William Woods troop explores rich, yet painful, history of Cuba

Stepping back in time

William Woods students are seen in one of many classic cars on the streets of Havana, Cuba.
William Woods students are seen in one of many classic cars on the streets of Havana, Cuba.

Student or not, traveling to other countries opens the mind and senses to all that can be learned by immersing oneself in another culture. This year's Woods Around the World troop from William Woods University felt the full impact of that concept when it flew just 90 miles south of U.S. soil and touched down in Havana, Cuba.

"It's hard to prepare for what seems like a step back in time," said Travis Tamerius, director of Woods Around the World. "Imagine America before air conditioning and before the hypnotic channels we are plugged in to. The street scenes are amazing."

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Reia Kerong (cq) (center), 10, watches as his cousins, Jesse James (left), 9, and RB (cq) James, 10, add some pebble decorations to their snowman Tuesday outside their Springdale home. With warmer temperatures, most of the snow that fell on the region over the weekend had melted.

Tamerius described those street scenes as full of people who bring their instruments to the open air to play music and spend their time having conversations with one another.

"You see 80-year-olds on bicycles," he said.

The university typically offers a course pertaining to a country and culture, then plans a trip inviting students, alumni and friends of the school to take part in the excursion. But the trip to Cuba came at the last minute when their partner travel company Education First (EF) College Study Tours contacted them and offered their first trip into the country.

Tamerius said they tried to prepare the students through reading lists and orientations since there had not been class materials to learn from. But many of the older travelers had lived through the recent history between Cuba and the U.S. making them anxious to make the trip.

"Our phone rang off the hook," he said.

For Tamerius, it is the rich history that is linked so closely with our own that inspired his desire to make the trip.

"Cuba was the U.S.'s playground," he said. "It was Vegas before there was Vegas. There was Sinatra and Kennedy. There was the mafia, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War. There was the revolution."

Tamerius said he has spoken to Cubans in exile and is familiar with that painful history. But now, he feels he knows both perspectives.

"Cuba is like an estranged cousin," he said, describing how it feels to learn a history that is at once our own, yet also that of another country.

For the students, Tamerius said they fell in love with the people and the authentic nature of the place.

One of those students was Baylie Borman, who graduated from North Callaway High School.

"Traveling to Cuba was such a wonderful opportunity," Borman said in an email. "And I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to go at a young age during such an important time."

Borman also noted the limited social media and technology available in the country.

"I actually enjoyed the break from social media. Our conversations within the group were more meaningful, and we got to truly experience Cuba."

Architecture, art and music were also high points of the journey for Borman, as was the opportunity to visit an elementary school and daycare.

"We took school supplies and games for the children and that was really special," Borman said.

Woods Around the World was allowed entrance to Cuba under a "People to People" category, one of 12 such approved categories for those seeking educational activities in the country. With that in mind, the students visited an elder care facility, as well as schools. They also took part in community projects, attended performances and dances, and played softball with the locals.

Tamerius said while it could be possible for some to romanticize the charm of a place that lives with such passion and without the flurry of technology we experience, there are enough varying perspectives out there to keep that from happening.

"The people are resourceful and resilient," he said. "But there are also sad things about it. You see locals watching tourists who are eating in restaurants they (the locals) can't afford.

"There are many people there who want change," he said. "They are hungry for outside news, and they want to be part of the international conversation."