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Moments From my Time Living in Cuba..

 

One year I decided to pack my stuff, leave the United States of America, and go to live in Cuba for a while. In Cuba, I lived in seven different cities. I landed in Cuba's capital, Havana, where I lived in the Vedado district. What I liked most about Havana is its history. I was able to learn the most about this city and its history by walking and riding a bicycle around the whole city.

After Havana, I moved to Cienfuego, where I shared a house with the baseball catcher for the Cienfuego baseball team, who plays in the Cuba National League. He was very kind to take his time to show me around his city and also appointed me as a sponsor for their girls' volleyball team.

After a while, I left Cienfuego and went to live in Trinidad, which is a UNESCO heritage city. Out of all the cities I lived in Cuba, I lived here the shortest because the city is full of tourists, so it made me feel like I was still in the USA. In every city I lived in, I spent most of my time in chess clubs. In all the other cities I played chess, I had no problem winning games except in Trinidad, where I met Cuba's chess champion, who beat me in all but one of the approximately 100 games we played.

After realizing that I would never beat Cuba's chess champion, I packed my stuff and moved to the city of Santa Clara. This city is full of Cuba's revolution history because that's is where it happened. I visited an area called Tren Blindado, where the actual revolution happened; the remains of the flipped-over train are still there. I also visited the Che Guevara Mausoleum, where I learned a lot about him.

After I had enough of Santa Clara, I moved to the city of Camaguey. Out of all the cities I lived in Cuba, Camaguey has the largest concentration of black people. What I've seen in this city is that the majority of people still practice West African spirituality and worship their ancestors and idols. You can see a portion of their worship in the video I made of my time in Cuba by clicking on the link below.

Las Tunas is where I went to live after Camaguey; this city is very calm, but when I was there, a baseball playoff series started between the Las Tunas team and the Industriales team from Havana; this is like what we call the World Series in the USA. The city was not calm anymore during the series and, of course, after Las Tunas beat Industriales and became Cuba's National League champions.

My final city to live in Cuba was Santiago de Cuba; this city is where the late Fidel Castro, former president of Cuba, is from and is also where the ashes of his remains are. I fell in love with this city the most out of all cities due to the calmness and politeness of its people. Santiago de Cuba was the city where I spent the majority of my time in Cuba. This city is full of history and historical places; I was able to visit almost all of them.

 

I could not write about my entire experience in Cuba on here, but I put together a video that has more of my experience and memories in Cuba. You can watch this video by clicking here:    

 

If you have a question about my life experience in Cuba, you can ask me in the comments section of this video. I do respond to all comments.

Peace Be With You.

 

 

[SWAHILI]

Kuna mwaka niliamua kufungasha virago vyangu Marekani na kwenda kuishi nchi ya Cuba kwa muda. Nchini Cuba niliishi katika miji saba tofauti. Kwanza niliishi mji mkuu wa Havana kitongoji cha Vedado. Kilichonivutia sana Havana ni historia yake na nilifanikiwa kuijua karibu yote kwani nilikua nikizunguka mji mzima kwa gari, kwa baskeli hata kwa miguu.

Baada ya hapo nilihamia mji wa Cienfuego, huko niliishi nyumba moja na mchezaji maarufu wa mchezo wa Baseball wa timu ya Cienfuego ambaye kwa ukarimu wake alinionyesha maeneo mbalimbali ya mji wa Cienfuego na pia alinipa jukumu la kuwa mdhamini ya timu ya kinadada ya volleyball.

Baada ya hapo nilienda kuishi kwenye mji wa Trinidad ambao pia ni mji wa urithi wa UNESCO. Mji huu niliishi kipindi kifupi kuliko miji yote kwani ni mji uliojaa watalii wengi sana hivyo nilijihisi kama bado niko Marekani. Katika miji yote saba niliyoishi, kila mji nilikua najumuika kwenye vilabu vya mchezo wa chess na nilikua naibuka mshindi kila mji kasoro mji huu wa Trinidad, kwani nilikutana na bingwa wa mchezo huo Cuba nzima na kati ya takribani michezo 100 hivi, alinifunga michezo yote kasoro mmoja.

Baada ya kuona hakuna dalili za kuwa bingwa wa mchezo wa chess hapo Trinidad, nilifungasha virago vyangu na kuhamia mji wa Santa Clara, huko nilipata historia nzuri ya mapinduzi ya Cuba kwenye makumbusho ya Che Guevara, na nilitembelea eneo la Tren Blindado ambapo ndipo mapinduzi yalipofanyika kwa kupindua treni.

Nilipotoka hapo nilihamia mji wa Camaguey, huu ni mji uliojaa watu weusi wengi kuliko miji yote niliyoishi Cuba. Nilichokiona kwenye mji huu ni wakazi wengi wa mji huu bado wana imani ya kuabudu roho za mizimu ya mababu na kupandisha mizuka. Unaweza kuona sehemu ya ibada zao hizo katika video ya maisha yangu ya Cuba kwenye 'link' hapo chini.

Mji wa Las Tunas ndiko nilikokwenda kuishi baada ya Camaguey, huu ni mji uliotulia ila kipindi nilipokua hapo, kulikua na mechi za fainali za mchezo wa baseball kati ya timu ya Las Tunas na timu ya Industriales kutoka Havana ambapo timu ya Las Tunas iliibuka kidedea kwa kushinda michezo mingi na kuufanya mji huu uchangamke sana.

Nilihama Las Tunas na kwenda kuishi mji wa Santiago de Cuba baada ya hapo, huu ni mji ambao ametokea aliyekuwa rais maarufu wa nchi hiyo hayati Fidel Castro ampapo pia ndipo yalipo majivu ya mabaki ya mwili wake. Mji huu niliupenda sana kwa utulivu na ustaarabu wa watu wake hivyo hapa ndipo niliishi muda mrefu kuliko miji mengine yote. Mji huu pia umejaa historia kubwa sana ya nchi ya Cuba na niliweza kutembelea maeneo karibu yote nikiwa hapo.

 

Sikuweza kuelezea vyote nilivyoviona au nilivyopitia Cuba ila nimeandaa video inayojumuisha matukio mbalimbali ambayo unaweza kuitazama kwa kubonyeza hapa:       

 

Kama una swali unaweza kuniuliza katika comment section ya video hii kwani hapo ndipo ninajibu maswali yote, Alamsiki.