I’m really going to Cuba!

Yesterday, my mother called me in the room to watch a segment of ‘60 Minutes’ in which Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra visited Cuba as part of a musical exchange. The sounds, the architecture and the scenery seemed so vivid and a lot more exciting than my life at home in North Carolina. It’s still a little surreal to me that I will be traveling to Cuba in a few days.

Needless to say, I have not started packing. I do know that there are three things that I don’t want to leave home without: my journal, my favorite teddy bear, Ralph—we’ve been together since I was 7--and my copy of “Yoruba from Cuba” selected poems by Nicolás Guillén. With these things, I will not only be reminded of home but the importance of embracing as much of the Cuban culture as possible. I am most excited to meet Nancy Morejón. Lines like “My mother had a headscarf and a song / to cradle a faith in my soul” (14-15) from “Mother” or “ They left me here and here I stayed. / And because I worked like a beast / here I was born again” (7-9) from “Black Woman” make it easy for me to be a huge fan of her work. Knowing that there is a set date for us to meet her helps to put my anxiety at ease. Our hike through the Sierra Maestra is also something that I am looking forward to. Aside from the various excursions, I want to really get to know the people--what their daily routine is like, what they do for fun, what makes us similar and what makes us different. All of these thoughts about the upcoming months create a mix of excitement and anxiety about the unknown. After a year of anticipation...I’m really going to Cuba!