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Day 4 of the Cuba Brigade
Sunday on 2025-04-27
CIJAM, Cuba (GMT-4)

04:58
I got up, showered, washed my clothes, and felt sore from yesterday! But I'm really okay. Despite the experience of scorpions, huge spiders, and dogs which hunted me down last night, I felt well rested. I had NO sun burn nor mosquito bites, my methods worked.

07:56
We gotta wait to go to the ELAM and subsequent work day (rescheduled for 45 minutes) as the British people arrived late and we need to go as one group.

I had another walk with a friend of mine and showed him a section of the camp we were never introduced to (we never had a tour of the CIJAM, so basically everything we see needs to be “discovered” by ourselves). It was right next to the entrance where a security guard sits, a grass field with benches, and a memorial in front. The memorial was one of many, all sitting on bright red stars. It read “MUERO POR LA REVOLUCION” or “I die for the revolution” with a sculpture of someone's head on top. The other stars had signs, sometimes, heads, sometimes images on a readable height above them, detailing foreigners who died and showed solidarity to Cuba throughout their lifetime. I felt the importance of this ground and its history eminating from all around.

Right in front of it was a sign of the camp, so me and my friend filmed a small introduction to where we are and what CIJAM stands for: Campamentamento Internacional Julio Antonio Mela.

The breakfast was as yesterday: too little (a singular egg omelette inbetween a palm-sized soft bread). I inquired as to why this was, as I initially assumed there was a cultural reason, such as Cubans not valuing breakfast as much, but the opposite is the case: on Cuba breakfast is much more important than, for example, in Germany where we simply eat bread based food entirely. In Cuba, breakfast is a full warm meal. The reason we are served something that wouldn't suffice in either country as breakfast, is because they have to ration the food, even for us brigadists. I was told this situation was different last year.

Additionally, it turned out to be not so okay for me to ask for another portion yesterday. Technically, I asked our guide Marcos if it was okay to ask, and then he just did and gave the second portion to me, but I was told by the leaders of our brigade that there are no “leftovers”. Even if there is food left, the personnel usually takes it home for them and their families.

We interviewed a man named Greg who worked for Pastors for Peace and organizes Cuban film nights in America. He's been on 8 brigades to Cuba in total, this is his first May Day Brigade.

08:56
Now in the bus, the delay was pretty long. We are escorted by the Cuban police on motorcycles in a caravan of busses with all the other brigadists. Just looking around and seeing nature is such an experience for me. You can't appreciate it when constantly looking on your phone, as I am doing now, which is why I've been more silent on social media lately (next to the power outages causing us to not have WiFi or mobile data). The palm trees and other plant species I've never seen before, the warmth and the way the sun hits the ground, the bird species making sounds I've never heard in Europe, the general hue of the environment at morning or dawn, the mountain range and wavy terrain. Cuba will always hold a special place in my heart!