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You'll attend a Rumba performance at the Callejón de Hamel. |
Farmers markets offer organic produce.
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Cuba: paradise for antique car-lovers. |
You'll attend a CDR festivity. |
Plaza de La Revolución in Havana. |
Loyal steed escorts boy across river. |
Bicycles are a mainstay for commuters.
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Animal partners help out on the farm.
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Swimming on Havana's Malecón. |
Ancient Spanish fortress in Havana. |
You'll stay on Trinidad's Playa Ancón! |
TIME/TEMP IN HAVANA NOW!
Island-wide annual averages:
Summer temp average: 81F | 27C
Winter temp average: 72F | 22C
Ocean temp average: 78F | 25.5C |
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| Fraser Heights to Cuba March 2006 |
Cuban schoolgirl.
Cuban students rank best in the Americas. Education is free for life!
Havana was founded in 1519. It has the largest collection of colonial era buildings outside Spain.
World's smallest hummingbird just larger than a bumblebee lives in Cuba.
Havana's Malecón beachfront for relaxation, music and romance.
Young person staffs local store.
Fresh sea fish supplement island diets and provide a valuable export commodity.
Ox carts still in use.
Cubans come in all colors. Bigotry is absent. They're proud of their multicolored kids.
Music is pervasive.
Several species of iguana: they're not poisonous or mean. |
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Learning Cuban history, culture and volunteerism
Thursday 9 March to Saturday 18 March 2006
10 days and 9 nights in safe student-friendly Cuba! |
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Fraser Heights faculty tour leaders are Ms. Jacqueline Birchall and Mr. Tan Nguyen. You'll also be traveling with a full-time expert bilingual Cuban guide, a professional driver, and chaperone from the Cuban Movement for Peace. Your transport is a luxury air-conditioned tour coach. Your hotels have many amenities including swimming pools, private baths and internet cafes. To learn more about your tour's educational goals see tour overview. Parent participation on tour is not possible. Click blue links below for more details and pictures. |
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View a route map for this tour. |
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Flight departs late evening on Wednesday 8 March 2006 for an early morning Toronto connection to Cuba. Two meals are served on each airplane flight. |
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B=breakfast L=lunch D=dinner indicates meals included while in Cuba. |
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Go to Day | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
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| DAY 1 |
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HAVANA |
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Welcome to Cuba!
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| Lunch served on airplane flight from Toronto. |
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| 3:30PM arrival at Havana's José Martí International Airport to welcome by your Cuba Education Tours guide and bus driver. Transfer to Hotel Saint Johns for private group check in. |
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| Take a refreshing swim before you enjoy a welcome dinner at your hotel. Evening is free to inspect the neighborhood around your hotel with your classmates. |
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| DAY 2 |
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HAVANA |
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Havana's seafront.
AfroCuban folk art at Callejón de Hamel.
FMC: 85% of women over 14 years old are members. |
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| Gathering with your island host the Cuban Movement for Peace (MOVPAZ) for a presentation and discussion on the current social, political, economic and cultural situation in Cuba today.
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| Coach tour of important sites in Modern Havana including the Capitol building, the Great Theatre of Havana, Central Park, Prado promenade, Revolution Square, University of Havana, Cemetery Colon, Malecón seawall, and the Miramar and Vedado neighborhoods. |
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| Lunch – your guide is available to suggest eateries for every taste and budget. |
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| Meet with members of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC). We'll learn about the work, lives and role of Cuban women in building and improving island society. |
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| This evening we have a Cuban band playing for us, Grupo Dulce María. You'll have a chance to learn to perform and dance to Salsa, Son, Rumba and Mambo from band members – a great way to get into the swing of Cuban culture. |
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| DAY 3 |
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HAVANA |
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You'll enjoy Salsa, Son, Rumba and Mambo lessons.
Youth learn their national sport early on. |
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| Guided walking tour of the four main squares of Old Havana, an UNESCO World Heritage Site. |
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| Onto the amazing Scale Model of Old Havana. |
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| Tour the Museum of the Revolution, former Presidential Palace, displaying the history of the Cuban Revolution. |
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| Afternoon is free for you to explore Old Havana's famous open air-market and wander its colonial streets with your classmates. |
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| Evening venue: Watch a Cuban baseball game (optional participation). |
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| DAY 4 |
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HAVANA |
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Regla community in foreground.
Regla church.
Master artist Antonio Canet.
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| Morning ferryboat ride across Havana harbor to the municipality of Regla. This community has a long, rich and still active tradition of African-inspired religions. |
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| We'll visit the local church dedicated to the Black "Virgen de Regla," Yemayá, the African goddess of the sea in the Yoruba religion and the patron saint of sailors. |
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| Meet a babalao (highest priest in the Santería religion) in his home. |
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| Tour Regla's Municipal Museum to learn the origins of this unique community and its religions. |
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| Visit the home studio of painter, master printmaker and designer, Antonio Canet. |
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| Attend a rumba performance at Callejón de Hamel, an alley where all the buildings display mural paintings inspired by AfroCuban religions. We'll meet alley artist Salvador Gonzales at his studio. |
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| Evening: we return for a second music and dance instruction Grupo Dulce María. |
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| DAY 5 |
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HAVANA – SANTA CLARA – CIENFUEGOS |
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Beach fun in Cienfuegos.
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| Departure to Cienfuegos, known as the "Pearl of the South" for its wealth of buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. |
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| En route we'll visit the Santa Clara Teachers College to meet and talk with first-year university students learning to become English language teachers. |
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| Followed by a visit to Santa Clara's Plaza de La Revolucíon Che Guevara, and its Che Guevara Memorial and Museum. |
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| Guided tour of the city of Cienfuegos and an explanation of the origins of this beautiful cosmopolitan city founded by French immigrants in the early 1800s. |
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| Check in to Hotel Pasacaballo. |
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| Evening is free to enjoy the amenities of the Pasacaballo with your classmates. |
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| DAY 6 |
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CIENFUEGOS |
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You'll work with Cuban students on farms in Cienfuegos and Trinidad. |
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Morning meeting with high school students in the city of Cienfuegos. |
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| Full day work exchange experience with fellow high school students in the Cienfuegos countryside. |
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| Lunch with Cuban students. |
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| Tour highlight: attend an evening festivity at a local Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR). CDRs are responsible for the well-being, education, sanitation and safety of people in their neighborhoods. |
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| DAY 7 |
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CIENFUEGOS – TRINIDAD |
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Trinidad's Playa Ancón is located on the Caribbean Sea and Cuba's southern coast. Right Trinidad's historic main plaza. |
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| Full day work exchange experience with fellow high school students in the Cienfuegos countryside. |
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| Lunch with Cuban students. |
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| Late afternoon trip to Trinidad. |
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| Arrival at Club Costa Sur located on Playa Ancón's warm Caribbean waters. |
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| Free evening to take a swim with your classmates. |
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| DAY 8 |
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TRINIDAD |
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| Full day work exchange experience with fellow high school students in the Trinidad countryside. |
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| Lunch with Cuban students. |
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| AfroCuban performance at Trinidad's Las Ruinas club. |
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| DAY 9 |
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TRINIDAD |
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Panorama of Trinidad's Sugar Mill Valley.
Rich sea life in the Playa Ancón: a great place to snorkel.
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| Walking tour one of the oldest cities founded by the Spaniards in the West Indies: Trinidad, an UNESCO World Heritage Site. We visit its Plaza Mayor, Museum of Architecture, Museum of Romance, the main parish and other interesting sites. |
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| Onto the Sugar Mill Valley, also an UNESCO World Heritage Site, where slave-owning sugar barons had their countryside mansions and mills. |
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| Lunch at the Sugar Mill Valley (not included in cost). |
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| Trinidad is well known for its pottery makers. We meet with a family that has been passing the tradition for generations: the Santanders. |
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| Time to wander the streets of historical center or enjoy the beach. |
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| Dinner at a private restaurant in downtown Trinidad (included). |
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| Popular Cuban music live on steps of Casa de la Música – a great opportunity to dance with Cubans! |
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| DAY 10 |
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TRINIDAD – HAVANA – VANCOUVER |
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| Morning: hop onto your bus for Havana's José Martí International Airport for return flight to Vancouver via Toronto. Lunch and dinner served on airplane. |
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| Keep in touch with your new Cuban friends – exchange email addresses! Take pictures and keep a journal. Upon your return, we'll post them on this website for all to see and enjoy. |
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