Yom Kippur and Hershey

I apologize for such a long break between posts! We have been busy with travel and school and Internet has been less than dependable. After my last post, we all joined Liz and Delaine in fasting for Yom Kippur. Jeanine, Naomi, and I decided to pass the time at the beach and Miladys - Maria’s daughter - prepared a feast for us, which we ate after sundown. We all celebrated after dinner with drinks at a nearby bar called Madrigal.

Playa Santa María del Mar

Madrigal

The following day, we took a day trip to an old sugar town outside of Havana that was once owned by Milton Hershey in the first half of the 20th century. Hershey purchased the land in 1916 and developed a town with railroad access from Havana. With the help of a loyal Cuban workforce, the azucarera produced sugar for the chocolate factory in Pennsylvania for many years. The factory is completely abandoned, but everything else has been left the same and families now inhabit the buildings that once housed factory workers.

Hershey train

There are still billboards along the railroad tracks with announcements meant to motivate factory workers and promote morale in the town.

"In this first harvest of the millennium, our objectives are to produce 30,554.1 T.M of crude sugar and 50,000 T.M. of refined sugar with diminished costs"

"We are sure to triumph. Your strength is decisive"

Naomi and Juliana

These kids had some pretty good magic tricks

Jeanine, Liz, and Me