Day 0 of the Cuba Brigade
Wednesday on 2025-04-23
Hannover, Germany (GMT+1)

Today would be the day where we'd all have to finish our preparations, get to know all final info before the brigade, and drive to Frankfurt in order to stay the night and be on time for the flight tomorrow. Nothing really exciting, except for me who just started packing today! But... how did we get here, and what even is a „brigade”?

Unlike previously presented, I am not flying to Cuba to deliver the Mastodon plushie (exclusively). For the past half a year, I've been studying Spanish, going to prep meetings, and learning a lot about Cuban culture, politics, and history as part of a political delegation: a youth brigade through labor day (1st of May). The final preparation meeting was on the 4th of April, just recently: a whole weekend where we even met a Cuban ambassador to have a long conversation with. I asked her how much she believed German politicians in the Bundestag make, she couldn't believe my response (450.000 Cuban pesos a month). The entire conversation was an inner flower picking, as she explained everything she knew with a choice of words akin to that of a poet.

This is organized by Cuba Sí, a work group inside of the political party The Left, which I am a part of. This is the second year where this brigade is also funded by the Leftist Youth Solid (Linksjugend ['solid], the youth organization of The Left) and the SDS – Socialist-Democratic Student Association (Sozialistisch-Demokratischer Studierendenverband), hence we have a lot more people coming! I believe 24 people are joining this year, all from different places in Germany, and a wide age range of rather young people (from 19 to 29).

We have a two week program with a mixture of everything one needs to get to know Cuban culture, the people, politics, and general life! We'll even regularly work on a field! However, visits to the infamous medical university ELAM, El Cano and its city council, a primary school, as well as the labor day demonstration with over 500k people in Havana, and much much more are part of the program too!

Within this mess, I'll have to find time for an appointment with my friend Jorge, who happened to have won the little giveaway we've done last year regarding a Mastodon plushie. Since then, we've talked a lot about what he as a teacher needs, so I managed to also bring a laptop, a bag to hold it, as well as some utensils he asked for. The plushie hence doesn't just arrive as a meaningless gift, but also lots of technology to bypass the horrible international blockade by the United States of America.

You can download a PDF of our schedule in German here, but I'll try to translate it to the best of my abilities:

Preliminary program as of 23.04.2025

Travel period: 24 April to 7 May 2025
Every day: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Wake-up call in CIJAM always at 05:45, sometimes earlier.

First, a glossary:

• PCC: Partido Comunista de Cuba, Communist Party of Cuba
• UCJ: Unión de jóvenes comunistasyouth organization of the PCC
• FEU: Fedéración Estudiantil Universitaria,student organization
• CIJAM: Campamentamento Internacional Julio Antonio Mela, the camp we will stay at

Thursday, April 24, 2025
Night: Arrival in Cuba. Transfer to your hotel in Havana. Accommodation and dinner.

Friday, April 25, 2025
09:00 a.m.: Meeting at the Cuban Institute for Friendship among Peoples (ICAP)
11:00 a.m.: Visit to the Fidel Castro Center
Afterwards: Transfer to CIJAM
Evening: Accommodation and dinner

Saturday, April 26, 2025
(From April 26th, the Brigade program will be included in the May Day program until May 2nd)
07:45 a.m.: Departure for the work visit
02:30 p.m.: Exchange with students from Artemisa University.

Sunday, April 27, 2025
07:45 a.m.: Departure to the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM)
08:30 a.m.: Work visit and exchange with students at ELAM
02:30 p.m.: Exchange with students from Artemisa University

Monday, April 28, 2025
Morning: Opening of the International May Day Brigade
10:00 a.m.: Presentation on the “65 Years of ICAP” campaign
11:00 a.m.: Regional exchange between brigade members of all countries
03:00 p.m.: Conferences on the culture war and digital warfare at CIJAM
08:00 p.m.: Dinner and "Cuban Night"

Tuesday, April 29, 2025
08:00 a.m.: Departure to nearby communities
08:30 a.m.: Visits to primary schools
Lunch: At CIJAM
02:30 p.m.: Departure to nearby communities
03:00 p.m.: Visits to health facilities
Evening: Preparations for the "International Night" and May Day parade (painting banners, etc.)
08:00 p.m.: Dinner and "International Night"

Wednesday, April 30, 2025
08:00 a.m.: Departure for Havana
09:00 a.m.: Meeting with the UJC national leadership
Lunch: In the city
03:00 p.m.: Film screening at the cinema: "Belly of the Beast"

Thursday, May 1, 2025
03:00 a.m.: Wake up and breakfast
04:00 a.m.: Departure for Havana
07:00 a.m.: May Day parade
Afterwards: Free time
05:00 p.m.: Departure to CIJAM

Friday, May 2, 2025
08:00 a.m.: Departure to Havana
09:00 a.m.: Solidarity event at the Palacio de las Convenciones
05:00 p.m.: Accommodation at Vila La Kuka

Saturday, May 3, 2025

09:00 a.m.: Departure for the El Cano project
Morning: Meeting with the local government and community members
02:00 p.m.: Visit to a family doctor’s office in El Cano
04:00 p.m.: Meeting at the Casa de la Cultura in El Cano

Sunday, May 4, 2025
09:00 a.m.: Departure for the project in El Cano and community work
11:00 a.m.: Visit to the pottery project and meeting with the workers
12:00 p.m.: Lunch at Vila La Kuka
Afternoon: Tour of Old Havana and its main squares, visit to the Museum of the Revolution

Monday, May 5, 2025
08:00 a.m.: Departure for Santa Clara
02:00 p.m.: Reception at the ICAP premises
03:00 p.m.: Visit to a state-owned company (mipymes)

Tuesday, May 6, 2025
09:00 a.m.: Visit to the Che Memorial
11:00 a.m.: Visit to Marta Abreu University

• Meeting with students and leaders of the FEU and UJC
• Visit to a state-owned company (mipymes) 02:00 p.m.: Departure for Havana Afternoon: Visit to the PCC Ñico López Party School

Wednesday, May 7, 2025
10:00 a.m.: Meeting at ICAP
03:00 p.m.: Visit to the José Martí Monument
06:00 p.m.: Departure to the airport
09:45 p.m.: Departure

Wow, it's quite a lot! Especially since this plan can change spontaneously any time! The past months have been a hassle, especially to get all the documents, insurance, clothing, and everything else in advance to begin. You can also look at the list of recommended / required items to bring, with the Dviajeros-Form, international health insurance documents, sun screen (!!!) and mosquito spray (!!!!), foot wear for field work, etc. I've prepared well, but this morning up until the late afternoon was the exact time where I'd have to put it all into my suitcase.

It took a few hours to pack everything, nothing important from the list was missing, everything else I'd find a way to get it up until the next day. I still had some things to do such as withdrawing cash and sending some E-Mails, but afterwards I said goodbye to my friends in Hannover and left for the train. I left at 16:57 from Hanover and arrived 19:44 in Frankfurt, but I wasn't alone: a friend of mine who will also be joining me on the brigade to Cuba accompanied me on the same train. We also helped one another prepare the whole time and shared info, for example I printed some flight documents she needed and she brought toilet paper which I didn't have spare at home (the CIJAM probably doesn't have much).

Once arrived in Frankfurt, a city I have many memories of (such as getting the servers required to initially build the very Mastodon instance I'm writing this post on), we drove to the city and state party bureau of The Left in Hessen / Frankfurt and got to talking. It was nice seeing almost everyone again. It was an odd feeling to know I'd be intensively spending the next two weeks with them, but the realization of the whole ordeal slowly settles in. Not everyone was here tonight as there was a traffic jam, and everyone coming from Berlin was stuck on the Autobahn.

They had a scale for our suitcase at the bureau, so everyone measured how much we could potentially still store for a few items we would bring to support Cuban schools and hospitals. We also discussed what songs to sing for the international night st the CIJAM, and some repetition of what would be happening the next day.

I adjusted some draft for a social media post we will make about this event on Instagram on labor day, I obviously won't have the internet to do it in Cuba, at least not easily.

After an oddly short amount of time, we all decided to go to a Cuba themed bar (Club Voltaire) in Frankfurt. I don't drink alcohol, so I ordered a virgin Cuba Libre, how original.

We all knew we had a long day, including an intercontinental 10 hour flight, after a four hour flight, ahead of us. So, after a few short heated debates, and one brigade member swiftly completing the first lesson of duolingo, we called it quits and split as a group. Me and my other friend from Hannover sleep at one of the organizer's places! Much more cost effective than a hotel for the night.

I'm documenting all of this as I'm lying in a sleeping bag on the floor at 2 AM. The next two weeks are gonna be a wild ride for sure, and my alarm is already ringn' in three hours. I'll better call it a day, and write a muuuuch longer and detailed briefing on everything happening here on the flight tomorrow! Once you're seeing the next post, I'll be on this one small island in the Caribbean that refuses to back down! ️

Frankfurt, Germany (GMT+1)
Thursday, 24th of April 2025 at 02:16
----END OF DAY 0 OF THE CUBA BRIGADE----

I'm at the airport — flight to Madrid from Frankfurt is leaving in about an hour!

Just landed in Madrid! This was a wild flight.

Day 1 of the Cuba Brigade
Thursday on 2025-04-24
Hannover, Germany (GMT+1)

06:40 (GMT+1)
We just woke up (alarm at 6:35). I haven't slept much since I wanted to finish the documentation from yesterday first! We agreed upon leaving at 7:10 because we wanted to be at the airport at 8:00, as our flight is leaving 10:55.

Let the day of flights begin!

07:22 (GMT+1)
We're currently on on a suburban train (S-Bahn) to Frankfurt central station, from there we'll go to the airport! The gate we'll have to be at (Terminal 2, Area E, Level 2 in front of the baker Kamps) is exactly the same where I picked up my American trans friends a month ago when they fled from the USA.

07:35 (GMT+1)
We're at a train station waiting for a train to Frankfurt airport.

UX1502
UX51

09:28
At the gate

11:26 in the airplane (for already a longer time, like 30 minutes). Minutes away from take off! We're on the runway now. 11:27. Despite having flown before, my heart is pounding, I think it's exciting every time. Especially as I'm sitting right next to the right wing and hear it roar.

We've taken off. I can't see anything, as it's the thickest hoard of clouds I've seen. Pitch white. Everywhere. The roaring turbine sounds have blended into the background noise, the airplane still at an incline and rising to the right altitude. I would not want to be the pilot, steering through this sea of nothing. I've never seen a kind of white like this before. So bright that it is blinding. The only notice of a exterior world existing is the shadow the airplane is casting upon itself.

11:33
We've just now risen above the clouds. For the first time I can see what is below us, or that there is anything below us, as the pilot is adjusting the direction of the airplane. We're still at an incline as the seatbelt sign turns off.

15:13 (GMT) (Madrid)
We're sitting at the gate (B20) and waiting for boarding which started three minutes ago!

16:09 (GMT)
Sitting in the final airplane from Madrid to Cuba. I've sent my final messages to friends and family before being probably very disconnected for two weeks! I'm just leaving for such a short amount of time, yet it feels like I'm leaving forever...

16:35 (GMT)
We're in the air! This airplane is massive compared. To the other one, once again I'm seated at the wings. I'm prepared for a 9 hour and 15 minutes flight ahead of me to Havana, although, I'm a bit sad: I desperately tried sending an important E-Mail to someone before leaving. I even received WhatsApp messages etc. but the E-Mail just wouldn't send. It's a shame they'll have to wait another 9 hours for it.

21:53 (GMT)
I guess the flight is more than halfway done. It's currently just 15:53 in Havana. Once we arrive, it'll be sooner than it is now. So confusing. I've tried sleeping for 40 minutes, it was more like resting. It's not an issue, I've pulled all-nighters before and one could see what I'm doing now as that. A passenger undarkened the window in front of us which awakened my circadian rhythm. I think my sleep cycle can handle a shift of a few hours, it's like staying up super late with the added bonus of not having to get up early in comparison.

01:23 (GMT)
It's now 25 minutes to arriving at our destination! We're still at 11.277m high and traveling with 850km/h. I'm looking outside to see the bright sun, and that feels like gaslighting, as to me it's 1:30 in the morning.

1:27 (GMT)
We're just now at 9.275m in the air! Falling so quickly, although I'm almost not feeling it (beyond my ears popping).

19:52 (GMT-4) or 01:52 (GMT)
WE JUST LANDED! I've rarely experienced a smoother landing. The people clapped, probably because the 9 hour flight is finally over! The clouds before landing were magnificent, I took dozens of pictures. Now, once landed, it's very foggy everywhere.

Before the flight, I had a debate with my girlfriend about whether to bring a sweater. I was of the firm belief that I wouldn't need one, due to the general temperature in Cuba, she said something about the flight possibly being cold, which convinced me, since I remember my first intercontinental flight when I was 15 to San Francisco from Reykjavik to be very, very cold up in the air. This time I had to take that sweater off, I still believe I won't need it for this trip.

20:21
Currently at the D'Viajeros. There's two cameras pointed at everyone walking by, taking pictures of their faces, which are displayed on a laptop screen. It was kind of creepy seeing it so transparently, but at the end of the day most / all airport security systems take pictures of your face, I guess this was the only one that shows it. I was advised to not take pictures, already caused a scene back in Germany when trying to film the TSA. Generally I should inform myself better when it comes to filming in public, as military personnel for example isn't allowed to be filmed.

21:18 (GMT-4)
I'm already on a bus! After passing through every check the airport had and getting our luggage quote swiftly, a local guide picked us up who is coordinated by the first of may brigade and in extension Cuba Si. He's known to the organizers of our group who were welcomed by him with open arms.

Once entering the bus close to Havana airport we started driving and got a small introduction about the CIJAM and what we can expect in the coming days. Looking around, it's fascinating seeing many oldtimers (some of them even being Trabbis).

Sadly, due to the very different climate and thicker air (very good idea to take off my sweater, btw) my camera's lense was frogging.

We drove past the Plaza de la Revolución, INDER (Instituto Nacional de Deportes, Educación Física y Recreación de Cuba), and the ministry of defence...

21:32
The longer we stay in the bus, the more the thick and warm air becomes apparent to me.

It started raining, luckily I have my rain jacket in my bag.

21:47
We've arrived at the hotel Deauville in Havana. There's still a buffet and we're all pretty hungry and or tired.

22:44
We got incredible food. Not many vegetarian options, but they were great anyway! Even with dessert. We figured out that we can exchange euros for Cuban pesos at the hotel lobby, which would be smart considering the WiFi here is also 25 CUP / hour. If you're reading this, I've probably paid that amount for some hours.

Once I'm settling down and all things for tomorrow (such as the time to get up and general planning) are sorted, the feeling of “sudden” tiredness overcomes me. It's 5 AM in my original timezone, I've been up for 23 hours already, what a long day...

23:08
I've just exchanged 50€ for 15.000 Cuban pesos, a 1:300 exchange rate, which is better than the official ones, I think. Or maybe I've been ripped off. I don't care, when westerners get scammed in Cuba, they still think they've gotten a good deal. Have a meal for 5€, all Cubans will believe it's overpriced, whilst people like me would be surprised at such a low cost.

Regardless, I've split my money up into several locations because I don't want to be robbed and left with nothing. However, it's also illegal to take Cuban pesos out of Cuba, so I really have to remember where that stuff is in order to not cause a scene. With my newly acquired Cuban pesos I will hopefully be able to afford WiFi.

I've gotten WiFi for three hours, it was actually only 25 CUP per hour for Cubans. Everyone else had to pay 200 CUP / hour of internet, with a credit card as a preferred method of payment.

Some time later we went out and walked around in Havana, at the shore, through the city. I've taken many fascinating photos and have seen a lot.

01:43
Oh man, now I've been awake for over 24 hours. It's been a long day, so much to learn and process. I should get a good night of sleep before being too tired to experience tomorrow!

Havana, Cuba (GMT-4)
Friday, 25th of April 2025
----END OF DAY 1 OF THE CUBA BRIGADE----

Reading up on some literature on my way to the Centro Fidel Castro Ruz ️

¡Viva Cuba Socialista!

¡Cuba Sí, Yankees No!

The Cuban flag of the Centro Fidel Castro Ruz is at half mast due to the Pope's passing. He has been a strict opponent of the blockade!

I've been in the museum of the alphabetization movement in Cuba! Did you know that the US funded counter-revolutionaries to kill teachers who tried to increase literacy? Some of them were kids! The youngest person joined the literacy campaign by the age of 9!

The same tactic was used by the Mujahideen (also a US backed terrorist organization) when the democratic people's party of Afghanistan had a similar campaign to decrease illiteracy.

These are the names of all the teachers killed by a US backed terrorist organization when they tried to increase literacy and educate people in Cuba.

Day 2 of the Cuba Brigade
Friday on 2025-04-25
Havana, Cuba (GMT-4)

Schedule for Today

09:00 a.m.: Meeting at the Cuban Institute for Friendship among Peoples (ICAP)
11:00 a.m.: Visit to the Fidel Castro Center
Afterwards: Transfer to CIJAM
Evening: Accommodation and dinner

7:15
This is when I set my alarm, however, I've awoken several times at night. Once due to a bad dream, and once due to a dream my hotel roommate from the brigade had. He started talking to me in the middle of the night, asking me if I could remember the word he just thought of, I think we were all a bit shaken by the prior day and being awake 25 hours to travel across the globe. I showered, then got to the hotel's breakfast! We got many fruits (mango slices, dragonfruit, melon, pineapple), an omelette made in front of your eyes, and rice with beans, potatoes, oats and milk — there was lots to choose from!

After breakfast I packed my things and went to the bus. We needed to be on time at 09:00, so I was standing downstairs, luggage and carry on bag in hand at 08:50.

9:15
We're sitting in a bus off to our meeting with ICAP and later at the Fidel Castro Center. I love the ride through Havana, the buildings have a certain style that I haven't seen before.

11:20
We're just now leaving ICAP, it was great! We walked into a palace-like building with a large garden and a small hand-sized statue of Jose Marti on a table at the entrance. Two people were hosting a Q&A event, the person of ICUP responsible for Europe.

We asked the hosts many questions regarding Cuba's history, the political work of ICAP, especially focused on youth work by the party's youth organization. We discussed Cuba's modern problems, the mistakes in its past (such as too much of an economic reliance on the Soviet Union and the failed reform of the Peso) as well as the creation of organizations like Cuba Si in the wake of the fall of the eastern bloc.

We learned that ICAP works with over 2000 organizations across 150 countries, and that Cuba Si is doing excellent work in comparison, especially in the field of agriculture. We talked about options to bypass the blockade, both as individuals, non government organizations, and nations. They discussed how modern support by nations governed by sometimes leftist parties, nowadays focuses on electrical support through solar panels, as this makes Cuba's electricity more independent from crude oil import.

We've discussed the influence of the United States, as well as the debacle of its embassy closing for made up reasons.

The history of ICAP is entangled with the history of the U.S.'s actions against Cuba itself. The organization was founded on the idea that through international solidarity, Cuba would not stand alone when it is being attempted to be isolated.

Shortly after leaving we've arrived at the Centro Fidel Castro Ruz, which is a very modern museum (built only three years ago) to preserve the history of revolution and one of its children, Fidel Castro. The museum documented all of his personal writings, his involvement in historic events such as the Bay of Pigs invasion, and a small scale replica of Castro's boat used in the revolution, as well as detailed explanations of guerilla tactics. The museum also documented achievements in which Cuba helped globally, such as its international doctor program. It had an interactive section where you could look country by country what Cuba is supporting there, the Germany section even included images of and by Cuba Si! This is how we were made aware that our organization is mentioned in this very important museum.

The museum did a good job of portraying Castro as who he was, with no sugarcoating or anything. They managed to showcase his successes without undermining the work of the millions of Cubans that aided the revolution too.

13:17
Once leaving the museum we went to this restaurant (El Aljibe) and were supposed to just have rice with black beans, yet it turns out we got chicken (I didn't eat those since I am vegetarian), omelette, soup, potatoes, salad, then afterwards rice with black beans, I got at the bar a few non-alcoholic drinks, and at the end we got a good coffee and rice pudding. The restaurant had live music and there were cats walking through it. I was told not to pet them, but I did anyway (I thoroughly washed my hands after).

15:03
After leaving the restaurant, we'd drive to the National Museum of the Literacy campaign (Museo Nacional de la Campaña de Alfabetización.). Right after the successful revolution, the communist party of Cuba decided to do something against the illiteracy in the country, and mobilized 107.000 people, a majority of which being women, and also children / teenager aged 8 - 19, to educate the nation's illiterate and teach them how to read and write. This campaign lasted one year, and helped over 700.000 people! This museum documents that. The final test to prove your acquired literacy was to write a letter to either your teacher or Fidel Castro. The museum has every letter ever written to Castro there, some of which displayed.

The campaign wasn't too easy, however, as 42 teachers were killed by US backed contra revolutionaries. It truly shows you're on the wrong side if you have to kill people for the crime of education.

16:36
In a bus to the CIJAM!

It's incredible! Though there was a power outage and we have no WiFi. When we arrived, we sang songs and were welcomed warmly by the other people here. I'm sleeping with 6 people in one room!

19:04
After dinner at the CIJAM in a circle. We discussed the next day, which includes going to a field to work. We'd be woken up by 5:45 AM (or earlier), then we'd have ~1 hour to get ready (shower, eat breakfast), then 07:00 AM we'd collect ourselves at the center of the CIJAM to discuss in what groups we are divided, hence who does what field work, then we're going on a truck and off we go to the fields.

The Americans filled their buckets with the drinking water to shower, now there's no drinking water. There was a scorpion in the women's bathroom, and I seemed to be the only one freaked out about that.

There are beautiful fireflies everywhere, and once the sun disappeared under the horizon, I was able to see the night sky for the first time. The stars looked very different from what I was used to in Hannover.

22:09
Aggressive cicada chirping as ASMR. I hope no scorpion climbs in my bed.

CIJAM, Cuba (GMT-4)
Friday, 25th of April 2025
----END OF DAY 2 OF THE CUBA BRIGADE----

I already woke up before 5 AM to stay ahead of the curve! #Grindset

This card was used by the hundred thousand people of the literacy campaign in Cuba as a method of identification. Giving the power of literacy to over 700.000 people in just one year is possible when that is an actual goal, and not just an empty promise.

The murals at the CIJAM truly are something

Accessing the internet through mobile data in Cuba makes you sometimes appear in some city on the border between Ukraine and Poland. It appears that the 4G towers are directly connected to a VPN / proxy to bypass US restrictions, or that's what I assume.