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Itinerary

May 21 – May 28, 2017

Afro-Cuban Cultures and Religions: Palmira
May 21 – May 28, 2017

Please note that some parts of this itinerary may be subject to change. Any substitutions will be done for equal or greater value.

Sun 05.21

Mon 05.22

Tues 05.23

Wed 05.24

Thurs 05.25

Fri 05.26

Sat 05.27

Sun 05.28

Day 1 Miami – Palmira, Cuba
 
  • Arrival Cienfuegos, Transfer to Hotel or Guest Houses
  • Welcome Dinner in a paladar (privately owned restaurant)
Accommodations: Hotel or Casa Particular     Dinner provided

Day 2 Palmira
 
  • Visit Regla and Guanabacoa neighborhoods and museums dedicated to Afro-Cuban culture (with guide)
  • Visit Palmira (with guide)
  • Walking tour of Palmira (with guide)
  • (lunch and dinner on your own)
Accommodations: Hotel or Casa Particular    Lunch and Dinner on Your Own

Day 3 Palmira – Cienfuegos
 
  • Depart for Cienfuegos (bus)
  • Arrival Cienfuegos Hotel or Guest Houses
  • Welcome Luncheon in paladar or restaurant
  • Walking Tour of the Historical Downtown of Cienfuegos (with guide)
  • (dinner on your own)
  • *(optional evening activity)
Accommodations: Hotel or Casa Particular    Lunch Provided, Dinner on Your Own

Day 4 Cienfuegos
 
  • Visit/ interchange with academic specialists from the University of Cienfuegos
  • Topics for discussion: historical overview of the arrival of Africans to Las Villas province in the late 18th/ early 19th centuries; slavery and the sugar cane plantation economy and society; participation of Afro-Cubans in Cuba’s independence movements; Afro-Cuban life post-independence (1900-1940s); development of cabildos de nación y sociedades religiosas
  • Lunch at the university
  • Visit/ interchange with members of the Sociedad el Cristo, Palmira (history of the founding of the Sociedad, important historical figures associated with the place)
  • Workshop on identification and use of herbs (medicinal and spiritual properties)
  • Workshop on preparation of traditional adimús (food offerings) for Orishas
  • Drumming demonstration
  • (dinner on your own)
  • *(optional evening activity)
Accommodation: Hotel or Casa Particular     Breakfast, Lunch Provided, Dinner on Your Own

Day 5 Cienfuegos, Cuba
 
  • Visit/ interchange with academic specialists from the University of Cienfuegos
  • Topics for discussion: contributions of Afro-Cubans to Cuban culture (artists, poets, musicians); contributions of ethnographers/ anthropologists to the study of Afro-Cuban culture (Fernando Ortiz, Lydia Cabrera, Miguel Barnet, Natalia Bolívar, Rogelio Martínez Furé); government policies and attitudes toward religion in Cuba today (ability of Orisha worshippers to practice their religion without persecution)
  • Lunch at the University
  • Visit/ interchange with members of the Casino de los Congos San Antonio de Padua, Palmira (history of the founding of the Sociedad, important historical figures associated with the place)
  • Field trip/ Tribute and offering to Oshun at the river (with drumming, singing and dancing)
  • (dinner on your own)
  • (optional evening activity)*
Accommodation: Hotel or Casa Particular    Breakfast, Lunch Provided, Dinner on Your Own

Day 6 Cienfuegos
 
  • Visit/ interchange with academic specialists from the University of Cienfuegos
  • Topics for discussion: development and evolution of Cuban popular music based on African-inspired rhythms (demonstration of musical styles with celebrated musical group Los Naranjos)
  • Lunch at the university
  • Visit/ interchange with members of the Sociedad Santa Bárbara, Palmira (history of the founding of the Sociedad, important historical figures associated with the place)
  • Orisha dance performance by Oba Koso ensemble (with drumming demonstration)
  • (dinner on your own)
  • *(optional evening activity)
Accommodation: Hotel or Casa Particular    Breakfast, Lunch Provided, Dinner on Your Own

Day 7 Cienfuegos
 
  • Morning free for individual activities (meetings with members of the academic and religious communities in Cienfuegos/ Palmira; visits to museums, churches, cemeteries or other cultural sites in and around Cienfuegos)
  • Visit/ Interchange with members of the Sociedad San Roque, Palmira (history of the founding of the Sociedad, important historical figures associated with the place)
  • Piñata for Elegua (community event)
  • Tambor for Elegua (community event)
  • (lunch and dinner on your own)
Accommodation: Hotel or Casa Particular    Breakfast Provided, Lunch and Dinner on Your Own

Day 8 Cienfuegos – Miami
 
  • Departure, return to Miami
Accommodation: Hotel or Casa Particular    Breakfast Provided

Many of the activities will be in Spanish, but English translators/ interpreters will be on hand.

*Cienfuegos offers many attractive venues for music, such as the Patio del Teatro Terry, the UNEAC patio, the Patio of the Beny Moré Cultural Center, etc. Once we get to Cienfuegos, we’ll provide you with information about who is performing, where and when, and if there is enough interest in going as a group, we can provide the bus as transportation.

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