Photos and text by Sean Barlow

To Matanzas--Home of Sugar and Afro-Cuban culture

From Santiago, we drive all day and into the full moon lit night to Matanzas, near Havana on the north coast. We are on the road from nine in the morning until almost midnight. Stops in Las Tunas and Camaguey help break up the trip. I amuse myself by taking digital shots of roadside kitsch, which I'm happy to share with you. The ham sandwich street vendor in Las Tunas probably has the most photographed pig head in Cuba after the Afropop crew stop by to snack on his fare and snap souvenir shots.

Our sleepy arrival at funky Hotel Louvre on a main square in Matanzas turns out to be a very social event as the friendly staff serves up welcoming drinks and the hotel trio serenades us. They're quite good actually. And they promise to hand deliver us copies of their cassette the next day. This happens all over Cuba. Local musicians have decent quality recordings on decently reproduced cassettes. And if they're out of cassettes, the musicians will travel miles the following day to sell you their music. At $5 each, it's not much for visitors but a lot for locals (where the average salary ranges from $5-10 per month).

The next day we visit the local Union of Writers and Artists where two scholars give us talks on the social and cultural history of this port city that handled over half of the lucrative sugar exports in the 19th Century. Slavery did not really end in Cuba until 1886! And African slaves from Yoruba land were brought here almost to the very end. So there is a very recent connection to Africa, and a deep, wide practice of African religion and culture here. We hear of Matanzas' string of firsts in terms of poetry, publishing, music, and politics. And we are told that in 1860 Matanzas was proclaimed "the Athens of Cuba."

That night, Yamile Ramos leads us to nearby Jovellanos to the home of Miguel Baro. Five generations of the Baro family live here, including 80 something Grand Grand Ma who sings in the chorus of the family group which preserves the Arara music and dance tradition directly connected to Dahomey (now called Benin) in West Africa. About 100 townspeople gather to watch. Their excitement shoots way up when Afropopper Devitt joins the dancing, his neck jangling.

The next night, Vivian Ramos of Los Munequitos de Matanzas leads us down barely lit Matanzas streets to a toque. (Literally a "touch" of the drums). The crowded room spans oldsters and youngsters. While the atmosphere is very friendly and social, this is also a religious event so we leave our cameras and recording devices back at the hotel. This toque is for the orisha Agayu, the father of Chango in the Yoruba cosmology. Three drummers play the sacred double-headed bata drums decorated with cowrie shells. Two older women are mounted by the santos. One goes around the room hugging people. Another's eyes swell up and she barks stacatto sounds. At one point, three younger bata drummers enter the room, and move in a circle as they play thunderously. The energy in the room jumps and everyone sings along. It feels like a tremendous honor to be included tonight as guests of the community.

It's back to Havana the next day for a last day run-around. It's a gray, blustery Saturday, and I'm feeling blue about leaving, and facing everything that awaits me back home. A big moon rises over a cloudbank hovering over the sea which crashes into the Malecon. Rafael Lam, our man in Havana for afropop.org reports, meets me in the hotel lobby to talk about story ideas for the future. That night at our farewell dinner, as is the tradition here where people do a lot of listening to speeches and as in the Afropop tradition too, several people stood up to say some words, starting off with me to thank all the principals who worked so hard to pull off such a magnificent visit to Cuba--Ned Sublette, Louis Head, Jesus Garcia, and our drivers Rafael Hinajosa and Nicholas Cardenas. Rafael is a charming fellow who insists on speaking to us in his halting English. He lifts up his hands, and says "In these hands, I know I have your lives." We all nod. They have done a fantastic job. Ned thanks Afropoppers for being so committed to the program and sticking with the demanding pace without complaining. Louis thanks Afropop Worldwide for keeping Americans connected to the story of Cuban music during the economic crisis of the early 1990s (when caloric intake of the average Cuban was cut in half) and people toughed it out with discipline and dignity. Jesus complements our group's stamina and enthusiasm, and says he's experienced culture on this Afropop visit he's never seen before in years and years of tour guiding.

The night is still young, and most of our group stop by the 1830 Club where Pupy--pianist/composer and former mainstay of Cuba's top dance band, Los Van Van--is showing off his new band. A fashion show and rain shower later, Pupy's band hits the stage for a short, hot set.

Cuba, we'll be back! ****************************************** If you are interested in receiving information about our next Afropop seminars in Cuba (Possibly as soon as July 2002) or other Afropop visits to Africa and Latin America, contact us at info@afropop.org. Or you can call Louis Head at CRAG at 505-463-0439.