Sadly, it’s time to go. I’ll try to write some more detailed followup notes on the plane home, but for now I’ll just upload a few photos (click on the thumbnail images to enlarge) showing
a) The final-night party – boy, it’s some experience to get out there on a Cuban dance floor with some great live music that has the crowd on its feet! I think us Gringos must simply be born with ‘frozen hips’; luckily they can be loosened up a bit with some Cuba Libré and a few cervezas (or was it a cerveza and a few Cuba Librés — who’s counting?)!
We had some great laughs at our little table of ‘pranksters’ – you know who you are! I was pretty exhausted by midnight as the party was winding up, and still a bit jet-lagged, but an enthusiastic tap on the shoulder informed me that “in Cuba the party doesn’t stop”, so it was off to a rooftop private continuation with a small group of about 8 of us until around 2:30 in the morning — plenty more music for the whole neighbourhood, dancing, rum, and hot debate about Software Libre. Then I had to get up at 7am the next morning for a great sightseeing visit to Viñales, but it was worth it… I can always sleep on the plane!
b) The exhibition booth from Universidad de las Ciencias y Informaticas. The same UCI I wrote about in the past, and they have really come a long way with some great student presentations showing a profound understanding of the state of the art. And it is not just UCI – I met some great individuals from many other institutions across Cuba and all of Latin America, and there is lots happening.
c) A group visit to the Cuban National Ballet for a performance of Coppélia, put on specially for us, and a rare sighting of Prima Ballerina Alicia Alonso, who first performed this ballet in 1948, in the balcony just above us, to the rapturous applause of the crowd.
OK, time to pack my bags… thanks again everyone, especially Tomás, Pedro, Maité, Gretchen, Olga Lydia, Liliana and Idelfonso, Ana Gloria, Lourdes, Celia, plus Sigrid Wilson and the helpful people at Logistour, and all the numerous others who made this an unforgettable experience!
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