Arrived in Santiago de Cuba around 9:30 this morning and hit the ground running. Our group was met by Carlos and Jennifer and a new driver, Orlando. We headed into downtown Santiago and got situated in our casas particulares before heading out to Guama and a terrific lunch in a restaurant by the ocean. On the way to lunch we picked up some children walking home from school and dropped them off near their houses. Imagine children in the US willingly getting into a van with strangers! It was then off to a small village off the beaten track. We turned off the main highway down an almost invisible narrow dirt road and came upon a series of houses and a whole rural community. You would never know it was there. I chose to wander around this small settlement and photograph the people. It never ceases to amaze me how open and genuine the Cuban people are. The country is suffering greatly and yet its people maintain their dignity and self-worth. They are generous to a fault, have a ready smile and share their lives with you as if they have known you all their lives. Words cannot do justice to the feeling one gets by being here – especially in these rural and very non-touristy areas. My creative concentration for this trip is to do environmental portraits as much as possible. I definitely need practice in this area but thanks to a class with David Hilliard I have broadened my definition of the environmental portrait and hopefully will be successful over the next 10 days.
