Traces of Cuba

Not a day goes by that I don’t think about Cuba.  In the quiet moments of my days the flood of emotions I experienced there still creeps back into my mind.  I have wanted to write a follow up post about my trip but I am still grasping for the right words to explain my feelings.

How does one really explain the feeling of sadness AND the feeling of joy that have taken a hold of my heart?  There is an emptiness and fullness that remain. 

The rain that beats here on my window is the same rain that washes the streets of Havana but never have I been to and from a place and really feel like I travelled in time or perhaps even another planet.  I wish I could video chat with my brothers and sisters in Cuba and see their shining bright faces.  I wish I could smell the heavy scent of rice and beans wafting through the halls of the Methodist center.  I long for the shouts and laughter of the Cuban children in streets. 

The sting of the emotional shockwave that hit me in that place has not yet slipped through my fingers.  My mind still swirls with the echoes and sights of Cuba.  Even now writing these few words, the faces of my church family and blood family trace through my mind and it is overwhelming.

Elio and Ibel

Omar

I think about these boys every day.  All three of them are 11 years old.  They have the best manners, they work hard, the make good grades in school.  If I had the means to I would adopt them all.  I hope to see them again the next time I go back.  See how much they have grown and hope that the stress of their lives their has not stolen the sparkle in their eyes.

It's a amazing how large the human heart must be.  I am certain that I left a piece of mine with each person I met in Cuba and I desire to go back and leave some more.

Inside Havana

Just picked up this GREAT photography book at Magnolia Style in Hyde Park.  I fingered through the pages the other day and decided not to get it, but that dang book has been on my mind ever since.  So first thing this morning I popped in and bought it.

It's called Inside Havana by Andrew Moore.  The images are just beautiful and I am hoping to maybe find out where some of the pictures were taken and pop by to check those spaces out!

Book Cover

A Parlor in Matanzas

Dilapidated Ballet School

These are just a couple of the stunning images from this gorgeous book.

Jeff and Lee at Magnolia were so gracious showing me some of their other photography books about Cuba.  If you haven't been by the shop, swing by and check it out.  They have gorgeous art work, home decor and the light fixtures are to die for!

Check out Magnolia Style website HERE.

The Things We Carry

In High School I read a book entitled "The Things They Carried" and it is a great book.  It is a story of soldiers at war and the book uses the things they have to carry as a metaphor for many things they go through in battle and in their pasts.  I have begun packing for Cuba and it is quite an interesting suitcase that I will carry.  

Here it is.  This enormous and ominous bag of things.  Necessary and unnecessary.  

Maybe a third of this bag contains my personal items.  The rest are items to bring to family members and to share with the people at the church.  In this bag I have packed: towels, sheets, work clothes, sneakers, antibiotics, toys for children, candy, boxes of macaroni and cheese, lots of soap, baseball stuff, a huge first aid kit, paint rollers, paint brushes, hangers, sandpaper, tooth brushes, a blood pressure monitor, books and since there is more space I am sure we will be cramming much more.

Sounds totally random right?  Well it is, in fact, totally random.  My items I planned quite carefully to make sure I bring only what I need and that it is the lightest weight stuff possible.  The medicine, first aid and blood pressure monitor have specific people in mind and purposes.  But everything else is kind of the story here.

Macaroni and cheese?  Well the people are starving in Cuba and when you hear their stories, a majority revolve around food.  The macaroni and cheese is high in calories and fat and for them it is an extra special treat.  Quality soap is hard to come by so we bring lots of it.  And I am sure you can imagine toys and books are sparce.  They have so little of so many things... THINGS THAT I TAKE FOR GRANTED EVERY SINGLE DAY... That anything that we have that we can take that is durable and in good shape is like giving a new and treasured gift for the recipient in Cuba.

I am getting to the point where I think about this experience and what its going to be like and I become extremely emotional.  It's hard for me to contain my excitement, fear, sadness, and overall emotion for what it will be like to see this country I have heard stories of my whole life.  This seemingly mythical island that has rooted itself so deeply in my family.  My arrival will be a symbolic homecoming for my family and to finally meet all those who I know only through pictures will be a very precious moment.

Exactly one week from this minute, we will be packing the cars with the things we will be carrying and embarking on this great adventure.

I am going on a Journey

On July 1st, I am embarking on a great adventure! I will be going to Cuba to do mission work in Havana with a team through my Church, Hyde Park United Methodist and UMVIM (United Methodist Volunteers in Mission).

This will be a deeply rooted journey for me as I have spent my whole life hearing stories of the lives my grandparents once had in Cuba, before the Revolution.  Growing up we always sent our hand-me-downs and photos to our relatives who still live there.  I still sift through the hundreds of photos at my Abuela's house, that have captured the beautiful and glamorous life my family had while they were there.

My Abuela Isabel Muller, age 20 at the President's wife's ball

This is one of my favorites!

 My Abuelo's Wedding

 My Abuela and Abuelo Isabel and Elio 

On their Honeymoon

Isabel at 18 when she was at the teachers academy

That's my dad in the front, shooting his gun at the camera.

These are just a few photos...

I will be meeting lots of family for the first time and I know it will be very emotional for me.

Aside from my family there, I hope to experience a profound spiritual connection working with the Methodist church to help restore a part of the Seminary in Havana and experience how God is moving through the people there.  Most of all, I am really excited that I will be sharing this entire experience with my mother who is leading the trip.  She is an amazing person and I am so proud of her.

She is American by birth, but now just as Cuban as the rest of our relatives!

Our team will be blogging about or time there through the church blog.  And this past Sunday we had the pleasure of having the Cuban Bishop give the Sermon at our church.

If you would like to read the Hyde Park UMC Blog, go HERE

And if you would like to hear the Bishop's Sermon go HERE

(9:30 service June 5th)

I will be giving more updates about this trip as we get closer and when I return I hope to have tons of pictures and excerpts from my journal to share with you!