Following a successful bid to the Faculty of Humanities Internationalisation Fund and to the School of European Culture and Language, Dr Montserrat Roser i Puig and Dr William Rowlandson were able to take a group of 18 students from Hispanic Studies on a subsidised study trip to Havana, Cuba.
The trip allowed the students to explore first-hand the rich and lively culture of Havana, to immerse themselves in its language, history, architecture, music, cars, noise, food, and rum, providing direct practical experience of material studied in a number of Hispanic Studies modules.
The full schedule allowed plenty of time for individual activities such as wandering through the streets of Old Havana, strolling along El Malecón (the sea wall) and sampling local food and drink; as well as the group activities including an evening’s dinner and salsa dancing at the old colonial mansion Palacio de la Artesanía, a live rumba performance at Callejón Hamel, a tour of the Habana Club rum factory, a day’s outing with poet Ernesto Canteli and a contemporary art exhibition in the Pabellón de Cuba. Of particular interest was the group visit to Casa de las Américas to meet celebrated poet Nancy Morejón, who spoke to the group with great passion, discussing, amongst other issues, the importance of their visit to Havana, and read a number of her poems.
The trip was a great success, benefitting all those who went and many contacts in Havana have been established or consolidated.
Further information and pictures from the trip can be found on the trip website at http://blogs.kent.ac.uk/cuba-trip/