A Note from Bo’s Handler:
Today we will be joining President Obama, his family, and
their dog, Bo, on their trip to Cuba. They will be the first in-office
President and family to go to Cuba since Calvin Coolidge visited in 1928. On
October 19, 1960, an embargo was placed on Cuba by the United States. This was
in response to Castro seizing American-owned oil refineries in Cuba. The
embargo banned all exports other than food and medicines. In February of 1962,
the embargo was expanded. In 2009 President Obama loosened the embargo by
letting Americans travel to Cuba, but only if they had relatives there in Cuba.
Since then, more than 400,000 Cuban-Americans visit Cuban annually. While
travel restriction on Cubans have also been relaxed in recent years, two days
before President Obama’s visit the US Coast Guard rescued 18 Cubans trying to
reach Florida on homemade rafts. Nine members of the group had drowned on the
journey. U.S. citizens are still not allowed to invest directly in businesses
in Cuba, but progress is being made. Just before the President’s trip, Starwood
Hotels signed a deal with the Cuban government to manage three hotels in Cuba.
President Obama and his family are crossing over the ocean
into Cuba where they are going to stay for the next 3 days. President Obama
will meet with Raul Castro and others to help reestablish diplomatic relations
with Cuba. The Cuban government hopes the visit will gain them some benefits
from the US without losing any of its power over the Cuban citizens. President Obama
hopes that his visit will promote a positive change nationwide. Bo, the pet dog
of the President Obama and his family, really doesn’t like heights, but came
along to keep the family company and because he really wants to see the famous
sights of each country they visit.
He has chronicled this and other historic events in his
Travel Blog.
Sunday, March 21, 2016:
We just landed in Jose Marti International Airport, and the
first thing I saw was a cart with strange things on it. I noticed that there
were Virginia apples on the cart, showing that US goods still get into Cuba
despite the embargo. I wanted to figure out what all the items were but I only
got see that there was a bike and ship’s wheel before we had to leave for a
meet-and-greet with Jeffery DeLaurentis, a US diplomat
to Cuba, and several officials from Cuba’s foreign ministry at the U.S.
Embassy.
(Who knows what treasures are
hidden in these sealed packages?)
(Bo at the US
Embassy (without and with flags))
While President Obama and Michelle met everyone, Malia,
Sasha, and I spoke with the wives who attended the meeting. Out of all the conversations, I enjoyed
getting petted the most. During the
meeting I got bored, so I snuck away to get some ice cream. I was disappointed
that the shop was out of milk. With the embargo in place, shortages of goods
were not uncommon. “Hopefully they will be able to make ice cream more frequently
after the embargo is lifted”, I thought to myself. I took a peek inside and saw
some interesting interior design. After I checked out the ice cream parlor, I
went to Old Havana for some sight-seeing.
The first thing I saw was a family pulling a refrigerator,
which they had just purchased, used, down the street.
I was surprised to see shooting galleries on the side of the
road in what looked to be shipping containers. My Spanish is a little rusty but
I think the crate said “Every Cuban must know how to
shoot, and to shoot well." How different from my home in Washington, D.C.! 
I wandered around Old Havana and the surrounding
neighborhoods and was shocked by the big contrasts between the renovated part
of Old Havana, where the tourists go, and the larger surrounding parts that
have not been reconstructed. Tourist areas, such as the water-front buildings
were well kept and brightly painted. In surrounding areas, there were many
buildings in near-ruin or condemned. People were still living in them, however,
due to housing shortages in Havana. There were even shops open in buildings
that looked ready to collapse!
Some of the historic building had graffiti on them. Some
things aren’t that different from the US, I guess!
I saw a big difference in what was available for tourists verses locals. Cubans have internet access only at
government-provided locations and it is illegal in private homes. Hotels for
tourists are often equipped with unlimited bandwidth on the internet, as well
as TVs with international channels.
Hotels for tourists have pools, restaurants, and other things that are
usual to use in the U.S.
I headed back into Old Havana, where the rest of the family
was finishing their tour of the capital’s 500-year-old historic quarter. I
heard that it is a World Heritage Site! Malia picked me up and we went for
dinner at San Cristobal, a privately owned restaurant. After dinner they headed
to the US ambassadorial residence in the Cubanacan
neighborhood. I overheard that it was built between 1939 and 1942, supposedly
to be a winter White House for President Franklin Roosevelt.
Monday, March 22, 2016:
President Obama has a busy schedule today, meeting with
President Raul Castro, U.S. and Cuban officials, and the press.
The First Family and I went to the Jose Marti Memorial, where
President Obama laid a wreath. Jose Marti is a national hero in Cuba. He is
important to the Cuban people because he led the fight for Cuba’s independence
from Spain in 1895. He founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in 1892 to
organize the struggle for independence.
(Jose Marti Memorial)
After the wreath-laying, the President had a full schedule meeting
with various dignitaries, which sounded really boring to me. So I climbed into
the limo and went to learn more about the country’s history with the US. I went to a museum because I wanted to learn
about why the people were living so poorly. At the museum I learned that Cuba
had let the Soviet Union put missiles in Cuba during the Cold War, which was
called the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cold War was a period of political and
military tension between the NATO (U.S. and its allies) and the Soviet Union
after World War II. Because of the missiles being in Cuba so close to the US,
the US put a blockade of battle ships and strengthened the embargo, which
banned trade between the countries. Since Cuba imports more than it exports,
the people fell into poverty. I learned that only 1% of people in Cuba had a
car. That is because cars are only for the rich and those favored by the
government.
It was what would have been rush hour at home when I left,
but almost no one was on the high way.
I went in the limo to head back to the mansion, but Malia
spotted me while they were on their way to the state dinner at the Palace of
the Revolution. Malia and Sasha told me about their father’s meeting with
President Castro and the news conference with reporters. Apparently it was a
little awkward, with some reporters asking about political prisoners and
President Castro trying to criticize the United States about human rights,
since we don’t have universal health care and education.
(Palace of
Revolution)
Tuesday, March 23, 2016:
Today is our
last day here in Cuba. Michelle and Obama are addressing the people of Cuba at
El Gran Teatro de Havana. Malia, Sasha, and I went for ice cream again
today but they were closed again. The girls and I are really looking forward to
seeing the Tampa Bay Rays play against the Cuban national baseball team this
afternoon. But first, President Obama met with Cuban dissidents and civil
society leaders. He met with the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, Jose
Daniel Ferrer, and the leader of the Ladies in White, Berta Soler.
The Ladies in White is a group of women who conduct weekly demonstrations in
Havana for freedom.
Finally, we were able to go to the “Estadio Latinoamericano” stadium
where the Tampa Bay Rays were warming up for their game against the Cuban
National team. 
While Sasha
and Malia were chatting and giving encouragement to some of the players, I
helped the team warm up by fetching the balls. I love fetching balls, but
hopefully they don’t mind all the drool I got on them!
When
President Obama and Michelle arrived, they gave the Rays a pep talk before the
game started. After the speech it was time for the field walk. I got to walk
the field with the team! Baseball is one topic both Obama and Castro can talk
about fairly safely, although over 300 Cuban baseball players have defected to
play in the major leagues in the US!
After an exciting game, the Rays beat the Cuban team 4-1.
After the
game the family had to go to the airport.
Unfortunately, we got stuck behind some bikers, so there was a little
delay getting there.
Tune in for
my next adventure from our next destination, Buenos Aires, Argentina!
Bibliography-
http://loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/marti.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/international/obama-in-cuba/hemingway
http://www.newsweek.com/obama-cuba-mansion-havana-visit-88-years-castro-438610
https://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/photogallery/
Photos and topical discussions from Elise Milstein