SATURDAY 2^ND

This is why we were supposed to have an early night last night! Up at 3.45am. We have to be in Havana by 6.30am this morning to get into the “good seats” for the parade. Found out that the area we are going to be in only holds 2000 people. For the first time ever I’m in “the Elite” – don’t worry it wont last long :@)). When we get there it is still dark but we are ushered into our seats. The front row is made up of generals of various rankings and we were right behind them. Then behind us on a raised bit on revolution square, in front of the bit tower was the area where Raul will give his speech. Other people were pointed out to us – Fidel’s older brother and Elian Gonzales, the boy who was kept in Miami against his father’s wishes a few years ago, as well as all the other people that were speaking yesterday.

Raul opened the ceremony by a drive by in some jeeps. The parade started off with the Granma Yacht surrounded by a sea of people it was quite impressive. Then followed the military parade. I’m not a big fan of military parades but the Cubans got the balance right with enough to be a spectacle but without it looking as if it was aggressive. As well as all the tanks and missile launchers were the regiments in full military gear and also a regiment symbolising the guerrilla army of che’s time but for me the best bit was the 1/3 of a million ordinary Cuban people from 3 of the provinces. One slight deviation from the plan – one of the tanks stalled right in front of where we were sitting and the other tanks and huge missile launchers had to negotiate round it. They got a big cheer when it restarted and drove off into the smoke filled distance!!

One thing that really impressed me was that the square was being cleaned up almost as soon as the parade was over and within minutes the area was back to normal. Cuban efficiency at its best.

http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html

SUNDAY 3^RD

Today we have a free day in Havana. Most of the group are going to visit the museum of the revolution but we have been there a couple of times so we had arranged to go and visit Luis but his son was on military service and had to go and see him so we decided to give Boris a phone to see if we can meet up. We go to the Inglaterra to use the internet and the phone. Can’t get hold of Boris so have a coffee and then take a wander along the back streets of Havana and find a little market. We see a card album (similar to cigarette cards) of the revolution the guy wanted cuc$15 (€15 or £10). It looked old and the guy said it was quite rare. Didn’t buy it but Dermot said he might get it later. I bought a tiny book 1cm x 1.5cm of photos of Cuban revolutionaries from the past 200 years. Its great just wandering aimlessly around a city, you come across lots of wonderful things – found a statue of Simon Bolivar, a little park and lots of strange little shops. Cubans are really friendly and there is little crime so it feels safe too.

MONDAY 4^TH

Long trip today – a 6 hour drive from CIJAM to Sancti Spiritus which is a town about half way down Cuba towards the west coast. We stop about half way at a motorway café type thing and buy sandwiches and juice then on to Sancti Spiritus where we stop to have a dedication ceremony and wreath laying at the monument of the martyrs.

We arrive at the hotels and the brigadistas are split into two groups, essentially Spanish speaking countries in one and non-Spanish speaking countries in the other. Our one is luxurious – little chalets with a main building where the reception, bars and restaurant are, and best of all – HOT SHOWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

We have lunch while they sort out our rooms. Lunch is a buffet style meal which would put a 4 star hotel in the UK to shame. After rice and beans, however nice they are, this is heaven. Comfy beds too!! The bar is not as cheap as the camp but it’s fine. Used the bar facilities to the full in the evening.

As the Irish brigade, we assumed that myself and Dermot would be sharing a room but with unusual Cuban logic they put me in with a German who couldn’t speak English, and Dermot somewhere else. I tried to explain the situation but got nowhere and was about to lose my temper when one of the female interpreters came over and tried to help but wasn’t sure what the problem was. Eventually I got a bit stroppy and said swap the German guy and Dermot. Why? Because it would make me happy!! OK. Sorted.

TUESDAY 5^TH

A mighty breakfast this morning. I’m really looking forward to this morning, it’s the only work that we are doing on this trip. So we were taken to an agricultural area that had a group of small time farmers who were given 16 growing beds. Each bed was about 3 ft wide and around 50 yards (1 m x 50m) and the government gave the farmer  the seeds of his or her choice and fertiliser and pesticides. The crop was then used for the farmers own use and any left over could be sold at the local market. We did a massive 2 hours!! of weeding tomatoes, spring onions and beetroot. A journalist from the local paper came down and interviewed Dermot, I was impressed, he almost sounded intelligent. However there was a bit of  downside, Kieran, a NUJ (National Union of Journalists) rep on the English brigade chose not to come to the work brigade and gave some excuse about going to do an interview with the local radio station. I thought it was bad form as the Cubans had really look after us and we were included in all the “diplomatic” events and he could even turn up for two hours of not very hard work – ok the work was a bit tokenistic but it was the only chance that we had of doing something in return for all the kindness the Cubans had shown us.

Again tonight’s activity is one which I enjoyed the last trip here in 2004 and one of the most interesting parts of the trip, the visit to the CDR (Committee for the Defence of the Revolution). The CDR’s were set up after the revolution to organise the people on a local street level and originally sounded a bit like “big brother” keeping the contra revolutionaries in check but now act a bit like Community councils in the UK. They seem to be the lowest (and therefore the most important) part of the democratic hierarchy in the Cuban voting system. The whole group were taken to an area of Sancti spiritus and divided up into groups of around 20 people. Our group was the brigades from the UK, Ireland, USA and Canada. And we went to CDR no. 6 where the local people had made up a buffet of nibbles and punch to which we added a few bottles of rum. Then we were invited into see a family’s house. Myself and Barry visited MR and MRS Panama flat, and we were shown round and given a coffee. I had some bits and pieces donated by members of the Gorgie and Dalry community council, so I gave them some of the soaps and school bags for their two kids, Damien and Cynthia. The rest of the stuff I gave to the head of the CDR who said they would distribute it to all the kids later. The kids were so exited at meeting us. I took a couple of photo’s then one of the kids asked for a shot. I set it up and my camera disappeared for about 15 mins and only came back when it ran out of batteries but I got some great photos of their mates!! Then Mr. Panama came down with a present –an old tatty boot. Only when I looked closer I realised it was made of clay and it was amazing. After a few more rums, and getting forced to salsa with one of the older ladies who was obviously an expert and an exhibitionist, (Thank god there was no cameras about at that time) it was time to go. It must have been the longest goodbye ever. It took us nearly 40 mins to leave. Just as we were leaving Cynthia ran up and handed me a drawing of a dog that she had done – it was quite touching.

WEDNESDAY 6^TH

A non-political trip today – to Trinidad – the town in Cuba not the island. It’s about 1 ½ hours away from Sancti spiritus. The idea is to look around the town and then lie on the beach all afternoon. As Vladimir (the Serb) says “ life IS hard” !!

Trinidad is a quaint little town with lots of photo opportunities. We take a wander round in groups according to your language with a guide. We looked in to a temple of the local religion which is a kind of mixture of catholism and voodoo (I’m sure they would describe it differently) with a black Madonna as their shrine. We also went past a house with a shrine to Santa Barbara. The old lady whose house it was asked us in to have a look and I spotted her washing machine – it was like an old fashioned twin tub with out the spinner – a tub????

It was a bit of a whistle stop tour but the Iranians stopped at every shop and bought cheap shitty cigars which meant we ended up 20 mins late back to the bus and the Cubans were furious. Before that, we were taken into a bar which served chan chara ???, The drink that the rebels used to drink in the sierra maestro. It’s a mixture of cheap rum, honey and spices, it’s actually nicer than it sounds. Then there was a bit of commotion with Martin the Canadian, he was getting upset because he put his camera and bag down beside Ted, the oldest and sprightliest brigadista, and walks off. When he came back Ted had left to go for the bus and Martin’s bag was gone. He was very upset but was trying to blame Ted, who was probably unaware the he was supposed to be the bag attendant. Anyway, someone had picked it up but even thought we were late, he held up another bus for ages looking for his stuff.

We had lunch at the beach and then into the Caribbean Sea. It is incredibly salty. After a short dip went for a lie down on the sun-loungers . next thing I know Jerry is waking me up and its time to go. Slightly sunburned on my front. Oh dear not again!! Same thing happened in 2004 and I got sunstroke and was very ill for a couple of days. Back at the hotel in Sancti spiritus, I feel a bit knackered so after a few beers have an early-ish night. Jerry went on to the disco but said it was shit!! Heard that Martin the Canadian was moaning at dinner and demanded that the manager discipline his staff for not cooking the roast beef properly. If it is true he really is an arse and why is he here?

THURSDAY 7^TH

End of all the luxuries after breakfast today. We are returning to the camp at Caimito. Was told that the hotel we stayed in was used for the communist party officials when they had meetings in the town. We are stopping off in Santa Clara on the way back. We will visit the Che memorial and the train wreck in the town

The sun has its revenge today, a 6 hour bus journey with a 3 hour stop at Santa Clara, and I have an upset stomach and the boaks. Not what you want on a long bus journey. Made it to Santa Clara but feeling really shit, been looking forward to seeing the che memorial ever since some friends (you know who you are) went off to visit it in 2004 without asking me if I wanted to go, I’m not really one for holding a grudge BUT ……………

Anyway placed our flowers on the memorial and got a look in the new museum and the underground burial place for che and 84 other rebels. (Ha ha you didn’t get to see that) 

After we were taken to the statue of che holding a child. The statue has very interesting “bits” on it. Che has some rebel soldiers climbing up his leg and a woman is hanging out of a window underneath his left arm with other funny little bits all over.

Went to see the derailed train that changed the fortunes of the rebels in the Cuban revolution. A guide gave us a recap on the story of the incident. The train was specially armoured and filled with arms and soldiers from the Batista government regiments. Che and 24 men bulldozed the rails so that the train could not pass and then bulldozed the rails behind the train so they were trapped. The only vulnerable spot was the wooden floor of the train carriages so they set fire to them and gave the general 15 minutes to surrender, which he did. 23 carriages full of heavily armed troops surrendered to 24 rebels who didn’t have the manpower to arrest the troops so che had to get the local villagers to help. One enormous bluff on the part of Che and the one battle that probably changed the course of the revolution as they had enough arms to go on and take over the government of Cuba. There are only 3 or 4 carriages left on display now.

Went for lunch at a bizarre little compound in the local ICAP (Cuban institute of friendship with the peoples) but didn’t feel like eating and gave my chicken to Jerry. Then a 4 hour drive back to the camp – not at all pleasant especially since one of the buses broke down at the lunch place and so we had to go at a slow pace to allow it to keep up with us.

Free night to arrange the song/poem/speech for the international night but as the British group are leaving tomorrow we spend the night at the bar.

FRIDAY 8^TH

To start the last official day of the camp we have a solidarity meeting” where each country gets the chance to thank the Cubans for all their hospitality and to give an update on what sort of solidarity actions are being taken in that country. In theory it should be a short 5 min statement however the brigadista from Panama set the tone for the meeting with a 20 min epic followed by similar from Costa Rica and then the brigadista from brazil did her stuff but talked so fast the translators couldn’t keep up – Dermot was a bit annoyed with her as she wore her county’s flag as a wrap around sarong, he thought that was disrespectful. Anyway the speeches went on and on. The British speech was from Jerry – a really short to the point and excellent speech, they told us that they had a meeting and told Kieran that he couldn’t do the speech, I think they were a bit pissed off with him for, going off and speaking on behalf of them in Spanish without any discussion. After Jerry, they took a few more and then said they would have to pack up. But before the end they said they would like to read out a written statement from the Irish brigade. I looked at Dermot with a look of puzzlement; it wasn’t like Dermot to put anything in writing. He was a picture of rage!! One look and it suddenly dawned on me. Kieran. He had written a statement for the Irish group without asking anyone about it. It was too late to stop it and to add insult to injury he finished the statement by saying the statement was from “the Irish Brigade and BRITISH trade unions” Dermot can be a bit blustery sometimes but he really a little pussycat really (he’ll kill me for that) but this time he was very quiet and extremely white – the rage was for real. What made it worse was all the British brigadistas were coming up to him and saying “are you going to let him away with that”.

After the meeting there was a quick chat and it was agreed that the British and Irish groups would meet and have it out with Kieran. The camp director was informed that there was going to be a meeting and we all gathered away from all the other brigadistas. Dermot calmly asked Kieran what he thought he was doing and Kieran blamed the Cubans for getting the wrong end of the stick. He was informed that there would be an official complaint registered with CSC (Cuba Solidarity Campaign) in London. Kieran said that if there were any complaints to write to him but he was too busy now as he had to have a shower before he left for his plane.

With the situation diffused somewhat everyone went for lunch but me, Dermot and jerry headed for the bar!!

After lunch the British brigade left for their flight. It was quite sad, they were all nice folk and we had been very friendly with jerry. Even Kieran was fine when he wasn’t upsetting people. Still there was the international night to think about!! Each group has to come up with a traditional dish and / or do a song / poem / speech. As there was only me and Dermot to draw the talents from we had a problem!! But we overcame them first by using two bottles of Jameson’s whiskey which went down much better than anything either of us could cook (especially with the Iranians) and we decided that we would sing “back homein Derry” as the Irish song but while writing out the words at the bar, Josb (pronounced hose B) came up and said he would join in if we sang “the fields of athenry” so we changed tactics to accommodate him. josB comes from the slightly racist joke, what do you call two Spanish firemen – jose and josb (hose A and hose B). His real name was José and he’s a really nice guy and put up with a lot of slagging.

I mentioned earlier on that the oldest guy in the camp was Ted at 89 but the youngest was a wee 22 month old boy called Bruno who was there with his mum and dad on the Mexican delegation. He was a great wee fellow and joined in all of the activities. One of the first people up for the international night was his mum and she had a powerful voice. Next up was the Greek lads who sung a song. One of them was a really good guitar player but the singing ……… more counties did their bit. Songs, poems juggling all really good stuff of varying degrees of talent but it didn’t matter how good or bad you were. Which was just as well as we were on last. I got Emilianna to video it and we were spectacular   ………. Ly bad !!! out of tune, key and everything else but I think we got the biggest cheer of the night. They were either sorry for us or scared!! the Greek guys came up to us at the end and said “ ok you win, you were much worse than us” an accolade indeed!!

SATURDAY 9^TH

It was the last actual day of the camp; some people were leaving today and some tomorrow. There was a bus leaving for Havana at 9.30am so we agreed to pack up and stay the night in Havana. We said our goodbyes and left the camp. It kind of felt like leaving home.

When we got into Havana we were undecided about where to stay, Dermot had stayed in a little particulares but couldn’t remember where it was so we went to the Hotel Deauville on the malecon. It was a bit pricey but the room was huge and clean. We dropped our stuff off and went to the hotel Inglaterra, a second home by now, to use the internet and phone Luis to see if we can visit. Didn’t get through first time so had some lunch and phoned again after. We phone Boris to see if he was about but no answer and then got through to Luis who was expecting us for lunch.

I’m not sure which area he stays in but it’s quite far from the centre of the city. We met Martha, his wife, and his middle son, who was on his way out when we arrived. We were made so welcome, it was really nice. As we chatted away the weather outside was torrential rain something I would expect more readily in Scotland than in Cuba. Martha went out and shouted their youngest boy Jorge into meet us. He is coming to London with them next year and has started to learn English but I think he was a bit shy about speaking it. He was more interested in his cards that the kids swap in Cuba. Can’t remember what they are called but I think they are the next generation to pokemon cards and apparently the kids in Ireland collect them too. So when Dermot said he would get some for him he was over the moon!!

We stayed for our tea with Luis and Martha. She had cooked a wonderful meal of rice with pork, deep fried plantains and the most amazing white bean soup you have ever tasted and I am a connoisseur of soups!! I had written a piece on the Miami 5 for the Scottish socialist voice and Barbara had written about the 2004 camp so I had a few copies which I gave to Luis and Martha. Martha is an English Teacher and said that she would use the newspapers to teach the kids English. She said it was good because it showed how English was used but also it had a socialist message which the kids would like and understand – another first for the Voice!!!( http://www.scottishsocialistvoice.net ). Later on, we grabbed a taxi from outside the house to take us back to the hotel. A few drinks in the bar with the inevitable salsa band. Dermot’s up for a wander but I head off to bed. Luis told us that they are planning another special brigade at the end of next year to mark the anniversary of the death of Che and will probably follow a path from the Granma landings up to Havana taking in all the major sites. God I’ll have to start saving now!!!!

SUNDAY 10^TH

Wake up later than usual and start to get my stuff together – can’t find my ID pass that the camp gave me for the events. With it you don’t have to pay the departure tax of cuc$25 but more importantly it was going to be my centre piece of all my memorabilia when I get back home. Searched everywhere but never found it. Went for a last wander round Havana before we left and tried once more to phone Boris, still no luck so Dermot emailed him to say that we tried to get in touch but didn’t get through. Back to the hotel to check out and off to the airport. My flight leaves before Dermot’s and I see Julian and Richard who are on my flight to Gatwick. Well that’s all the excitement over!!

Or so I thought!! When I checked in the lady at the desk asked me for my exit visa, I didn’t have one so she made me fill in another form to take to immigration. I said my goodbyes to Dermot then started of through immigration (or is it emigration) where by they said I couldn’t leave as I didn’t have the correct paperwork. I was sent to the immigration officer’s office and had to stand outside like a little lost school boy. There was another guy there – a journalist , I think he was American but he said he was from Mexico city – the officer didn’t seem to be in any hurry and was just looking at the forms without doing anything. Luckily, Dermot had saw me and had also seen one of the interpreters from the camp dropping off the Mexicans for their flight and they came over and explained that I was here as a guest at the birthday party of Fidel. It didn’t seem to make that much difference but he went into his office and closed the door. Dermot then told me that it had happened to a couple of the English girls last time and they had to wait ages.

It took about 30 mins for him to come back and stamp both of our passports but then we had to join the queue to go through immigration again. The journalist was in front of me as his flight left 5 mins earlier than mine. When he got to the front and went through I could see on the computer the immigration officer was using had a huge red flashing disc when she scanned his passport it was too far away to see what it said but I reckon he must have been CIA J . After the woman made me wait for 5 mins before she would take my passport. Got through no problem to be confronted with a massive queue for the x-ray machines got through 15 mins before my flight was due to leave so I thought it would be closed by now and I had missed it but it turns out it was 1 ½ hours delayed. time for another drink with Dermot, Julian and his dad.

The flight back to Gatwick was fairly easy, through the night and arrived at 6am. Sat next to a nice couple from London. The girl was going straight to work after a fortnight in Cuba. Got my connection to Edinburgh and was home in bed by 2pm!!

Within a couple of days of returning came down with the flu that lasted till Christmas – must be the karmic effect 3 weeks of fun, the 2 weeks of flu, the ying and yang restored!!

It’s a pity that Fidel was too ill to attend any of the functions but it was a unique experience all the same.

I’ve probably missed out loads of important stuff as well as stuff that is probably better not recorded. But if I haven’t mention you it not that you weren’t important it may be that you were up to no good or that some memories are not for sharing!!  I seemed to be talking about food a lot too!!! I have actually lost 4 lbs since I went to Cuba but Christmas will take care of that

HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!!!

VIVA