Santiago de Cuba

Hola!
Welcome to our second blog about our latest (respectively) adventure! We arrived in Santiago De Cuba and met up with our casa particularas. Our house stays felt a little more homey this time, as our Spanish was a good bit better and our chemistry as a group made us all more confident!
The rhythm took over as we learned to Salsa, Son, and Rumba. We learned surprisingly quick and took our new skills to the city to dance with the people of Santiago!
We freely walked through Parque Cespedes and met some interesting folks as well…
Some of us smoked our first Cuban cigars (sorry Mom & Dad) and enjoyed the cultural experience. We hiked to the top of Grand Piedre and listened to the musicians at the top play beautiful Cuban music to accompany our beautiful Cuban view.
Life is good for group Chango as we discover our roots in Santeria, the religion of Chango, making sporadic dance movements and chanting in a language that vaguely resembles Spanish.
The group has discovered a good bit more of Cuba and have found out more about ourselves along the way, check in with us next time from Bayamo.
Love and peace
Sean and Nina

Fidel Castro’s grave at Santiago cemetery.
Grant, Ally, Nina, and Kemper near a graffiti covered cement hole at the top of the hill.
Zoë, Kemper, and Bryan take a break after climbing a hill near the catholic church.
Nina and Zoë take a break after climbing a hill near the coffee museum.
A Santeria elder shows us a sacred room after a Santeria ritual.