MN Cuba Committee delegation to Cuba February 1-8
From: Minnesota Cuba Committee (mncubagmail.com)
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:02:23 -0800 (PST)
*MINNESOTANS TO CUBA FEBRUARY DELEGATION*

We have just received confirmation of the dates and itinerary for our
Minnesota-Cuba trip in February!

If you're interested in going, you'll have to act quickly; an application
and full payment must be received by the Marazul travel agency no later
than January 1, and should be submitted as soon as possible to reserve your
place.

The delegation will leave from Miami the morning of Wednesday, February 1,
and return Wednesday morning, February 8. The trip is fully licensed under
the people-to-people authorization issued to the Minnesota Cuba Committee
on October 31.

The schedule is full of events that will appeal both to first-time
travelers as well as those who have already been to Cuba. We will stay at
the Parkview Hotel which is very close to the center of Old Havana and just
steps away from the storied boat, the Granma, on exhibit at the Museum of
the Revolution.

In Havana, we will visit the town of Regla, a center of Afro-Cuban religion
that is sometimes described as the birthplace of the Cuban revolution.
There will also be a meeting with Cenesex, the pioneering sex education
agency, as well as visits to a trade union, a Committee for the Defense of
the Revolution, an organic farm, the international school of medicine
(ELAM), the Jose Fuster art studio and one of the art schools featured in
the movie "Unfinished Spaces."

The itinerary will also include day trips to the cities of Matanzas and
Santa Clara. Matanzas is home to the Museum of the Roots of Slavery; Santa
Clara is the location of the Che Guevara museum.

We will be accompanied on all of the scheduled activities by a bilingual
guide, but there will also be plenty of opportunity to get out and explore
the city of Havana on your own. If you don't already have a guidebook, the
October 2011 edition of the Lonely Planet guide to Cuba is available at
bookstores and at Amazon.com.

The approximately cost of the trip is $1,600 per person, including airfare
between Miami and Havana, hotel accommodations (per person, double room),
some meals, transportation to and from the airport in Havana, a guide and
full-time programming, tips for the guide and drivers and mandatory Cuban
medical insurance. It does not include a $25 Cuban exit fee, meals and
entertainment on your own and hotel tips. The cost will be about $200 more
for a single room.

You will need to be at the airport in Miami at 6:00 am February 1. There
are reasonably priced hotels near the airport and we can put you in touch
with other travelers if you want to share hotel accommodations.

A full itinerary and an application can be found at
www.minnesotacubacommittee.org. Please submit the application as soon as
possible. Instructions are on the application. (Be sure to select option
#12 on the page entitled "Travel Affidavit.")

If you want to submit the application electronically, you can fill it out
online, save it as a Word document and email it to info [at] marazul.com along
with a scanned copy of the information page from your passport.

You can also mail application materials to the address on the
application. (Don't forget the copy of the information page from your
passport.)

You can complete the credit card information and authorize a $200 deposit
to insure your place or you can leave the payment information blank and be
billed later. The final cost of the trip will be available in a couple of
days.

If you have any questions, send us an email at MNCuba [at] gmail.com.

See you in Havana!


*WRITERS, ARTISTS, FILMMAKERS AND ART LOVERS APRIL DELEGATION*

If you can't make the February trip, please consider going on the Writers,
Artists, Filmmakers and Art Lovers delegation. The tentative dates for this
trip are April 17-27, with the exact dates to be announced very soon. The
focus of this and the preceding two arts trips have been to include working
writers, artists, filmmakers, and educators, and now with the Minnesota
Cuba Committee's new people-to-people license, all are welcome. The
custom-made program includes extensive meetings with Cuban writers,
artists, filmmakers, scholars, dancers, musicians, educators, and others.
NO CVs needed!

The itinerary includes time in Havana, to meet with members of the Cuban
Film Institute (ICAIC), and the International School of Film and TV nearby
(founded by writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez), writers at the Alejo Carpentier
Foundation, visual artists, and other vital people in film, literary,
visual and performing arts. We'll go to Santiago de Cuba, cradle of Cuban
music, rich in all the arts, birthplace of the Revolution, home to
immigrants from all over the Caribbean, the beginning of
the Sierra Maestra Mountains, and a deep center of Afrocuban culture, where
we will connect to many visual artists among others. And to Gibara in
Holguin, for activities of the Festival of Poor Cinema, including the
awards and closing parties. This international festival of
“low-budget”/alternative/independent film includes concerts and exhibitions
in all media complementing the film events

The trip will be led by Minnesota Cuba Committee member Anya Achtenberg who
has been to Cuba five times. This will be the third arts-centered trip she
has organized. Contact her at aachtenberg [at] gmail.com if you are interested
in this trip.
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