Culture, Sports, Events

For the April 3-5, 2010 period, the schedule of services in the Russian Orthodox Church in Havana is as follows:

On Saturday, April 3rd, you must be at the Church at 11:30 at night. The Easter Service begins at midnight and goes until about 3 in the morning (April 4th). There is a break.

Manuel Galbán is a Grammy-winning Cuban guitarist, pianist and arranger, notable for his work with the legendary doo-wop vocal quartet Los Zafiros, which he founded, and the world famous Buena Vista Social Club with its repertoire of son, bolero, danzón and guajiro. In 2001 he recorded Mambo Sinuendo with Ry Cooder, winning the 2003 Grammy for Best Post Instrumental Album.

To find out what’s happening in Cuba – dance, music, art, theatre, etc. – there is no one website that provides all the information. Still, some sites do exist that can be consulted, although the list below is by no means definitive.

To find out the schedule of performances by the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, check out their Spanish-only website atwww.balletcuba.cult.cu On their homepage click on Presentaciones and their full program of performances for both 2009 and 2010 appears, including date, time, theatre, city and, in many cases, dances to be performed.

Cuba has 50 Protestant denominations, of which over half are members of the Consejo de Iglegias de Cuba (Cuban Council of Churches), which is a fellowship of churches, ecumenical groups, and other ecumenical organizations. The churches, some of which are over 100 years old, are deeply rooted in Cuban society.

The route of Che’s Ejercito Rebelde (Rebel Army) from the Sierra Maestra to the victorious battle of Santa Clara began in the eastern provinces of Granma and Holguín. Important sites include the following:

Cuba is well aware of the value of service animals, especially service dogs, and the tremendous assistance they can provide. Towards this end, Cuba has an Escuela Nacional de Técnica Canina (National School for Canine Skills), coming under the Ministry of the Interior (which includes Cuba’s fire fighters, among others), which trains dogs for police work, drug control at Cuba’s international airports and other installations, rescue work in the event of natural disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. as part of the country’s Civil Defence system), and so forth. Some of the programs at the Escuela Nacional de Técnica Canina involve a three-year period of study, with each student being matched with each dog, taking into consideration the characteristics of both. In these cases, the dogs live with the students in their homes, as part of the study program includes how to care for and train the dogs with whom they’ll be working. Given the nature of this school, it would not be possible to work directly with them.

Many visitors to Cuba do not speak Spanish, not even minimally. And yet they have a wonderful time, meet people and have interesting discussions. Although it’s hard to estimate how many people in Havana speak English, it is not hard to find people with whom one can talk. And especially in a university environment, it is not difficult to find Cuban students who speak English with varying degrees of proficiency, from excellent to being able to say a few words. But one thing you can count on: those Cubans – whether university students or people on the street – who speak even a little bit of English will be very keen to practice on you.

There are a number of sources of information for things to do in Havana, especially in relation to learning Spanish or Cuban Salsa, etc. Although a simple google search will pull up programs offered by overseas organizations, there are some Cuban organizations and websites that you might want to check out first.

Unitarian Universalism (UU) has been growing in Latin America over the past several years. In January 2005, the Alianza Unitaria Universalista Latinoamericana (AUULA or Latin American Unitarian Universalist Association) met for the first time, in Argentina, with leaders from emerging UU groups from around the region. Although Cuba already had its own emerging groups, it was not able to ‘participate in these meetings.

The official website of Marabana is www.inder.cu/beta/competition/marabana

The official summons and general information for Marabana is provided in Spanish, English, French, German, Italian and Russian and can be found on the main page.