Day Four: Wednesday, February 18

Fragua Martí- I had wondered what "fragua" meant and this morning we walked down 25th Street to find out. José Martí is everywhere on this island, and this corner is The Forge of Martí, where he was formed in his commitment to freedom for Cuba. And he was forged here as Prisoner 113, sentenced at age 16 and serving 5 months of hard labor cutting stone in this quarry. As our eloquent guide phrased it, “these rocks are witnesses of the crimes and of the suffering that Cuba faced to achieve freedom.”


This corner played its part in history again on January 28, 1953, when university students marched down the steps and to this corner to bury the constitution. Raúl Castro is carrying the flag in this photo of the demonstration.


Down the street and over a block is the Callejon de Hamel, a glorious work of street art created by Salvador Gonzalez, and here we heard about Santería, oreishas- the gods who live in your head, homeopathy and the oral traditions of Santería, Palo Monte and the many other religions that were kept alive behind a Catholic saintly overlay.


Later we went to the Parque John Lennon in Vedado and the guide who takes care of the eyeglasses let us take our many photographs of each other! We also visited the art studio of two sisters, Jaqueline and Yamilys Brito Jorge.


And then, Suzanne and I spent the rest of the afternoon at the 18th International Book Fair in Havana! Held in the same fortress as the Cañonazo, San Carlos de la Cabaña, the book fair invites many book publishers to exhibit, but I was more interested in seeing what people were reading. I asked people if I could take their picture with their books and always received a positive response. I’m planning to do a READ poster campaign with these photos! Here are a few:



In one of the exhibits, the author César García del Pino was autographing his book La Habana bajo el reinado de los Austria. He autographed a copy for me, while the very kind Sr. Echevarria of the Castilla de la Real Fuerza took our photo! He explained the historian’s role in the city, while the tv camera crew moved in to interview Sr. de la Pino.


Another wonderful chance meeting was when I asked a man if I could photograph him and his books and he brought in another man, who was the author of one! That author was Ciro Bianchi Ross, the author of Yo tengo la historia. But the other gentleman was also an author! He was Manuel García Verdecia, a poet, translator and teacher of Southern US writing! He had interpreted for Alice Walker during her visit and translated her Meridian and other American works, such as Leaves of Grass. Thanks to his excellent English, we had a wonderful conversation about Poe, Faulkner, Styron, Fitzgerald, and I wish I had brought him more current American fiction…


That evening, we had dinner at La Mina in Habana Vieja (another wonderful music group!) and then walked over to Elsa’s house for our rooftop dancing lessons with the Grupo Dolce María. Wonderful Mirta taught us her moves and yes, there was a mojito involved. And now, looking back over today, I can see why I’ve been catching up on my sleep since my return home!