Wednesday, Jan. 21

We woke up in our home-stay homes to a traditional breakfast of bread with butter, fresh pineapple juice, freshly-cut pineapples, and fried eggs.

We got ready to leave for the tobacco farm in Viñales, where we purchased homemade cigars and took footage of farmers working the fields. Instead of tractors, they used horses or just walked through the beating sun, handpicking tobacco leaves.

Once we got back, the group went down to the local athletic field to play soccer and baseball with little children. Unfortunately, during a game of Harvard-Westlake students vs. Cuban students, we lost by many points.

Later in the evening, we took salsa dance classes where we partnered up and practiced basic dance steps. After about an hour, we decided to go to a live music performance nearby to show off our salsa moves. Although we had a great time with exciting Cuban music and drinks, we were outshone by natives, who swayed their hips and moved their feet more musically than we did.

To finish off the night of dancing, we all regrouped in one person’s house for a trip bonding session where students shared funny moments of the trip and impressions of the Cuba trip with each other.