BSR Magazine Show #12A

“Cuba Special (15 minute version)”

October 27, 2016

Hosted by James M. Branum

A production of BroadSpectrumRadio.com with support from the Upwave Media project of the Center for Conscience in Action

 

 

NOTE: The following set of notes is a rough script that I used, however, it is not an exact script as I made some changes as I read it as well as in editing.

 

Welcome to a special program of the BSR Magazine show from BroadSpectrumRadio.com for October 27, 2016

 

Your host for today is James Branum and this program will be all about my recent trip to Cuba!

 

I will be talking about my experiences in travel, the food, the culture and especially my visit to the Correspondence Department of the famous shortwave broadcaster, Radio Havana Cuba, mixed in with some of the sounds I recorded while on my journey, so stay tuned.

I’ll also be talking a bit about the ways that Cuban society is changing and how much it defies the expectations we in the US may have of it.

Also I want to let you know that the full program is one hour long but not every station is airing the full hour. For listeners on Channel 292 from Rohrbach, Germany and Unique Radio 3210 in Halls Creek, Australia will hear the whole program, but our listeners on other stations will only hear the first part of the program, so please go to our website to hear the entire broadcast. Also I will have lots of pictures and other materials online as well, which can all be found at www.broadspectrumradio.com/cuba.

 

(Music or street sounds here)

 

The trip itself – A bit more complicated than expected but also fairly smooth, involving a flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Santa Clara, Cuba, then a taxi ride to downtown Santa Clara, then a Viazul bus ride from Santa Clara to Havana. I was blessed to get to experience a small taste of the city of Che, Santa Clara, but mostly spent my time in the Viejo and Centro districts of Havana, staying in a wonderful little Casa Particular (or Guest house) in Viejo, only a 100 meters or so from the Malecon, on a side street of Avenida Prada.

The logistics were not bad, thanks to the arrangements made by Jet Blue Airlines to help make the dealings with the US and Cuban authorities go as smooth as possible. For most US travelers, one only needs a US passport and $50 to purchase a Cuban tourist visa at the airport in the US, as well as to complete an affidavit for the US authorities that attests to the fact that the US traveler is going to Cuba for one of the approved reasons and not just pure recreational tourism. I will go into more detail about all of this on the Cuba section of the BSR website, but overall this part wasn’t bad at all. Generally I was treated with kindness and respect by both US and Cuban authorities throughout the trip.

Language was more of a challenge. My only formal Spanish training was two years of study in high school, 23 or so years ago, with a little bit of informal learning since then, so I was pushed to the max to communicate. Thankfully most folks I met are eager to communicate, and normally I could have decent conversations, often mixing a little of English and Spanish as needed. Still the amount of negotiating regarding taxis, travel, etc, was not easy.

(Music or street sounds here)

The culture of Cuba was glorious. I only got to experience a little bit of in my 3 short days in Cuba, but what I saw was pretty awesome. Lots and lots of music, everywhere. In restaurants and tourist areas I heard lots of traditional Cuban music, while on the radio I heard traditional Cuban music, but also lots and lots of Jazz, a little bit of classical and a surprising amount of the Beatles. But when on the streets, riding taxis, etc, the main music folks were playing was hip-hop,