Common Ground Education & Travel Services
People to People Exchanges
Xavier University – January 2 to 10, 2016
Saturday
5:00 am
9:00 am
10:00 am
1:00 pm
3:00 pm
4:30 pm
6:00 pm
Sunday
7-8:00 am
9:30 am
Mid day
5:00 pm
6:00 pm
Monday
7-8:00 am
9:00 am
11:00 am
12:30 pm
2:00 pm
3:30 pm
Tuesday
7-8:00 am
9:00 am
January 2
Group travels to Miami and overnights at a hotel near the airport. Hotel shuttle service to and from the
airport.
Meet CG staff person in Miami International Airport and check in with Xael, Concourse G.
Depart on K8-426.
Arrive Havana. Meet drive and guide and drive into Havana with a panoramic overview of the city.
Welcome lunch at LA CALIFORNIA paladar (included). Meet with Dr.C. Hugo Pons Duarte, National
Advisor, Cuban National Association of Economists (ANEC) and coordinator of the program for Xavier.
Check into the Hotel Ambos Mundos.
Visit to the Museum of the Revolution
Afternoon and evening on your own to settle in and explore the area around the Hotel.
January 3
Breakfast at the hotel.
Depart for the farms and fisheries of the privately owned restaurant El Mediterraneo. Tour the farms
and talk with staff, famers and administrators about the concept, execution and challenges involved in
running Cuba’s first farm to table restaurant.
Lunch either at the farm or back in Havana at the restaurant (included).
Visit to the San José Craft Market. Exchange with administrator on the operation of the Market.
Drive to the Morro Castle. Dinner on your own at one of several eateries in the
castle, and then gather for the traditional 9:00 pm cannon salute, the cañonazo.
January 4
Breakfast at the hotel.
Arrival at ANEC. Explanation of the organization and work of ANEC and introduction to Cuba: Hugo
Pons Duarte.
Overview and general analysis of the Cuban Economy: Dr. C. Hugo Pons Duarte
Break
Meeting at the Embassy
Visit to the Literacy Museum, School City the in pre-Revolution times the Camp Columbia Military Base
Discussion with the Museum Director on Cuba’s perspective on the role of literacy in society and the
Cuban system of education, which goes from day care through university and popular education courses
Evening on your own.
Evening
January 5
Breakfast at the hotel.
Site visit and lecture at the University of Havana with Prof Marta Zaldivar, specialist in business
development, at the School of Business. If possible meet with some MBA students
Tour of the University of Havana.
Meet with representative from the Cuban government
Break for lunch (students can go into nearby Vedado lunch and take time to explore the downtown area.
Site visit and lecture on Cuba’s banking system: Msc. Ernán Sarmiento, Vice President of ANEC.
Visit to a community development project of the Group for the Comprehensive Development of the
City, an urban planning advisory program that sponsors along with the city government 20 physical and
social development projects called “Transformation Workshops”.
Dinner at ARTE CHEF (included) a restaurant and training center of the Cuban Culinary Association.
Wednesday
January 6
10:30 am
11:00 am
12:30 pm
2:30 pm
4:30 pm
9:30 am
10:30 am
11:30 am
12:30 pm
2:30 pm
4:00 pm
Thursday
7-8:00 am
8:30 am
10:30 am
1:00 pm
4:00 pm
Evening
Friday
7-8:00 am
8:30 am
9:30 am
12:30 pm
4:00 pm
Saturday
7-8:00 am
9:30 am
Lecture on Cuba’s foreign investment policy: Lic. Jorge Víctor Núñez Pereira, CANEC Consulting
Lecture on Cuba’s oil and mining industry, including both domestic and foreign investment: Dr.C. Pons.
Visit to the Alamar Housing Project. Tour the project and learn about the history of the housing
project , the housing ideas behind its construction and its past, current and future opportunities and
challenges
Visit to EL DIVINO, a privately owned farm. Have lunch at the garden (direct payment)
Visit the State run urban farms in Playa, a project run by the municipal government with an interesting
economic structure . Meet with the administrator.
Suggested meeting time for visit to U.S. Interests Section.
January 7
Breakfast at the hotel.
Film showing and discussion of the new Mariel Port and Free Trade Zone Project: Dr.C. Hugo Pons
Duarte, followed by a site visit to Mariel. In Mariel, tour the new development accompanied by Dr. Pons
Visit to farming cooperative in Artemisa province. Presentation on the different types of
agricultural cooperatives and private farming opportunities and state support enterprises: MSc.Raúl
Oscar Rosa Raveiro, Director, Camilo Cienfuegos Cooperative.
Continue to San Antonio de los Baños for lunch (included). The town along the Ariguanabo River has
boasted over its history, past and present, a thermal springs health resort, manufacturing of cigars,
clothes and yeast, a sugar refinery, an international film school, and a well known humor festival.
Return to Havana for a closing activity with Dr. Pons and ANEC.
On your own.
January 8
Breakfast at the hotel.
Depart for Pinar del Rio and the Viñales Valley.
Visit to a Tobacco Factory in Viñales and then a tobacco farm.
Lunch in a restaurant at the Wall of Prehistory(included) and then a meeting with MSC. Ricardo Álvarez
Pérez, Historian for Viñales
Meet with Dr. Jorge Freddy Ramíirez, professor at FORMATUR , the institution for Cuban tourism, for a
discussion of the outlook for tourism in Cuba and the professional requirements.
Return to Havana
3:00 pm
7:00 pm
January 9
Breakfast at the hotel.
Take ferry to the town of Regla across the harbor. Walking tour of Regla with MSc. Joaquín Olivera
Romero, Professor CUJAE Institute and consultant on local tourism to the Regla municipal government.
Return to Havana. Walking tour of Old Havana with a specialist from ANEC or from the Office of the
Historian and visit to Arte Corte a small business and business training project.
Lunch in Old Havana at LEYENDA HABANA (included) a private restaurant with an innovative concept:
Good food for the adults, play area for the children.
Visit the San José crafts market.
Farewell dinner at CAFÉ LAURENT, (included) with guests from ANEC.
Sunday
Early AM
11:00 am
January 10
Check out of hotel and drive to José Martí Airport in Havana.
Depart on K8-427, arriving in Miami at approximately 12:00 noon. End of program.
11:30 am
1:00 pm
Note: Tour operator reserves the right to change accommodations and schedule as local conditions prescribe. We ask
you to remain flexible as your hosts in Cuba do their best to ensure your comfort and that the goals of your visit are
realized. Please keep in mind that you are traveling to an embargoed country that shares its scarce resources with its
citizens as well as with its visitors.