Since the 1960s, in response to the rise of Fidel Castro, the nationalization of industry, and military alignment with the now nonexistent Soviet Union, the United States has maintained trade and travel embargoes of varying degrees of severity against the nation of Cuba.  Under President Barack Obama, travel regulations were relaxed, allowing defacto tourism for the first time in decades, and also making it easier for Openendedsocialstudies.org founder Thomas Kenning to conduct firsthand research for a set of lessons centered on the island of Cuba.  

Below are the Adventure Blog entries documenting that expedition from March 2017. Educational in their own right, his blog posts offer plenty of history, culture, and photos woven into a first person narrative, which attempts to present honestly and conversationally one traveler’s experience while conducting research abroad.

Consider reading these dispatches at face value, for enjoyment.  Use them to plot a geographic course through Cuba or to plan a hypothetical student trip, or as a starting point to inspire an individual research project from questions that arise naturally while reading.  

Happy travels and happy reading.

• March 11, 2017: Havana, Cuba – “This city may be beautiful to you, my friend, but not to me.”
• March 12, 2017: Havana, Cuba – Daylight Savings in the Time of Revolution
• March 13, 2017: Hemingway’s Havana
• March 14, 2017: Vinales, Cuba – There’s an angry horse tied up on the road ahead
• March 15, 2017: Vinales, Cuba – A Life in the Valley
• March 16, 2017: Vinales, Cuba – The Motor Scooter Diary
• March 17, 2017: Havana, Cuba – Necropolis Cristobal Colon and Other Things Well-Named
• March 18, 2017: Havana, Cuba – The So-Called October Crisis
• How to Cuba 2017

Find the lessons inspired by this expedition here – Cuba Libre: An Island in the Imperialist Sea.