Many of you have contacted us asking us the past months if we were opened. As you might know we had to suspend the volunteering program since Covid pandemic started on March 2020.
For all of us in the island it has been a big challenge, navigating between Covid pandemic, lockdown, lost of loved ones and “post pandemic” stress. Some have family abroad and have not been able to see each other since then; and cherry on top, Cuba has been/is facing one of the worst economic-health crisis since Special Period.
But this has not stopped us, has not stopped many Cuban families, trying to find a way to deal with this long closure, including their small family businesses, looking to generate income somehow and support each others. I particularly found there was an explosion of many small business (entrepreneurs) during this period: admirable, resilient, bad-ass, how to call it/them? Finding the right words to describe how we all dealt with all the difficulties and still are, might be to premature or naive. We can all agree in one fact, we are just ready for Reopening. We were just waiting for it for so long, we all need it, we all have missed everyone so much.
Already some coffees, coffee-bookstores, restaurants-paladares are back in business, trying to find their rhythm, figuring out how to be responsible with their team, employees, customers, and still stay cool and offer a relax atmosphere, which is at the end the one thing we all want when leaving your home and ”risk being out” to ‘breath a little’ or have a ‘change of air’.
We are currently having a short “sabbatical time period” from the farm (as I decided to call it after realizing it is our 8th ongoing year here). Lucky me, lucky us, this period has allowed us to share with some amazing people in Europe about what we have been doing the past 7 years at Tungasuk, visit family, and concreted a great collaboration with Eminente rhum that started 8 months ago.
But we are back and ready for reopening end of November (normally- if something this pandemic has taught us, specially to parents, is to take a deep breath, be flexible, ready for changes, do not stress about it, do your best and make your peace with it-with you).
Will keep you posted! And see you all soon!
Find some articles related to traveling Protocols in the island and what we have been doing this past 2 months outside the farm.
Ps. Excuse my poor English but it has been a while without posting. Any question, inquiry, doubt about traveling to the island or volunteering, please follow us on Facebook or send us an email to tungasuk@gmail.com
https://www.mintur.gob.cu/protocolos/
https://www.mintur.gob.cu/protocolos-sanitarios-para-viajeros-a-partir-del-7-de-noviembre/
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/traveling-to-cuba-during-covid
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2021/10/eminente-launches-cuban-experience-in-the-heart-of-paris/
http://www.the7exclusivejournal.com/2021/07/16/hotel-eminente-un-cuba-sauvage-en-plein-paris/