catherine crain

catherine crain

catherine crain

I live in Seattle Washington, USA. I teach psychology and education at Cascadia College. I'm going on a sabbatical trip to Cuba with the Seattle Peace Chorus. We are doing a musical good will tour, focused on promoting peace and social justice. My personal goals are to learn more about Cuba, make connections with the Cuban people, improve my Spanish and continue to globalize my curriculum.



Central America Caribbean » Cuba December 28th 2016

After spending a couple more days exploring La Habana (especially the old part of the city), on the 15th of Dec, John and I got on the Via Azul (state run) bus and headed for Cienfuegos to have some down time. It was a four hour trip with one rest stop. We we arrived, we connected with Markos and Joan for dinner and dancing in a little place off the town square. They were coming from a beach near Trinidad where they'd stayed with Art and Dee. John and I spent the next couple of days on the Punta Gorda (at a Casa Particular, The Casa Amarilla). We then took a cab to Playa Luna where we stayed in "Villa Busto," a casa right on the beach. Our hosts were Lu and her daughter Sandra, both ... read more
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Central America Caribbean » Cuba December 16th 2016

I'm sure I'll have more to say as I continue to reflect. And of course, I'm still here! But there are a few things that are very salient. One is the support for the arts in Cuba. Every place we went, we sang with professional choirs, paid by the state to be musicians. It's impressive. Other other hand, the lack of consumer choices is really striking to someone from the states. You have two choice of beer, no matter where you go. Any kind of sandwich as long as it's some version of ham and cheese on a white roll. We found tuna sandwiches, yesterday and I was thrilled! When you go to stores, the shelves are bare compared ton our standards. People have the necessities, but no frills, nothing extra, few choices of products. There ... read more

Central America Caribbean » Cuba December 16th 2016

On December 12, much of the chorus he add home, through Miami. Note that we arrived on the second day that American Airlines flew from Miami to Havana. Apparently they were still working our the bugs, because there was some confusion on the return and nor everyone made the connection to Seattle. But I'm told everyone is home safely now. I'm still in Cuba. John joined me on the 12th. We had an educational tour of La Habana on Tuesday and Wednesday, guided by my friend Mario. We learned a lot about the economy and history from him. We started at the Hotel Nacional, which has interesting artifacts of its days as a casino, controlled apparently by US organized crime. It is a grand hotel, with beautifully maintained buildings and grounds, and even a few peacocks ... read more
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Central America Caribbean » Cuba December 16th 2016

On Sunday, Dec 11, the Seattle Peace Chorus had its last night in Cuba. There was an amazing farewell dinner at the hotel El Presidente, with every kind of food you can imagine - lobster, shrimp, pork, fish - you name it. There would be a conversation layer about food shortages in Cuba and we have to hope that the leftovers weren't wasted. The National Choir attended the dinner along with many of the friends we've made in Cuba, such as Mario (the environmental scientist) and his wife, Cari. Afterwards, we all went dancing at a club in Nuevo Vedado called Barbaram. We had apparently hired one of the best bands in Cuba, including the guitarist, Pancho Amat, who played the tres, a three-stringed guitar. We danced until late, and some choir members got to attend ... read more
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Central America Caribbean » Cuba December 15th 2016

On sunday, 12/10, we left Cienfuegos early and drove back to Havana, a three hour trip. Today we would finally get to meet with the National Choir. Our time with them had been postponed until today due to the national mourning period when we were first in Havana. When we arrived in Havana, we had lunch at the John Lennon park, then at 1:00 we went to the headquarters of the national choir. This was a beautiful, well maintained building and we noticed that there were practice rooms for each of the sections. Satb, with a piano in each. We met with a smaller chamber group of about 16 singers who had come in on Sunday, their day off! The full choir has more than 40. We met Digna Guerra, the director, a lovely person, and ... read more
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Central America Caribbean » Cuba December 12th 2016

On Saturday morning (12/10) we met with the Cantores of Cienfuegos, in a small room attached to the Tomas Terry Theater on the main plaza. They sang several songs for us, then we sang four songs for them and Kent taught them a song which we sang together. We gave them a plaque of appreciation and some gifts. It was another unforgettable experience. We have been so impressed by the quality of the choirs we've met with. They are professional choirs, practicing 5 days a week for several hours a day. For this they earn $20- $40 or so a month which is a typical Cuban government wage, along with food rations (eg. 7 lbs of rice/month). Most need to augment this in order to get by. Cienfuegos is a beautiful town. It has a wide ... read more
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Central America Caribbean » Cuba December 11th 2016

On friday morning, (12/9), we left Trinidad and drove to Cienfuegos, a beautiful town with French architecture and influence. On the way, we sang Guantanamera for Gustavo, which seemed to impress him. He then told us about the 3 types of Cuban rumba : yamba, which is slower and danced by "mature" dancers; guaguancó, in which the man pretends to try to touch the woman in an intimate way and she fends him off; and columbia, which is a competition between two men, sort of like a stylized battle. So it seems to have little in common with our ideas of rumba in the US. We next went to the Benny Moré school of the arts. It was very impressive to see their work. There are hundreds of applicants and only a few are selected. Both ... read more
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Central America Caribbean » Cuba December 10th 2016

On Thursday, 12/8, we left Matanzas. Wendy and Yolanda from the Coro Provincial, came to see us off. It was very moving. We then drove to Sanctu Spiritus, near Trinidad, and met with another local choir, the Imago, Marlene Vega is the director. We met in a beautiful public library building. They sang first, singing some beautiful pieces. Then we sang our set and they seemed to enjoy it. Afterwards, Kent taught them a song and we all sang together. It was wonderful! We then drover on to Trinidad, one of the oldest cities in Cuba, about to celebrate 500 years. It is a Unesco world heritage site. The streets are narrow and paved with cobblestones, apparently from the ships ballasts hundreds of years ago. In the evening, we met at a local dance spot, la ... read more
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Central America Caribbean » Cuba December 10th 2016

Wed, 12/7, was another busy day. In the morning we visited a school of dance, and watched an amazing rehearsal of the Nutcracker. We sang for them and they really seemed to enjoy it. I will post pictures when I have better internet. It is very hard to get Internet here. On the way back from the school, we visited another Che memorial, this was where he derailed Bautista's train, leading to the "triumph of the revolution " in the words of our guide, Gustavo. Santa Clara is a university town and has a relatively liberal spirit. It seems to be a center for the struggle for gay rights. According to Gustavo, there is no prejudice of any kind in Cuba now ( no racism, nor sexism, or homophobia). Not sure I completely buy that rosy ... read more
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Central America Caribbean » Cuba December 10th 2016

On tuesday, 12/6, we drove to Santa Clara and visited the Che memorial where he is buried. It was very interesting with a museum about Che Guevara and the evolution of his revolutionary work. After getting our casas, we rehearsed at a gay bar called Mejunje. After that, we had dinner, and some went for ice cream, and then some went to Carlos's house for more music, camaraderie and rum.... read more
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