Monday, May 27, 2013

Introduction to Central Cuba (revised)



A Visit to Central Provinces for Universities and
Others Interested in a Changing Cuba


June 10-20/22, 2013


Organized by the Fund for Reconciliation and Development.
Led by executive director John McAuliff

(Revised 5/30; Sequence and events subject to change)


(Sequence and events subject to change)

Our people to people license covers anyone with a serious desire to participate, including spouses, trustees and third party providers.


Participation can begin on June 10 in Cienfuegos, or on June 14 in Cienfuegos.

1) Monday June 10
Fly from Miami to Cienfuegos (Check in by 1:30 p.m.)
5.30 PM Estimated flight arrival with CTS
6.30 PM Check In at the Hotel Jagua
7.00 PM Departure for Canticus Movus Choral group
8.30 PM Dinner* at Yacht Club

2)  Tuesday June 11
9.30 AM University of Cienfuegos "Carlos Rafael Rodríguez"
12.30 PM Lunch* at Palacio Valle with professors and staff
2.00 PM Visit city center and theater with the director of the conservation and restoration office
3.00 PM Studio Gallery of the Graphic Society
6.00 PM Dinner* at private restaurant Finca Los Colorados 

3)  Wednesday June 12
8.00 AM Depart to Trinidad, a UNESCO World Heritage City
10.30 AM Meet with historian’s office and Santander family of pottery makers
12.30 PM Lunch*at Plaza Mayor
Exploration of Trinidad
4.00 PM Check in at Hotel Las Cuevas
Dinner at Hotel
Preview musical performances and other potential student activities, including a disco in a cave (Las Cuevas)

4)  Thursday June 13
8.00 AM Drive to Sancti Spiritus
10.30 AM Fundacion Nunez Jimenez (service learning for international students, permaculture organic farm training and research project)
12.30 PM Lunch* at Meson de la Plaza with representative of Fundacion
2.00 PM Centro Universitario de Sancti Spiritus (“Martí Péres”)
4.00 Check in at Hostal El Rijo
8.00 PM Dinner* at the Hotel with university professors and staff.

5)  Friday June 14
8.00 AM Drive to Santa Clara
Lunch* at La Concha restaurant
2.00 PM Central University of Las Villas (“Marta Abreu”)
4.00 Check In at Hotel Los Caneyes
8.00 PM Dinner* with professors and staff at Santa Rosalia Restaurant

6) Saturday June 15
9.30 AM Che Guevara memorial
10.30 AM Drive to Cardenas
1.00 PM Lunch at and meet with Christian Center for Reflection and Dialogue 
Continue to Varadero
4.00 PM Check in Hotel Meliá Varadero All Inclusive

7)  Sunday June 16
Reflection on program to date
Visit marina project
Lunch at the Hotel
Matanzas
2.00 PM Fortress and slavery museum
Return to Varadero

8)  Monday June 17
10.00 AM University of Matanzas "Camilo Cienfuegos”
12.30 PM Lunch* at Hotel Velasco with professors and staff
Ediciones Vigía (handmade books)
If time permits, stop at Cojimar, view Hemingway memorial
4:30 PM Visit Organoponico Vivero Alamar (service learning opportunity) 
Dinner*  
8.30 PM Witness the Cannon Firing Ceremony at San Carlos de la Cabaña Castle
Check in Melia Cohiba Hotel

9) Tuesday June 18
9.30 AM  [Ministry of Higher Education, University of Havana]
12 noon Lunch at fast food restaurant (La Pachanga?)--pay on own  
Walking tour of La Rampa, Copelia Ice Cream Palace, Hotel
2.00 PM Regla AfroCuban church; presentation on syncretism with Santaria by curator Raisa Forguera at the municipal museum  
Performance of music and dance of AfroCuban religions by Nsila cheche
Ferry across Havana Bay
Artisans market
7:30 PM Dinner discussion of bilateral relations and changes in Cuba with Jose Viera, former First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and retired lawyer, at paladar Atelier

10) Wednesday June 19
8.00 AM Discussion of social change and markets with Rafael Hernandez, editor of Temas
 [Specialized university meetings]
12.30 PM Lunch with Mark Frank, correspondent for Reuters and the Financial Times; author of Cuban Revelations: Behind the Scenes in Havana
2.30 PM Visit the scale model of Habana Vieja
Walking tour of Habana Vieja
[Additional specialized university meetings may be substituted for the Habana Vieja program]
8.00 PM Dinner* with educational and cultural exchange staff of US Interests Section (invited) at  Federation of Culinary Associations teaching restaurant Arte Chef, including mojito making lesson
Optional Habana Café cabaret show at Melia Cohiba Hotel ($5 CUC) or Jazz Café ($10)
  
11) Thursday   6/20
Morning departure for Miami, arrive 12:30 pm (allow 3 hours before next flight)

 * meals included in program


We strongly recommend registration and payment of tax deductible donation to FfRD of $300 as soon as possible to confirm air tickets.  Absolute deadline for registration and donation is noon June 3.  Balance of payment will be in cash on arrival in Cuba.

For the full program, 6/10-20, the cost on arrival is $2915 (single supplement $325).   For abbreviated program beginning in Santa Clara on June 14, the cost on arrival is $1815 (single supplement $225). Participants will pay directly for flights from origin point to Cuba.  For further information and registration form, contact John McAuliff, director@ffrd.org, 917-859-9025.  

*************************************

Supplemental program under development, costs shared 

Visit ICAIC  (Instituto Cubano del Arte y la Industria Cinematográficos)
Finca Vijia, home of Ernest Hemingway

12) Friday   6/21
Oficina Santiago Alvarez
Fuster Gallery and Community Project
National Museum of Art
Dinner at Teatro El Cabildo with musicologist Tony Pinelli and Lourdes Diaz
Opera de la Calle at Teatro El Cabildo, meet with creator Ulises Aquino

13)  Saturday   6/22
Depart Havana (check in 10:00 am, arrive Miami 1:30 pm)

**************************************

On request, an effort will be made to arrange alternative appointments at specialized universities in the Havana area (list below) on Wednesday June 19. Personal payment of taxi fares may be required.

Universities in Havana area under Ministry of Higher Education

____ Universidad de Habana
____ Universidad de Ciencias Informaticas
____ Polytechnic Institute "Jose A. Echeverria" (CUJAE)
____ Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Agricolas (INCA)
____ Universidad Agraria de la Habana
____ Instituto Superior de Diseno

Other Universities and Educational Organizations in Havana area

____ Universidad de Ciencias Pedagogicas Enrique Jose Varona
____ Universidad de las Artes (ISA)
____ La Escuela de la Medicina Veterinaria
____ Universidad de Ciencias de la Cultura Fisica y el Deporte "Manuel Fajardo"
____ Universidad de Ciencias Medicas de la Habana
____ Escuela Latinamericana de Medicina
____ Centro de Ingenieria Genetica y Biotecnologia
____ Centro Nacional de Rehabilitacion "Julio Diaz"
____ Acuario Nacional Cuba

Monday, May 20, 2013


North Palm Beach County Chamber to offer summer trip to Cuba

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BY JODIE WAGNER - PALM BEACH POST STAFF WRITER
Northern Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce members and local residents will be among the few Americans to travel to Cuba this summer as part of the Chamber’s Discover Cuba program.
The seven-night trip, which departs Aug. 2, provides travelers the opportunity to gain a new perspective on Cuba’s history, culture and cuisine through cultural interactions and exchanges.
“We’re excited to be able to offer this trip,” said Hannah Sosa, the chamber’s director of communications and special events. “A family or a group of friends on their own wouldn’t be able to go.”
The Northern Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce, a Jupiter-based nonprofit organization with more than 800 members, secured the proper visas in order take a group of travelers to Cuba, Sosa said.
U.S. citizens are permitted to travel legally to Cuba, with some limitations.
Participants will tour a variety of historical landmarks including the Museum of the Revolution and Ernest Hemingway’s farm, Finca La Vigia.
They also will visit the San Jose Craft Market and Art Center, attend a song and dance revue at the Tropicana Club in Havana and visit the countryside of the Vinales Valley, where they will tour a cigar factory, tobacco farm and family farmhouse. Also on the itinerary is a tour of the Bocoy Rum Factory and a visit to the National Museum of Fine Arts.
“This is an art and cultural trip,” Sosa said. “We wanted the chamber and the community to be able to go together.”
A second tour departs Oct. 6. Additional dates will be available in 2014.
Tour cost is $3,599 per person for Chamber members and $3,799 per person for non-members, based on double occupancy.
The cost includes round-trip airfare from Miami, seven nights of first-class hotel accommodations, 16 meals, professional tour escort, baggage handling, Cuban travel visa, Cuban medical insurance, sightseeing and admission to attractions.
The Discover Cuba program is operated by Premier World Discovery and Chamber Explorations.
The Chamber will host an informational presentation on the program at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Palm Beach State College’s Palm Beach Gardens campus, Room AD207, 3160 PGA Blvd.
For information, contact Jane Pike at 561-746-7111 or jane@npbchamber.com, or visit www.npbchamber.com/discovercuba.

Thursday, May 16, 2013


Three more companies get U.S. approval to offer Cuba travel

By Gay Nagle Myers
Three more companies have survived a long and challenging trek through the government's bureaucratic maze to launch federally licensed people-to-people educational travel to Cuba this summer.

The companies are Central Holidays, the Globus Family of Brands and Michigan-based Other Cuban Journeys.

Gianni MiradoliFor Central Holidays, a mainstay tour operator to Europe since 1972, the foray into a destination on this side of the Atlantic "is a very big deal," said CEO Gianni Miradoli.

"We were getting requests from our clients who have traveled on our Europe group tours," Miradoli said. "They wanted to go to Cuba with us. We gave it a lot of thought and decided to take the plunge."

The operator partnered with California-based Premier World Discovery/Chamber Explorations, which was granted a license in early April by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to operate the people-to-people cultural exchange programs.

This arrangement was created as a way for the federal government to limit travel to Cuba to low-key educational exchanges while the half-century-old Cuban trade embargo remains in effect. Agents who send clients to the operator are paid a referral fee as opposed to a commission.

Central Holidays' program, announced April 22, offers 19 departures from Aug. 9 through Dec. 12.

"Within four days, we had sold out one of our October departures," Miradoli said. "Adding Cuba to our destination offerings allows us to further cater to our repeat customers who want to explore the world in the signature Central Holidays way."

Cuba Havana Capitol BuildingWith all people-to-people programs, the tour operator handles the initial inquiries from agents and customers, and the licensee handles all payments, booking arrangements and financial transactions.

Agents receive a referral fee from the operator for directing clients to the program.

Central Holidays currently offers an eight-day Discover Cuba itinerary with a full schedule of activities in and around Havana. Tour participants meet with locals, artists and dancers during the trip.

The price of $3,899 per person, double, covers roundtrip air from Miami, hotels, transfers, 16 meals, guide services, motorcoach transport, tips, health insurance and baggage handling. The single supplement is $550.

"We will offer more itineraries in 2014," Miradoli said. "But for now, we want to ensure that the quality of the program measures up to the Central Holidays tour standards that our customers have come to expect."

For Globus, entry into the Cuban people-to-people market actually started two years ago. The company was poised to make its debut in Cuba with a series of escorted religious programs in January 2012 after unveiling its plans the previous August.

However, confusion and complications surrounding federal regulations and rules regarding licensed travel to Cuba caused Globus to pull back.
It's back on track now, with two nine-day itineraries offering 20 departures from July 14 through Nov. 3, followed by 13 more in 2014.

Group Voyagers, the company that markets and sells the Globus Family of Brands (Globus, Cosmos, Monograms and Avalon Waterways) in the U.S., received its license from OFAC in February.

Pam Hoffee"Our new programs are not religious in theme but instead offer a full schedule of people-to-people educational exchange activities designed to result in meaningful interactions between our travelers and individuals in Cuba," said Pam Hoffee, vice president of product and operations for the Globus Family of Brands.

The Undiscovered Cuba tour spends a week in Havana and includes tours of historical and cultural sights as well as interactions with artists, musicians, architects, cigar rollers, students and workers at a silk-screening studio.

The second itinerary, Cuba's Charming Colonial Cities & Havana, visits Camaguey, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs) and Havana.

Participants attend a workshop at Casa de Africa discussing the African culture in Cuba, mingle with members of the Santo Angel neighborhood, meet dancers, teachers and costume makers at the Camaguey Ballet Co. and talk baseball with Cuban players.

Rates start at $2,974 per person, double, land only. Roundtrip air from Miami starts at $496.

While Hoffee acknowledged that the Globus itineraries "may be similar to others in the marketplace, ours have been scrutinized to meet our Globus brand standards. We're using some of the best hotels in Cuba, selected some of the top national guides, dedicated one of our product managers who has visited Cuba many times to handpick the people-to-people interactions in our programs."

Globus also includes a welcome briefing in Miami with a group leader who accompanies all departures.

Cuba TrinidadMichigan-based Other Cuban Journeys received its OFAC license in January, but the company's origins date to 2000 when founders Marla Whitesman and Miriam Saul began leading humanitarian trips to Cuba's small Jewish community.

"We helped with the renaissance of that community and brought much-needed aid, as well," Whitesman said. "Through the years, we made many connections and impacted lives in Cuba as well as the travelers we brought with us, who told us that Cuba was a life-changing experience for them."

Saul, a Cuban-American, said, "Our past experiences, personal relationships and friendships with Cubans from all walks of life set us apart from other companies offering the people-to-people programs."

Other Cuban Journeys is offering six departures from June 17 to Jan. 20 on its eight-day Faces of Cuba itinerary, which includes Havana and the provinces of Matanzas and Pinar del Rio.

Prices start at $3,900 per person, double, including roundtrip air from Miami.

Group size on each departure will be capped at 24, Whitesman said.

Other itineraries still being developed will visit Santa Clara, Trinidad, Cienfuegos and additional sites.

Follow Gay Nagle Myers on Twitter @gnmtravelweekly


Wednesday, May 15, 2013

CIEE licensed as third party provider for student programs


CIEE has been approved by the U.S. Treasury Department to once again run semester and short-term academic programs in Cuba for U.S. undergraduate students!

We hope to begin running custom and faculty-led programs in Cuba beginning in fall 2013 and are looking for faculty and administrators who are interested in providing their students with a high-quality international experience in this fascinating country.  

Please contact Kellie Sullivan immediately if you're interested in partnering with the CIEE Custom and Faculty-Led team to plan an academically rigorous, culturally rich, and safe program in Cuba for fall 2013. 

Interested in other CIEE Custom and Faculty-Led program destinations (http://www.ciee.org/study-abroad/advisors/custom/study-centers/)? Contact your Custom and Faculty-Led representative listed below.

Kellie Sullivan
Director, CIEE Custom and Faculty-Led Programs
207.553.4043
ksullivan@ciee.org


Erin Santana
Senior Coordinator, CIEE Custom and Faculty-Led Programs AL, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VT, WV
207.553.4172
esantana@ciee.org

Emily Moser
Senior Coordinator, CIEE Custom and Faculty-Led Programs AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, HI, IA, ID, IL, KS, MI, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY, WI  
207.553.4050
emoser@ciee.org

Thursday, May 2, 2013

A New Provider Enters the Market


Globus unveils Cuba tours

By Gay Nagle Myers
TrinidadCubaGlobus has launched people-to-people educational tours of Cuba. Two nine-day itineraries are offered with 20 departures running from July 14 through Nov. 3, followed by 13 more in 2014.

Globus was poised to make its debut in Cuba in January 2012 after unveiling plans the previous August. However, confusion and complications surrounding regulations and rules regarding licensed travel to Cuba had caused Globus to pull back.

Group Voyagers, the company that markets and sells the Globus family of brands (Globus, Cosmos, Monograms and Avalon Waterways) in the U.S., received its license from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control in February.

"The new programs ... offer a full schedule of people-to-people educational exchange activities designed for meaningful interactions between our travelers and individuals in Cuba," said Pam Hoffee, vice president of product and operations for the Globus family of brands.

The Undiscovered Cuba tour spends a week in Havana and includes tours of historical and cultural sights along with interactions with artists, musicians, architects, cigar rollers, students and workers at a silk-screening studio.

The second itinerary, Cuba's Charming Colonial Cities & Havana, visits Camaguey, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs) and Havana.

Participants will attend a workshop at Casa de Africa discussing the African culture in Cuba, meet with members of the Santo Angel neighborhood; meet with dancers, teachers and costume makers at the Camaguey Ballet Co.; and talk baseball with Cuban players.

Rates start at $2,974 per person, double, land only. Roundtrip air from Miami starts at $496.

A special hotline for agents has been set up at (855) 522-4880.

Further details are available at www.globusjourneys.com.
Follow Gay Nagle Myers on Twitter @gnmtravelweekly.