The warmth of spirit that is Cuba’s
Being a musician, she was obviously interested in the music haunts and tried to catch as many performances and meet as many musicians as she could but she was keen to explore other fronts.
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“I also had time to savour their dishes, stroll on the beach, ride in old cars, walk through Havana and sit in street corners with people who looked very much like my folks in the Volta Region,” Della told The Mirror on return.
Having travelled widely across West Africa and familiar with a variety of customs across the sub-region, Della said she was keen to find traces of West African culture in Cuba
“I was paying attention with the keen senses of a typical tourist. I love cooking and I tried to share recipes with some of the sisters I interacted with. I was able to eat a lot of their food.
“A typical meal would consist of rice and beans, cooked together or apart. On the whole, you could also feel Carribean and Spanish spice and flavour in the tastes due to the melting pot nature of Cuba. Since the country is in a tropical climate, there was an abundance of familiar fruits and root vegetables and I fed on them really well.”
Something that caught the Ghanaian singer’s attention all the time was the cleanliness of the beaches with their clear, blue waters.
She said she took regular strolls and wished she was there with some of Ghana’s tourism authorities to enable pick up a few points on the multi-million dollar pursuit called beach tourism.
It is impossible to experience Cuba without noticing the old, functioning cars. In Della’s estimation, they symbolise a certain ingenuity on the part of Cubans to keep up their spirit in the face of intense difficulties.
Music was a constant pull on her and she eventually succumbed to give some performances in a couple of Havana music hangouts.
She visited the Dominica Restaurant where Orchestra Son Damas, one of Cuba’s all-women bands performed. She was allowed to perform a few songs with them and drew applause from the dining guests who realised a different voice was in the house that night.
She also had an opportunity to perform with the 95-year-old doyenne of Cuban music, singer Juana Bacallao.
In Della’s estimation, Ghana and Cuba could cooperate for mutual benefit on the cultural front. It is her plan to seek audience with the Cuban ambassador in Ghana, H.E. Pedro Luis Despaigne Gonzales, on the way forward for stronger cultural ties between the two countries.
“I loved what I experienced in Cuba, especially the warmth of the people. I would rush back there anytime I get the opportunity again,” Della Hayes said.