{"id":4876,"date":"2019-11-08T08:59:26","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T13:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/?page_id=4876"},"modified":"2019-11-08T09:03:50","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T14:03:50","slug":"miamis-vibrant-heart-and-colorful-culture-can-be-found-walking-in-little-havana","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/travelwriting\/?page_id=4876","title":{"rendered":"Miami\u2019s vibrant heart and colorful culture can be found walking in Little Havana"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Posted\nNovember 8, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By ANYI\nZHANG<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cup\nof cortadito Cuban espresso, a taste of Latin infusion guava cake, a pack of\ncigar, a glass of mojito, and a handful of local hangouts, all these elements\nconsisted of the Cuban culture in Little Havana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little Havana, also known as Calle Ocho (8th\nStreet), is filled with rich Cuban-American heritage, it\u2019s at the heart of\nMiami\u2019s urban core, and is the soul of its immigrant people, spreading its\nculture for both locals and tourists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In here travelers will find locals grabbing an afternoon cortado\nor a fresh fruit batido, talking politics over a game of dominoes, dancing\nsalsa with Spanish live music, or eating authentic dishes from all over Latin\nAmerica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little Havana is best known neighborhood for\nCuban population in the world and is characterized by its street life,\nrestaurants, music and other cultural activities. Originally a\nlower-middle-class Southern and thriving Jewish neighborhood in the 1930s,\nLittle Havana emerged in the 1960s as the population of Cubans in the area grew\nsignificantly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking a tour at Little Havana would be the best\nway to know the history, to understand the culture, and to get closer to the\nlocals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Cubaocho Museum and Performing Art Center-the best place for live music and performances in Little Havana. The wines on top shelf of the bar are only for exhibition but not for sale. Cubaocho is also home to one of the largest privately owned Cuban art collections in the world and is the linchpin of the arts renaissance now flourishing in Little Havana (Photos by Anyi Zhang).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Travelers shall begin the tour at the Cubaocho Museum and Performing Art Center,\u00a0a Fine Art Gallery with the largest Cuban Art Collection from 1800 to 1956 and a collection of cigars and the largest collection of Rum with around 482 bottles of different brands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also the best place for live music and performance in Little Havana. It\u2019s quiet during the day, but\u00a0 it\u2019s full of energy and passion at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the paintings here are for sale, people love to add some Cuban atmosphere to their houses,\u201d said Roberto Ramos, the president of Cubaocho Museum & Performing Arts Center, who has worked in the gallery for more than 10 years, \u201cthe wine on the top shelf of the bar are only for exhibition but not for sale, they have a history from 15 to 80 years.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We then\nvisited a classic cigar factory to witness the art of cigar-rolling from the\nexperts, who are able to make 100 to 120 cigars per day. They put the cigars\ngently in the box when finished, and smoke one to make sure they are perfectly\nmade, along with a little music and dance during their break. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Local experts rolling cigars. They are able to make 100 to 12- cigars per day, along with some Cuban coffee, music, and dance during their break. The darker the cigar, the stronger they are.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ka Ki\nSo, a graduate student from the University of Miami, who took this tour with\nher best friend because they were planning on traveling to Cuba soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis\nwas a great way to get a little feeling for Cuba, I loved the food, music and\nthe people!\u201d So said, \u201cI enjoyed walking around, seeing different shops,\nthe Cuban coffee was very strong and sugary but it was delicious!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in this beautiful\ncity Camaguey in Cuba, Zarelys Diaz, our passionate tour guide who started her\njob in Miami in 2017, said she loves Cuba being as the third generation, but\nshe believes changes have to be made for the country to get better, but the\nrestrictions have also made things harder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love to meet new\npeople and learn about different cultures. My passion is to show visitors interesting\nplaces of the city to experience the local culture and see what makes Miami so\nunique and really immerse them into the Miami culture,\u201d said Diaz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\nShe then took us to a local juice shop to try some freshly pressed sugarcane\njuice and we got the opportunity to talk to the owner, who\u2019s a Peter Pan. The\nterm Peter Pan, refers to the elders in Little Havana who were brought to\nAmerica at a very young age by their parents to receive a better life and\neducation, some of them have never even met their parents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of them living in Little Havana have mixed feelings towards Cuba. they love the country and the culture, yet they don\u2019t want to go back, and they believe changes have to be made for the country to get better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Also known as “Domino Park,” Maximo Gomez Park is a Little Havana landmark, and meeting spot for older Cubans, at any time of day you will find residents sipping coffee, playing Dominoes and chatting with their friends.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

However, they still enjoy their lives here by playing domino at the Maximo Gomez Park, also known as the famous Domino Park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This park has strict rules where players must be over the age of 50 to play, they have to show their ID at the window to get the dominos. This park also prohibits players from drinking alcohol and wearing inappropriate clothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After learning about how\nto play Domino, we stopped by at a local bakery to try cortadito, the Cuban espresso, which was very strong and sugary, and we\ngot a taste of some desert including the Guava pastry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m so\nin love with Little Havana, with the friendly people introducing me to their\nculture, with the tasty Cuban dishes, how the locals greet each other, how they\nexpress their emotions through music and dance\u2026it\u2019s so different from any other\ncountries I\u2019ve traveled to. People here are so passionate about telling you\ntheir stories, teaching you the local traditions, and to start a conversation\nwith you no matter where you come from. The Latin culture is deeply immersed in\ntheir music, colorful painting, and the smiles on their faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Azucar Ice Cream shop, a favorite family-owned shop that offers authentic Latin ice cream with the highest quality ingredients.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We also stopped at Azucar Ice Cream Company, one of the best ice cream shops in Miami.\u00a0 This family-owned shop is located right across from Tower Theater, which was founded in 2011 that offers authentic Latin ice cream and sorbet flavors made with only the highest quality ingredients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost everything in the shop is locally-sourced, from the mamey picked up down the street at the Los Pinarenos fruit stand to the sweet plantain prepared at El Nuevo Siglo Grocery Store. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best flavor is the Abuela Maria made up of premium vanilla ice cream mixed with ruby red guava, rich cream cheese and crispy, crunchy Maria cookies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the best\nrestaurants which tourists must go when visiting Little Havana is Old\u2019s Havana\nCuban Cucina and bar. It\u2019s a Traditional Cuban Bar & Restaurant located in\nthe heart of little Havana, is a popular spot for both locals and tourists\nwhich serves authentic Cuban food and cocktails, and tourists can definitely\nget a real taste of Cuba and enjoy the music and photos from the old ages on\nthe wall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larry Sosa, an\n80-year-old performing dancer at a local restaurant, originally born in Havana,\nCuba, has been dancing for over 50 years, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy parents are both\ndancers, so I grew up in this kind of environment. I want to use music to bring\npeople together, for them to get to know my culture more.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then offered each of\nus a mojito as a closure to this amazing tour at Little Havana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turner Cooper, a tourist\nfrom Philadelphia, came to visit Miami for four days, said he loved Little\nHavana and the culture, and he would definitely come back again in December for\nthe food and music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love this area,\u201d said\nCooper, \u201cthere\u2019s definitely a level of resistance in the air, but there\u2019s still\njoy when people are sharing food and greeting each other.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The beautiful paintings at the shops created by some local artists.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Since the economy in\nLittle Havana mainly depends on tourism, the increased number of tourists have\ncontributed to the development of the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe development of\nLittle Havana is significant,\u201d said Dayamis Hernandez, owner of D&D Art\nConservation Restoration, \u201cThere\u2019s an increase in demand for the artwork in our\nshop. We love to help other artists, those who don\u2019t have the opportunity to\nsell art or to open a gallery. We also love to see this area is developing so\nquickly, more and more tourists are visiting every year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I love about Little\nHavana is vibrant culture and unique environment of this neighborhood that\nbrings people together through the music, delectable food, and the genuine\nwarmth and fun the people bring to the domino table. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From knowing the history of Little Havana, to tasting traditional Cuban coffee and pastry, to hearing stories from first-generation immigrants from Cuba, Little Havana has brought me some feelings I\u2019ve never felt before. This place has its own magic to make tourists fall in love with the culture, music, food, and nightlife. Have a mojito and enjoy a Latin night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If You Go<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n