A Visit to Cuba

Editor's Note: This text is provided solely in an attempt to insert some facts into the debate about Vamos a Cuba, the early reader book banned by the Miami-Dade County School Board on grounds of providing inaccurate or misleading information. This is not an attempt to circumvent the copyright of the author or publisher of the book, and this page will be removed at their request. All copyright remains in the hands of Heinemann Library.

Cuba

Cuba is a country in the Caribbean Sea, south of Florida. It is one big island with some smaller ones nearby.

People in Cuba eat, work, and go to school like you do. Life in Cuba is also unique.

Land

Cuba has flat plains that are used for farmland. There are also sandy beaches and coral reefs. The weather in Cuba is very warm.

There are mountains in Cuba, too. The mountains are covered with forests.

Landmarks

The capital of Cuba is Havana. The capital building in Havana looks like the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

Morro Castle is an old fort. It was built by people from Spain. It was used 400 years ago to protect Havana from pirates.

Homes

Most Cubans live in cities. The cities are crowded, so many people live in apartment buildings. There are some beautiful old buildings. There are new buildings, too.

Most homes in the country are simple. Some are made of wood from palm trees. They have roofs of palm leaves or grasses.

Food

White rice is the most common food in Cuba. Sometimes it is mixed with black beans. Chicken with rice is popular, too.

Many kinds of fruits grow in Cuba. Bananas, pineapples, oranges, and mangoes are favorites. Yucca is a plant that people eat as a vegetable.

Clothes

Cubans dress to keep cool in the hot weather. Many children wear shorts and t-shirts.

For special festivals, men wear white pants and white shirts. Women wear colorful ruffled dresses.

Work

Some Cubans work in factories that make cigars or sugar. There are also factories where people make cloth, shoes, paper, and farm tools.

In the country, there are large farms. The workers there grow sugarcane and tobacco. There are also farms for vegetables, such as lettuce, onions, and carrots.

Transportation

There are not many cars in Cuba. In the cities, some people drive old cars from the United States. Most Cubans travel by bus.

On country roads, people use animals to pull wagons. Animals are also used to help farmers in the fields.

Language

Most people in Cuba speak Spanish. This is because Cuba was settled by people from Spain.

Spanish uses some of the same letters as English. There are also some extra letters in the Spanish alphabet.

School

Cuban children go to school between the ages of five and fourteen. They wear uniforms to school. There are different colored uniforms for different ages.

In school, children learn math, reading, and history. All schoolchildren do some kind of work during the school day. Some children work in gardens. Older children may work in factories.

Free Time

Baseball is Cuba's national sport. Cuba won the gold medal in baseball in the 1996 Olympic Games.

Cuba's beaches are good for swimming and boating. People also like to dive and fish. There are also rowboat and sailboat races.

Celebrations

Cuba's biggest celebration is called Carnival. It is held on July 26. People dance and sing at this festival.

Some people who settled in Cuba were Roman Catholics. Other people who lived in Cuba were from Africa. So some Cuban celebrations mix African and Catholic beliefs.

The Arts

Cuban music mixes sounds from African and Spain. Musicians use guitars, drums, and gourds to make music and a beat. Dances from Cuba are popular around the world.

In one valley in Cuba, there are large, colorful paintings on some rocks. Inside the rocks are caves. The caves have paintings made by people who lived in Cuba about 1,000 years ago.

Fact File

Name: The Republic of Cuba is the country's full name.
Capital: Cuba's capital is Havana.
Language: Thespeople speak Spanish.
Population: Theere are about eleven million people living in Cuba.
Money: Cuban money is called the peso.
Religion: Many Cubans are Roman Catholics, but West African beliefs are important.
Products: Sugar is Cuba's most important product, but tobacco and a metal called Nickel are also sent to other countries.