it clear to us that although officially and in practice, Cuba is a color-blind society, vestiges of racism exist.  The most prevalent example of this is a kind of classism based on skin color, with the fairest color being the most desirable.  We couldn’t help but notice that as the children lined up to sing, the arrangement was not by height.  Rather, all the light-colored faces were in the front row and the dark-colored ones were in the back:

We then went for a long walk through Old Havana, which was lovely:

Here’s the Plaza de la Cathedral (1729):

The Plaza de Armas is beautiful, and all four sides are covered with vendors and mostly with booksellers:

We have a phrase we use when something is really strange, “As queer as a 3-dollar bill”.  Well, the Cubans have a 3-peso note with Che on it.  Pristine copies are for sale:

 The Hotel Raquel is in the old Jewish section:

 The building is quite beautiful, and it has been rehabilitated somewhat oddly with modern art with Jewish themes:

Lots more at: http://www.hotelraquel.com/

Public art is everywhere, some of it a bit hard to fathom.  Here’s a very large sculpture of a nude riding a rooster while she holds a giant fork:

 We finished the day with a late afternoon performance by a dance group called Mal Paso (misstep).  They were spectacular!  They are coming to the USA later this spring with performances up and down the east coast, including at the Joyce in New York.  Highly recommended! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38fcrekWWs0

Victor