To begin the day, we continued the construction on the church that will provide shelter for the community as well as a meeting place for other visitors and Quaker conferences. The construction tools that we used were simple, so we transferred materials to the second floor of the new building using unconventional strategies: a pulley system, wheelbarrows, and shoveling. In addition to working on the construction, some of us helped prepare today’s lunch by cleaning rice and chopping fresh vegetables.
We began our construction work early this morning so we could finish by noon. This gave us the opportunity to go to the plaza for some shopping and also to beat the hot sun. While we were shopping we were able to utilize our language skills as well as our abilities to bargain. It was a beautiful experience to see the liveliness within the community. We purchased all sorts of goodies, from to authentic Cuban music to ukuleles decorated with island scenes.
For dinner, we had the unique privilege of splitting from the group and eating dinner with different families. The families lived various distances from the church, so each group used different forms of transport. Some students walked with their hosts, while others experienced the thrill that riding in vintage cars can have; others rode bicycles or rode in a horse drawn “taxi” and some even toured Holguín in a motorcycle with a side car. After dinner we all discussed topics with families, ranging from discrimination and military service to Cuba’s educational system. Overall the experience today was unique, breathtaking, and educational.
Mia, Jailene and Jon
