 to another edition of Senior Connections, the show that is about the Senior Activity Center of Sheboygan. My name is Wendy Schmitz, I am the supervisor of the center, and today we're going to have a follow-up session on our last program, which was about our recent trips to Cuba. Today, my guests are Anne Grittinger and Maria Westra, Anne went on the September trip, and Maria came with me and my husband on the October trip. So Anne, could you introduce yourself a little bit please? Certainly. I'm Anne Grittinger, and I actually live outside of Usperg. It was our first experience going to Cuba, although we traveled other places and loved to travel now that we're retired. And you went with? I went with my husband and with 11 other people from, or 10 other people from the Sheboygan area. And Maria? I'm Maria Westra, and I always, I like to travel, and when the Cuba trip came up, it was like, what better place to go with a group of people? So I asked my friend, Anne, to go along, and didn't take her too much convincing. And Anne, what is it about Cuba? We asked Margaret this in our last show. What was it about that particular trip that intrigued you? Well, I thought it was interesting to find out more about the culture. I'm very interested in the arts. Do a lot of volunteering with the Art Center, and so the opportunity to see the art and the architecture, the music, were all very interesting to us. And your husband had a specific reason for wanting to go. Do you mind briefly touching on that? Well, he wanted to go. He wanted to see, he was hoping to see some of the more of the biology of the area. He wanted to see the crocodiles. He wanted to see some of those things. Unfortunately, they was pointed out that it's three miles down the road that way. But we didn't go that way, but there were still lots of things for him to see. And as a painter? And as a painter, yes, he's doing a whole series of lighthouses right now, so he was interested in taking pictures of lighthouses and some of the water scenes there. Very nice. In our last show, Rita was the interviewer, and she asked Margaret and I basically about our general impressions of Cuba. And of course, the reason we explained that the reason why we were able to go is because now the embargo has been lifted somewhat, and we're able to do a cultural exchange from America to meet the people of Cuba. So what I thought today would be fun would be to continue the conversation and talk about some of the people who we were able to meet. We started our trip in Havana, and I believe that our schedules were probably different, but Maria and I, our very first trip outside Havana was to the children's performance at the Art Center in Santa Clara, right, Maria? Well, it doesn't really matter what the timing was. How would you describe the experience of meeting the children, and what were they doing for us? Oh my gosh, they were just so exuberant, so exciting to see us when they greeted us and they handed us their flower, their national flower, which is the jasmine, I believe. And they were just really to go pick and to see them perform, there was a group of 60 children at this school, they were into the music, the dance, and the arts, I believe they're painting. Wow, they're just outstanding. They're just like little grown up people performing their national story through dance and music. And one of the things about the trip that I enjoyed was that we got to participate. It was a little bit like getting Lutherans to participate. I don't think that we're quite as exuberant as you described them to be. I know it took a little while for us to warm up in some cases, but we did get to dance with the children and it was hard to resist. And did you get that same opportunity? Yes, we did. The children came out to the audience. They took us by the hand and led us on. The production that we saw was Romeo and Juliet, Go to Cuba. Oh, really? And they said, it'll take too long if we translate along the way, but we think you'll get the idea and you can ask questions at the end. So it was interesting, they started out with a farmer and his dispute with a crow and the children just picked at that wonder flay and then they went on to do the little Romeo and Juliet story, which we all knew. And then they pulled us out and had us dance with them. Now I know that for some of the people on our trip it was the highlight of the trip, was that particular performance, some people said. What struck you the most about it, Anne? The children's enthusiasm about the arts and the dancing and their singing and their openness with strangers coming into their school. And I know you had mentioned when you came back that what struck you was how they managed to be very resourceful about their costumes. Do you remember about their shoes? Yes, in our, if we want to recital here in the States all the children would have either the black or the pink or their little white slippers and they had slipper socks and things like that and it didn't matter, it was the performance that was the important thing for them. Lovely, they reminded us a lot of our granddaughters and in the performance and the children and they were eager to talk to us and tell us, oh, this one's my brother and this one's my cousin and so it made it feel more like a family sort of gathering. Yeah, one of the highlights that I've talked about for me personally was when we went to the Literacy Museum, which was actually outside Havana. Maria, can you talk a little bit about what the Literacy Museum was all about and who we met there? The Literacy Museum was, well, when Fridao Castro came into power in 1960 he wanted the Cubans all to be literate, have the ability to read. So he did a campaign to recruit anyone who wanted to go out and teach the people how to read and this was to the remotest areas up in the mountains and some of these children that went out, they had to leave their homes for months at a time. They went up into the mountains to help the farmers learn to read but part of this involved the children or whoever went to help the farmers with their chores and then in the evening after all their work was done they would sit with lanterns and do all, teach them how to read and whatever had to be done. We didn't get to meet the people per se who were part of that campaign but there's a wonderful picture on the wall of an eight-year-old boy who left his family and went to live with a farming community and I think what struck me is he's exactly the same age as me and now he's a veterinarian and just the idea of letting an eight-year-old boy leave your home and go off and this must have sounded like some wild mission. Well it was interesting because they showed us the video that you probably also saw about the whole campaign and then at the end the lady who was at that museum and said and Freddie here who was our bus driver was one of the teachers. Oh really? Yes, so it was really sort of fun to talk to Freddie about his experiences being a teacher too. Yeah, one of the things that struck me was there was a lady on that video and she said that, she said it doesn't matter what I've done in the rest of my life. She said that one year gave my life purpose and I, as an ex-teacher at some point in my life I was so touched by that and I know that the teachers in our group were, it was, to me, my trip could have stopped right there. I felt like that was my reason for going to Cuba. So that was another place we went to and then Anne, I know that you told me about a time when you were particularly touched and that was when we went to see the choir. Could you tell us a little bit about the choir? Well we went to see a choir perform. It was a very, very hot day but it didn't matter. We learned by that time, have your fan. And this is a wonderful choir. They sing acapella. They had just returned from a tour of France where they'd sung all over the place. No pitch pipe, it was all acapella, no pitch pipe for tone. She had a tuning fork, which she would touch at the point that she needed to tap it and then touch her mandible so that you get the vibration and the tone in her head. She'd do a little humming to give everybody their parts, hum the little first part to get them into the right key and they'd start singing. And it was absolutely beautiful. They sang a rendition of Shenandoah and they came around and sort of surrounded us into the aisles and sang it. It brought tears to my eyes. It was so beautiful. It was so beautiful. It's interesting that you talk about how hot it was because Maria, do you remember just like everywhere else we went? We're listening to this incredible, internationally famous choir and of course we're drinking the mojito that you get when you go anywhere. Did you get me? Oh my gosh, yeah, we did. It seemed a little strange to be in this auditorium and we weren't able to take pictures there. Obviously that would have been distracting I think but we're able to hang on to our obligatory mojito which I got quite a taste for while I was there. This house was right after lunch so maybe they thought we had more hours. We went before lunch, didn't we? Yes, it was lovely. One of the questions that I had when we were watching the choir was how on earth can all these people have taken off work to come and do an hour long or whatever the performance was that we enjoyed but that was actually their job, wasn't it? That's their job. That's their job. And they travel around the world and doing that which reminds me we know that not only have travel restrictions eased for Americans to go to Cuba but they've also eased for some Cubans to travel and I think that was surprising for me and Maria do you remember when we went to Remedios and we went to a church that's being renovated and we met the town historian and we met the artist that is renovating the church and he had actually traveled quite extensively outside Cuba and has been invited to do residencies in other places. I can't remember his name unfortunately Do you remember the work that he did that gold altar screen, that whole wall that was covered? Was that, it was gold leaf, wasn't it? Yes, yes. And then they had restored some of the side pieces and they were still, it was still under construction but you could walk around and see the different things from the different periods of history in that church. And we also learned at the literacy museum that the system of reading that has been developed in Cuba is worldwide. In fact, the only place that it is not being taught is in America and that the experts who've developed the programs are well traveled people that they are used as resources all over the world. So I think that kind of blows a stereotype many people that we've talked to since coming back think that Cubans aren't allowed to travel and they are if they're sharing their expertise with other people. Who else did we meet? We met so many people and did so many things it's sometimes hard to remember what we did. And I know that you had a slightly different experience when we went to the Museum of Fine Art and that you made a very personal connection. Can you tell us about that? We didn't have that same opportunity to meet somebody. We met a very lively and wonderful guide that took us through the Museum proudly showing off modern history which isn't quite as, it went from a time farther back than just really contemporary but very happy to show us. And because we had had a Cuban artist at the John McCullough Arts Center a few years ago who had a big exhibition there. I asked him if he knew about this artist and perhaps I didn't pronounce his name in a Cuban accent but he wasn't quite sure what I was talking about. So I told him I'd send him the newsletter and the write up, the curatorial notes sent it to him along with who took it for me and he was excited about that. He's also his favorite singer was Dianne Warwick. So I sent him a CD of Dianne Warwick. That was a little tricky to find one of those around in the stores anymore. But sent it to him and he was thrilled and he did know about the artist. Then it came back and he had had an exhibit there also in 2009 and so we were chatting about that and so that was that personal connection where you could talk about artists that we both knew and the representational things, things that don't necessarily reflect real positively on a government where they're finding exception to the government and in his work this artist was showing some of the problems. His mother is still in Cuba. He's in Florida. They're talking on the phone and yes, it's raining here too because it's only 90 miles apart. So it was really interesting and hopefully with some of the easing of the restrictions and if there is enough money to do it, he'd like to come and visit the United States. Not to live here, but he would like to see some of our art museums also. Right and you are in contact with him. We're emailing. Now. Back and forth now. And Maria, you are in contact with our guide. Leanne, yes. And she was quite thrilled to hear from us that we're still all a buzz about Cuba and putting the word out there for other people to travel. And do you imagine that we will see her one day? I'm hoping so in one way or yes, I think so. We can see to that. And did you get the impression when we were there that her goal is to travel? I know she wants to go to Spain, which is where her family originated from and she wants to go to France. But did you get the impression that she wants to reside anywhere else other than Cuba? No, I don't. She is very Cuban at heart and I think she always will be. She wants to explore the world just like most of us too. But no, definitely not. I think Cuba is her home. And she also very much wanted to take advantage of the Cuban educational system. Oh, for sure, for sure. And because she knows so many languages, I think that's why I'm not sure she had gone to France to study or she had that availability. But I'm thinking she will go there to enhance her understanding. I think that's one of the wonderful things with the guides. They were very personable with us. They answered questions as honestly as they could and just made it very much known that they were very proud of their country and let us know what the history was and dealt with anything from economics, the money system, the ration system, all of those things that we had heard about. But to hear it from someone that's experiencing it, that's living it, our guide was the basically bit breadwinner for her family that consisted of her grandmother, her parents, herself, and her daughter. Although her grandmother and her parents are now pensioners, but that wouldn't be sufficient. But it was really nice to hear about their personal experience living in Cuba. Maria, you and I have talked a little bit about that. Maria and I don't have American passport, so in fact, we would be able to go to Cuba from either the countries where we have our passports from or through Canada or Mexico. But would you refer to what you and I have sometimes talked about, the fact that we were happy to be on this trip because of the fact that, like Anne said, we got the personal stories and we got the lessons, as it were, from our guide. Rather than going as an individual traveler. Oh, definitely. I think this was one of the better ways to go through Premier, through the Chamber of Exploration group, because there's just so much to see. And I don't know if it would be possible to get to see all these things, especially in a short period of time, because to interact with the people, to experience the different foods in the restaurants and just see all the UNESCO sites. And the fact that Havana is a heritage world site, that so many of the city squares or areas of importance have been restored, like the churches. And now there is storing along the melacon, one of the main highways that runs along the Caribbean. Those old colonial buildings are for 500 years old and they're restoring them to their splendor that they once were. And same with the palace. I just can't imagine. I can imagine finding my way around Havana and certainly reading it up ahead of time, knowing what to see. But it was such an intense experience Of course, for me, I would never have got up as early as we did. So I would have missed out half of the trip, probably. But I don't know about your guide, Anne, but one of the things we noticed is that Leanne was well known. She knew people wherever we went. And so we had these immediate connections with people. Let's talk about, I know it was one of your favorite places. It was certainly one of mine. And that was when we went to, is it Del Mar? Where the street ceramic art is? Did we go through Del Mar? Yes, during the marketplace. Is that what you said? No, Fuster. Fuster? Yeah. Ah, yes. Fuster is a Cuban artist who's an environmental artist. He's a ceramicist, a painter, and uses recycled as well as tiles that he fires there. Also paintings. He is well known. He has exhibited in the Twin Cities. He has paintings and ceramics on exhibit in New York City. We were invited to his home, his gallery, at Wander around the courts. And he hasn't limited his art to himself, which is a wonderful thing. It's like this small, narrow street, residential street, but all the neighbors have pitched in and they take all the tiles. And so all the, it's a ceramic tiled fence line almost with down the whole street, everybody's gates are all decorated. So it all matches and then you walk into this and it's just this whole environment filled with color and tile. And Maria, it's hard to describe what that neighborhood looked like other than the art. Some of our group would say it was poverty stricken. Some would say it was very simplistic and some would say that it was crumbling. But it's not what you expect when you first, it's just pure joy to see this art coming out of nowhere kind of thing. And I think whether you say poverty, it's what is your standard? Is it the US standard? It's like saying when we went, they showed us both the regular grocery store that you would use your Cuban pesos and your other grocery store that you would use your coupes in that was a bit bigger and fancier. It was air conditioned, but it was small. It was very small. It is nowhere near our big supermarkets, but that's normal for them. And so to criticize and say, this is just pop, it's what you're, what are you accepting? Are you content with this or do you have to have all these other things? And they're much more content with a whole lot less than we are here in the United States. I think Maria and I came back with the same impression. They're very resourceful. Yes. Now I know, I don't think your group got the opportunity to do this, but we were very fortunate. My husband would say it was the highlight of his trip. On the last evening that we were there, we got to go to the Buena Vista Social Club and we got to actually meet the elderly Cuban musicians. Maria, can you talk a little bit about what that was like? We kind of let loose that night. I was just, I don't know, I've never been to one of those before, so I'm not sure. What were you expecting? I think I was expecting a theater because we were going to see a music group and what did it look like? It was more like just a, I don't want to call it a bar, it's just a cafe, I guess they would call it there. I mean, my gosh, they're just, we were appropriately all tourist in there and everybody just, but who was that you say the singing was just, it was really phenomenal. They just went on and on and everybody, something belted and who is that one lady there, that big blonde lady? She reminded me of Cooch Cooch. And she was 85 years old. And she just went on. And I wish that I'd known a little bit more about the history of the musicians because people were standing up, having their photographs taken with them and they just wanted to touch them and we got to meet them and shake their hands and dance. And then again, at the end too, as you say, everybody has to get up and do the final dance, so to speak, you could go and use zigzag through around the tables and you just have a good time. They're just so musically inclined. They're just so exuberant. It just flows out of them versus we try to do those dances and it just doesn't come as easy. I'm not sure if it's an everyday occurrence, but every place that we went for lunch or for dinner, there were musicians. Of course, they all had their CDs to sell us, but it was wonderful just to experience the kind of music and I kept waiting for something that was gonna be a little bit more Cuban and every once in a while we'd hear it but they were playing for the audience or they played tunes that they thought Americans would like. And there's a huge African influence also. And I think that points to the fact that when we went to see the children, we were actually going to like a cultural center that children go to when they're not in regular school and that's one of the things we learned is that because of that culture and because of that political system, everybody has access to the arts. And I joke about the fact that I'm not a very musical person but that we came back and every morning when you get up in the morning, you're kind of singing and dancing, you weigh into the elevator because it becomes such a part of you, doesn't it? When you're there, the whole music thing. Well, again, time has gone extremely quickly and I thank you very much for coming on the trip and for being my guest today and we look forward to seeing the viewers next time. Thanks a lot.