Cuba: Once In A Lifetime Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The workload at Universidad de la Habana was very light in comparison to Tulane, but part of this is due to assumptions on the Cuban side that American students can't handle the work load. I only had one to two assignments per class and rarely had outside reading for my classes. Instead of in class participation, students are lectured to 3/4 of the time, and the other 1/4 of classes are devoted to debate between the students, again something we didn't participate in much normally. All of the students in any given department have been together (in every single class) since beginning college, so it's a pretty different dynamic from schools in the USA.

On-site administration of your program

Our Tulane leader was GREAT at everything she did. Cuba is overall pretty inefficient, unpredictable, and crazy and she did a great job of adapting to all the situations we found ourselves in. She was very well versed in Cuban history, and I have no complaints at all about her! Having only 4 students was great for the program since it was so much easier to travel.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

We lived in a residency that housed students from 2 other US schools, but foreign journalists were coming in and out throughout the semester. Our neighborhood was pretty safe (as are almost all of the places where we would feasibly live in Havana), in an area with a lot of young people and cool spots. We brought most everything we needed, although bringing a fitted sheet is a good idea because the residence uses just a flat sheet and it bugged a lot of us.

The food is pretty abysmal after four months, but it's not anything that we could change so we just dealt with it and dreamt about food back home all the time. Bring hot sauce and seasoning (like Tony's), and any other kind of snacks that will be missed (peanut butter, candy, ramen, etc). I also recommend bringing an electric kettle if it fits! Very useful for making tea, coffee, soups, etc. We ate at Habaname, a small cafe on the corner of 26 y Calle G, on a weekly basis. There are other small places located close to the Costillar that we frequented (Peso Pizza a couple of blocks down from Habaname, delicious pastries all around, Coppelia ice cream!)

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

All the trips that our leader planned were amazing, everything we did was fun! We loved exploring the city and seeing the museums, historic sites, and sitting on the Malecon.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Havana is very safe since there are no guns and the police presence is so strong. That being said, be smart: don't go out by yourself if you're drunk (we walked around during the day solo all the time though), if you're carrying a purse make sure you hold onto it and don't have it dangling from your wrist. The only person I know who had something stolen was a girl carrying a small wristlet and someone just yanked it off her arm. I had no health problems, but everyone who did had a pretty easy time dealing with the Cuban health system. I believe we got one vaccine but I'm not sure.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Our Cuban friends, other American students and our Tulane professor were all helpful in practicing speaking, but some sort of partnership or buddy system with Cuban students could be helpful. Other American schools there had programs similar to this. We used Spanish every day, and rarely found (Cuban) people who spoke English.

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• Other

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• Americans
• Other

• Trips around the country
• The ease of getting around in Havana
• Our residence and the neighborhood around it

• Make having lunch+dinner a meal plan option instead of just breakfast+dinner
• Add a trip Isla de Juventud, other small beach islands/cayos
• Add a trip to Hemingway's house