<< Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 Next >>
6 January 2003: Sancti Spiritus to Sancti Spiritus.
Today we will sightsee in Sancti Spiritus. First we went tothe Biblioteca ( Library). It is the most beautiful building I
have seen yet in Cuba. It is two stories high with grand
columns like a Roman Temple in front with a huge balcony
above, where Castro spoke shortly after the revolution,
overlooking the town square. You could look out the
window on the second floor and see a beautiful old
Presbyterian Church in one direction and the Escambray
Mountains in the other direction. We then passed by a
tobacco cigar factory whre they made cigars just for
Cubans not for export. Tourists are not normally allowed in
here, but they gave us a special tour. I discovered this place
when one of the female workers hissed at me as I walked
by. They also had a place to park bicycles at the factory so
we left our bikes there for 3 hours. We crossed a very old
original cobblestone street with beautiful wrought iron
houses painted in different pastel shades. We then went
over the bridge on the river Yayabo and ate heavenly at the
Palodar Sotano. Turkey and fried pork, papas fritas, and
ensalada mixta. We then walked back into the main part of
the town to buy some water. In the dollar Tienda (store) , I
saw a lady wearing a shirt with the 5 Cuban Political
Prisoners pictures imprisoned by the U.S. . I asked her
where I could buy the shirt. She gave me her address in El
Campo (the country, actually only 10 minutes from the
Palodar by bike if you know where you are going). The
community is called Colon and is a small agricultural
community just on the other side of the bridge we went
over earlier. We knew the address, but the street have no
signs ! So an hour later Ray and I after asking 10 people found the same lady at her house. She was surprised we got
there so quick. The lady immediately changed and gave me
the shirt off her back. She had a simple 3 room cinder block
farm house, but neat and clean. Her husband and son were
also there. I wanted to give her money but she said no. Este
es un Regalo. (This is a gift in solidarity). I then said
momemtito, and asked Ray if he had a first aid kit. Ray said
yes. I then gave the lady my first aid kit. She was very
happy and touched and so was I. We both gave each other
a hug and cried. We then pedaled 6 km back uphill through
the countryside to our hotel. The road was not on any map
but absolutely incredibly beautiful with wonderful views of
the Escambray mountains and cows grazing. Only bikes,
walkers, and horse carts were on this road. It was quite
rough for cars to go on it, so we saw no cars. If I could I
would have traveled all across Cuba on dirt roads like this.
We returned to the hotel and a bunch of Germans unloaded
from a tour bus. They were quite nice though. They
assumed I was German and I of course responded back in
German, as I studied for 2 years at the University of Koeln
in Cologne (1979 to 1981). I then went swimming at the
pool again and had a nice dinner. Bruce and Margaret
attempted to find a lake near town. They got sidetracked
and ran into a school for deaf children. They gave the
students pencils and gum. They were as touched by their
experience as I was by mine with the lady. God is watching
us here in Cuba. One last note for today is a lesson in male
bathroom etiquette, in the form of a poem on the wall
nicely framed with a picture of an arc and a circle, and the
arc missing the circle. Poetia en el Bano:
Urina contento,
Urina feliz,
Como un cono,
Siempre adentro!
