Six on Cuba: NYC Educators Delegation Trip to Cuba 2018; Letter from Havana; Trump nods...

The deadlines for confirming your participation in the NYC Educators Delegation Trip to Cuba 2018 have been extended...see new dates below in red. Many of you have requested that the dates be extended if possible since you and colleagues are just returning for the new school year. Our travel agency along with the airline have extended our cut off day which allows us to extend due date for the delegation. Please feel free to circulate...

Dear Prospective Travelers,

We are happy to announce the details of our annual Educators Delegation Trip to Cuba! As we have always done in the past, our goal is to make your trip memorable as well as affordable.

Host by: Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos (Cuba’s Friendship Institute) and Cuban Ministry of Education.

The dates for next year’s trip are Saturday, March 31 - Saturday April 7, 2018. Below you will find information to help guide your decision to participate. Since this is an Education Research Trip, we will incorporate visits to schools. (See attached draft program)

Departing from: JFK-Havana-JFK;

(High season blackout dates)

Air and Visa: $600.00 (health insurance not included $30-$40.00)

Land Package Collected in Cuba

Double Rooms: $1,350.00 USD per person

Single Room: $1,490.00 USD per person

Accommodations: (7 nights/6 days) at Copacabana (available online), all - inclusive, all meals, all ground transportation on air-conditioned bus (including pick-up and drop off at the airport); bilingual (English/Spanish) translator for all tours and excursions; gifts for schools, gratuities for drivers, guides and translators.

There is a $300.00 processing fee (non-refundable). If you've been doing the math, here are the totals:

Double Occupancy: $2,250.00 per person

Single Occupancy: $2,390.00 per person

Not included: There is a 25.00 CUC (Cuba’s Currency for tourists) airport exit tax. Sometimes it is collected in NY, sometimes in Cuba ; baggage check-in; overweight baggage; personal expenses; admission to other attractions not mentioned on the itinerary, extra meals not mentioned on the itinerary; chamber maid gratuities; server gratuities; waiters and porter gratuities; your own parties...etc

Next Steps:

1. Confirm your reservation ASAP by sending the processing fee of $300.00. Make the check out to Miguel Melendez, 555 North Avenue, Apt. 11-V, Fort Lee, N.J. 07024. This must be done by October 27th 2017 If reserving double occupancy, give us the name and email address of your roommate.

Note: Selection is based on a first come, first served basis.

2. Prepare your notarized affidavit (attached) and photocopy your passport (only the photo page with pertinent information). Each passenger must have a complete, notarized affidavit and an unexpired passport. The name on the passport and on the notarized affidavit must match exactly.

Mail the notarized affidavit, photocopy your passport (photo page only) and airfare and visa cost of $600.00 to: Miguel Melendez, 555 North Avenue, Apt. 11-V, Fort Lee, N.J. 07024.

This is due on December 1st, 2017

The land package portion of the trip is collected in Cuba.

Orientation (TBA): If you have never traveled with us, your attendance at the orientation is mandortory .

Very Important!

Moving forward, you must check your emails frequently announcing updates to our "Cuba Trip 2018". Most will be time sensitive. Folks, a trip to Cuba is a very special event. Please help us make your experience positive and memorable.

Mickey / Cynthia

Below are comments from NYC Educators Delegation Trip 2017.

“Let me just say that I am not happy to be back. There I said it! Cuba was absolutely amazing; I haven't been able to stop thinking about our time there, its streets, music, and culture.’ First year teacher.

“I will forever feel joy in my spirit as I remember the many experiences lived in Cuba.

It was so untouchable to feel guajiro son and rumba. To dance in the streets of Habana was

a dream come true. My soul rejoices and is humbled as I see how "mal criado" we can be.

I loved the love given to me by all I met.” Teacher

“I have a whole new outlook on Cuba and fell in love with it, the people, and its rich history the moment I got there! What a beautiful country!” PE Teacher

“It was a pleasure and an honor to be a member of this educational research trip to Cuba. It’s going to take some time to process all that we experienced firsthand, up close and personal. We have acquired a great respect for the people of Cuba. Their vigilance and tenacity to survive without the resources that most of us take for granted each and every day is quite astonishing!” Former NYCDOE Principal and Educational Consultant with his wife Retired RN Montefoire Hospital/ Albert Einstein Medical Center.

“My Cuban experience was extraordinary, amazing and so impressionable that it will live

in my heart and soul forever! Every picture I took has a story to tell. An anecdotal very unique

in its' time and place. I was touched by the people of Cuba as well as its culture and history.

I will go back as I have more to see and feel. I have to dance again to the rhythms that move

my spirit and give me joy! Joy of heart!!!! Que Viva Cuba!!!” Retired teacher

“My experience in Cuba was unique in comparison to my other travels abroad. Cuba can only be described in one word based on this trips experience…”Magic”. Its a progressive place preserved with some of the world’s most precious gifts. It thrives on a culture that transcends generational gaps. This experience showed me that it is our responsibility to see the full scope of history and not just through the lens of an American but through the lens of a human being. It is difficult to explain every piece of this trip with words because it can only be experienced. The literacy museum and special needs school were both very inspiring places.” Guidance Counselor NYC Dept of Education

This was by far the most significant vacation I have ever taken. It’s educational, cultural and political

components made the experience so valuable for me. Since getting back to work I’ve been mostly talking about this trip. (My colleagues say I’ve been bragging.)… “I was impressed by the humbleness of the Cubans who have not been raised under a materialistic consumerist culture. I noticed the pride of the director of the Literacy Museum, Dr. Luisa Campos, displayed when talking about the educational accomplishments of the revolution. An experience that I know would never happen back in the US was obvious on the first day of the trip. The hotel allowed us to check in and spend the night without paying up-front and let us pay the next day.” Captain NYPD

Cuba Mangroves enhance reefs by providing a nursery area for vulnerable creatures and by trapping sediment that can smother coral. They also store carbon that might .jpg

Trip to Cuba 2018.docx

USS Savannah Havana shakedown cruise.jpg

Vendors offer plastic bags for sale near a subsidised state store in Havana where Cubans can buy basic products.jpg

Cuban President Raul Castro Ruiz walked with the Bolivarian administrator, touring the Santa Ifigenia’s expansive grounds.jpg

Execution Wall in Cabanas, Havana, Cuba, 1900jpg.jpg

Flags flew at half-staff by Antonio Maceo Square, Santiago after the death of Fidel Castro.jpg

GENERALLICENSETRAVELAFFIDAVIT-2 (1) (1) (2).pdf

Isidoro Malmierca Peoli, editor of the Communist Party newspaper Granma, Comandante Guillermo García, and Fidel Castro playing a three-day marathon game of dominoes, in his army encampment a mile from Uvero, 1965.jpg

Paseo del Prado, Havana, 1900.jpg

President Reagan addresses the nation on television in 1983 to make the case for a proposed defense budget. At left is a picture of Soviet Migs in western Cuba..jpg