El Museo de Che

On Saturday, we drove 3 hours east to Santa Clara to pay homage to Ernesto Guevara, the Argentinian whose love for Latin America and dedication to social equality led him to Cuba, where he committed his life to the revolution. Pavia has been reading Che’s biography, a GIANT book that is basically a day-by-day account of the Cuban revolution. Anyone who attentively reads it cover-to-cover deserves a PHD on the life of Ernesto Guevara. So, in the absence of Google, she has become my personal, portable source of Che knowledge, as well as a fellow Che admirer who indulges my enthusiasm. In Cuba, one cannot escape the presence of Che. His face is everywhere. He was captured and executed during the revolution, so he is frozen as a 30-something year old and has come to represent the optimism of a revolutionary youth.

Here’s my pre-Che Museum excitement:

After 3 hours on the road, we piled out of the van and learned that the museum was closed for renovations. Ah, yes. In case we had forgotten, estamos en Cuba.

Outside the museum, there was a tall statue and some quotes carved into a monument, so we soaked that up, then drove further into Santa Clara to spend the day.

It’s a remarkably ugly city. We set off to find the train that Che derailed during the revolution. That’s why the museum is in Santa Clara – it was there where he successfully derailed a train traveling full-speed to Havana, filled with Batista’s reinforcement. The train cars are still scattered as they were after the crash, the insides converted into an art museum. The bulldozer is there, too. Brad pointed out that ironically, it’s a Catepillar – an American brand. Whatever you gotta do, Señor Che.

After walking around and working up an appetite, we encountered a quaint creole restaurant. Black bean soup, rice and (more) beans, fresh tomatoes and lettuce, and just-out-of-the-fryer plantain chips. Shelby and I ordered fish; pork for everyone else. The waitress came back out and told us that we would have to wait a bit longer for the fish, which we were fine with. When the others were practically finished with their meals, out come our steaming plates, and much to our surprise........

Shelby had Pavia cut off her fish’s head, while I preferred to bond with mine throughout the meal. Making eye contact made it even tastier! Really was delicious. Followed it up with chocolate peanut butter ice cream (for a dime!) and went on our way back to La Habana.