My daughters degree is in environmental science, but she has been very interested in agriculture before graduation, and has done a few shorter internships, and is currently looking for a longer one.
Definitely a very important, but challenging field.
I have family in the Midwest, who have been farmers for generations, but she wants to stay local.
I know she would love to go to Cuba.
I like reading about it, but I’m not a big adventurer.
AirBnB in Cuba is a reality starting today
http://skift.com/2015/04/02/airbnb-in-cuba-is-a-reality-starting-today/?utm_campaign=Daily+Newsletter&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=16871544&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8t7Wjyr2glLJsQXDVptpm0iz8n840NycX5s6sK9u4v8j-vTEzovfFAY07LCLDak2wvn4HvKiGhSzbqyA1fZNkqfOA-Tg&_hsmi=16871544
I’m going next summer with a local “friendship” chorus. The chorus is non-auditioned, has a small number of rehearsals prior to the trip, and plans a foreign trip every other year. Cuba wasn’t really on my radar and when I heard that was the next planned trip, I wondered if I even wanted to participate. My primary concern was safety – yes, I’ll be traveling in a group, but this will be my intro to the group, so I’ll only know one other couple. After googling, it appears to me that the Miami portion of our itinerary is likely to be the most physically dangerous 
Hola! Just returned from 8 days in Cuba and wanted to post a few impressions. We had to book all of our lodging in advance so we couldn’t take advantage of all the new “room for rent” places popping up. According to one of our taxi drivers, there are different designations for rooms available to tourists and rooms for Cubans. I think the tourist rooms are advertised with a blue arrow pointing down and the rentals for Cubans have a black arrow. You see them everywhere. Renting rooms, driving a cab or serving meals in your home are some of the private ventures now allowed. Considering a college professor earns $100/month and the average Cuban earns $25/month, you can imagine the lure of private enterprise. We had a meteorologist as a cab driver one night because he made so much more than working for the government.
It’s pretty much an all cash economy, especially for Americans. Most prices are fair and firm, not much haggling. Communications (internet/telephone) are primitive at best, so if you are going to Cuba on your own you might just wait until you get there to inspect and choose lodging. We stayed in supposed 4 star hotels yet had no hot water and barely functioning plumbing. Taxis are everywhere and cheap, about $5-$10 for most trips around Havana and $100 for the 2 hour drive from Havana to Varadero. Almost all the drivers were young men who loved to talk, and we learned more on the cab rides than on the official tours. A few spoke no English, but still got information across to us with hand gestures and some key words.
Several years ago Raul Castro changed the rule barring the selling of real estate and that has set off a massive restoration of decaying properties. Havana is undergoing a transformation, starting with the beautiful plazas in Old Havana. Old tobacco warehouses on the harbor have been transformed into a state of the art microbrewery and a vast craft and art market. Most harbor operations are being transferred to the Mariel harbor, which can accommodate larger ships. A few blocks off the tourist ant trails and you are in neighborhoods with dilapidated buildings. Those streets are filled with children playing soccer, men playing dominoes and women sitting in doorways. Occasionally on those streets a woman approached and asked if we had soap or shampoo. We handed over extras from the hotels we stayed in. We had only 3 days in Havana but could have spent another few weeks there exploring. We felt very safe, the punishment for mugging a tourist is 30 years in prison. You need to be aware of some small cons, such as people trying to get you to purchase rides in classic convertibles. These are front men, and they take a cut of whatever price you pay for the ride. Better is to negotiate your cab rides directly with drivers, you’ll get a better deal.
Cuba is a place with pervasive deprivation, so it is best to go with the understanding that you may eat the same thing every day during the time you are there and you will go without many of the comforts we take for granted here. Still, it is a place of active transformation and I would recommend a visit to anyone with a slight sense of adventure and an open mind.
Here are two of the best articles I’ve read that accurately represented our experiences:
http://graphics.latimes.com/cuba-fifth-time/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/75000-will-get-you-a-lot-of-house-in-havana–if-youre-cuban/2015/05/25/bbed3d78-fd8f-11e4-8c77-bf274685e1df_story.html
Thank you so much for the update! Would love to go.
I’m not planning on going to Cuba. I was raised in Florida which is so intertwined with Cuba and its people in so many positive ways…Cuba has already come to Florida.
I want to go to Cuba before it completely changes. I was in East Berlin before the wall came down and that place left a permanent impression on me. I think current day Cuba will have that same effect.
Lizard, we learned on our first uber ride in Miami not to mention Cuba to anyone who may have fled in the wake of the revolution. Emotions were visceral, and understandably so. We could have made a compelling documentary just interviewing cab drivers in both countries. Change is accelerating but unlike Berlin the government remains intact.
My family escaped China during the Communist Revolution in 1949. We’ve long accepted and gotten over normalization of relations with China. We realize that the Communists aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Why should the Cubans feel any different?
Pus, conditions for the majority weren’t exactly rosy in the Batista regime.
I was very interested in your report, @momsquad. I have an opportunity to go to Cuba next winter with a local group. It’s very tempting. This trip involves staying at a 5-star hotel in Havana, and there will be busses transporting us from place to place. I’m not sure I want to spend the money – $3800 if I have a roommate, plus the airfare to Miami. That’s a lot of money for an 8-day trip, especially if the hotel doesn’t have hot water!
@fireandrain, that sounds like a ridiculous amount for that trip. Canadians have been traveling to Cuba forever and it is a very popular destination, primarily because it’s so inexpensive. It would not be at all unusual to get an all inclusive one week package, including return airfare from Toronto to Havana, for around $800. Are there other things included in your trip? Conference attendance? Educational events?
Yes, there’s lots of stuff included on top of food, transportation and lodging. This also includes airfare from Miami to Havana. Guides, cultural activities, meetings with various community members related to our community, museum entrance fees, and bottled water, too. Our itinerary is pretty packed. I think it would be a fascinating trip.
After I wrote my post, I did a quick search for Cuba tours and looked at 3. Prices seem to range from a low of $1800 in the summer to a high of over $6000 – not including airfare. Both the NYTimes and National Geographic have trips in the $6000 range for 8-9 days.
I didn’t think the trip was priced unreasonably – I’m just not sure I want to spend that much for 8 days.
Those prices, as I said, are extraordinary so you can bet that someone who is organizing these trips is making a fortune that isn’t being passed on to anyone in Cuba. When Canadians can get airfare, a week’s all inclusive stay at a resort in Veradero, and airport transfers for less than $1000, there’s definitely something amiss with the prices being charged for trips from the U.S.
I admit, I am a little clueless. I know restrictions have loosen up but can average Americans just decide to vacation in Cuba yet? Could we take advantage of those Canadian deals?
Technically Americans must be a part of a cultural, professional or academic group to visit. However we know people who have flown in through Mexico City and simply ask the Cuban customs agent not to stamp their passport. It’s the American government that restricts visits, the Cubans will gladly grant entry and exit visas ($25 each way). The tour agencies do a tremendous amount of work smoothing the process for you. Unless you are fluent in Spanish I wouldn’t attempt a solo visit under the current conditions. Without an embassy you can be in for plenty of misery if you lose your passport or experience some sort of calamity. The round trip airfare from Miami to Havana is almost $500, so $3800 doesn’t sound that bad for 8 days all inclusive in Havana. And 5 stars probably gets you a warm shower! The Varadaro packages are cheaper because of the sheer number of rooms available on the peninsula. Quality lodging is in very short supply in Havana, and the prices reflect that.
I love this thread, I have wanted to go to Cuba for years! It has some pretty interesting natural areas as well as the culture.
Am very happy for a friend who is on his way to Cuba this morning with his mother and sister, both of whom were born there and who haven’t been back since arriving in Miami in 1969. They will all be attending a private event at the opening of the new American Embassy on Monday.
I might go to Cuba when I retire. I saw on the TV that they have tour about organic gardening because they must, it will be interesting to learn what they do.
The Cuban friend who I mentioned earlier in this thread sent me this link this morning. Many beautiful and interesting aerial photos of Cuba. Thought some of you might enjoy them as much as I did.