Cuba 2015, 05
Boxing and baseball. With soccer thrown in as a third, these are the two most popular sports in Cuba. Today, we visit one of the most important training gyms for boxing in the country.
But first, we walk. We walk and walk and walk. We poke our heads in here and there. There is an inviting courtyard inside yet another building. I have been in here before, but the part of the group that is with me has not.
Old houses three and four stories high have long been broken up into apartments. The buildings have seen better days, but everything is clean and neat. A water tank stands in the corner, clothes lines running everywhere. Some potted plants are at its base. For me, it makes a nice setting, while others are visiting with a family.
They finish with their visit and photographs and return back out into the courtyard, and I meet the family with a couple more in our group. The son is making tooled-leather wallets, gluing the pieces together, the old Singer sewing machine in the background. There is no A/C in these parts of Cuba, so a fan peeks in at the edge, offering good air circulation.
It is time for our appointment at the boxing gym. Five-time Cuban national champion, now retired but with reflexes as fast as ever, Nardo Mastre Flores Lucia is the head trainer at the gym. He recognizes Arnie and me and greets us warmly. A couple of the boxers, too, greet us, as this is our fourth visit to this gym with different groups.
Nilo, — none of us is quite sure of his name — also recognizes us. More hugs and kisses. We miss the woman boxer, however, whom we have come to know. Perhaps she is taking a day off. Off in one corner, on the other side of the ring, a new boxer, a woman from New Zealand, is starting her training.
It is time for the work-out to start. Nardo has them doing agility exercises, sparring exercises, and other techniques that will improve their boxing. He moves a foot here, does a demo with Nilo, clearly one of the top boxers there, to show the others how it is done. Our group spreads out for different vantage points, trying to stay out of others’ way.
The tape comes out, and Nilo wraps his hands.
Our group gravitates to one side of the gym, and I get out of their way. I find some
great graphics in pipes and stair supports on one wall.
Then, Nardo has the boxers run up and down the stands. I am in a perfect position to capture one, stark against the stark wall behind.
We stay there for close to two hours, but it is time to leave. Reluctantly, we all say our good-byes. One of the ladies in our group has others photograph her with Nilo. All the ladies like Nilo!
It is lunch time, and we all find places on one of the nearby plazas to eat.
This afternoon, we learn more about the Santeria/Babalao religions. See Day 02 for more on this. Arnie and I bring our groups here every visit. It is fascinating and an important part of Cuban culture in some areas. In the house of a Santeria priestess, the group hears a talk from Elias, a professor, practitioner, and expert on the subject. Meanwhile, I take a short break and chat with some of the elders in another room.
Elias is very entertaining and interesting, and we walk along the streets to a place we visited earlier in the week. There, he has arranged for a special music and dance presentation.
For me, there is a lot of background clutter, so I concentrate of the swirling of feet and skirts.
It has been another full and fun day. We head back to our hotel on the bus with Tomas, and get ready for dinner. We all have to pack, as tomorrow, we check out and head southeast across the country to an area between the mountains and the sea.
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Cuba 2015, 05