How is this PENV new plant design different?
Steam Turbines are used in about 90% of all power plants in the world to turn steam into mechanical energy. The steam is created in a boiler by Conduction, a process where metal is heated to heat water. (similar to a Tea kettle) This water is heated to produce steam via gas, coal, nuclear energy, etc. PENV has Designed and Patented an Induction Steam Generating Vessel to use Induction Fields to heat metal flow channels to produce steam at the needed temperature, pressure and volume. PENV has designed a Plant that is extremely efficient using three forms of heating for our water, Induction, conduction and our Patented Heat scavenging reverse condenser. This condenser was designed to capture the waste heat as it exits the turbine. The spent steam is returned to a liquid state and moved back through the water process. This means that we are capturing a portion of this heat instead of letting it cool for discharge. To put it simply, higher water input temperature means less fuel used during the steam cycle. PENV Engineers have calculated that our condenser fitted to an existing conventionally fueled plant would result in at least a 15 to 25 percent reduction in fuel cost and a corresponding reduction is harmful emissions.
What is Induction and how is this more efficient than a conventionally fueled plant?
Electromagnetic induction is the production of an electromotive force across a conductor when it is exposed to a varying magnetic field.
To put it simply, Induction is accomplished by running AC power at low voltage and high frequency. The rapidly alternating magnetic field generates electric currents inside the conductor (in our case the flow channels in PENV's Induction Steam generator vessel). These are called eddy currents. The resistance of the conductor material to these eddy currents produces substantial heat. The control of power, frequency, and coil geometry of our induction system gives us the ability to control the heat range available for our flow channels and tailor them for the process of flashing water to steam within our desired temperature range ( around 500 to 600 degrees F).
The chart below illustrates the the efficiency of using Induction as our primary heating source. W / cm square shows the heating/power transfer of each type of heating. The measurement is used to show R watts or power/heat transfer to metals applied to a one square centimeter area of the metal you are trying to heat. In other words, "how much power/heat can we transfer to one centimeter of the material to be heated.
The only methods with higher rates than induction would be Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Lasers and Electron Jets, both of which have extremely narrow focus energy beams and are of no use when trying to heat large volumes of material. The first three items on the list Convection, Radiation and Thermal Conduction are the existing heat transfer methods used in all Steam Boilers. The massive difference between Induction's ability to transfer heat compared to a typical Steam boiler arrangement is staggering to say the least. This difference is at the Heart of the PENV Designs and Equipment and makes it possible for us to produce steam at the needed temperature, volume and pressure to operate a Saturated Steam Turbine Generator for relatively low amounts of electrical voltage. We have finished designing a new construction 120 MW plant and are presently trying to complete financing for this plant. PENV and Inductotherm Engineering calculations have shown that the power requirements to operate this plant will fall between 4 MWe to 8 MWe. This power will be used for the Induction feed water re-heat and steam generation vessels and all other plant associated needs. This will leave the plant with a surplus of 80 MWe to 100 MWe of clean, renewable / regenerative, zero emissions power to sell to the grid.
All steam turbines can basically produce distilled water as a byproduct. The difference is that PENV has designed accommodations in our systems to cleanly capture and use this fresh water to meet the demands of our growing population and Industry. The recent water crisis was not front page news when we developed our co generation Power Plant/ Desalinization / Water Treatment plant, but PENV always considered this configuration as a necessity for underdeveloped areas that are short on power and clean water. The portability and low build cost of our plants could easily save lives in many parts of the world. PENV's Plant is also ideal for treating recycled water as well as waste/brown water. PENV's Plant attached to a waste water facility would be a major asset to any utility looking to treat waste water as opposed to dumping it. PENV has also discussed the possibility of using our Plants to treat polluted bodies of water or to even filter potentially harmful water runoff from before it actually enters a lake or river. We can treat around 2.6 million gallons of water per day on a typical 100MW unit. Larger units and multi unit installations will have a corresponding increase in water treatment capabilities.
One of the main factors to consider with water treatment and desalinization is water transportation and movement. This has always been as costly as the treatment itself. The main cost for all of these plants is the Power/Electricity required to function economically. By Installing one our our Plants you will eliminate that bill and have a surplus left over to sell. As a clean, renewable and zero emissions power generator almost all of the U.S. states have open power purchase agreements to buy that extra energy. Our cost estimates for production at present time are extremely low ( about 3 cents per Kwh ) making our plants not only renewable, but competitive and in most cases substantially lower than Nuclear, Coal, Gas, Solar and Wind.
What if i do not need water?
The original plant configuration is just as cost effective and by not treating water you would dramatically extend maintenance intervals. This configuration could be run as an open or closed loop. A closed loop system is ideal for areas where warm water discharge or brine discharge is an issue. This would effectively be a dry cooled plant when using a closed loop. A closed loop system can effectively be built anywhere, from the middle of a city, an industrial park or even in the harshest conditions on the planet such as the desert or tundra.
What is meant by low to no emissions and is there really no need to fuel these plants?
Our plants can be started directly from the grid or by a start up generator. This start up time would require nominal emissions when compared to the output of our plant. The cleanest installations would be multi unit plants that could keep one unit on line while the other is in an outage or receiving repairs or routine maintenance. This configuration would be a zero emissions installation after start up.
PENV's Plants run strictly on an electrically generated induction field and no other fuel is needed after start up. Other than maintenance our plants can run 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 320 days a year Our plants are ideal base load plants that require less maintenance and offline time than a conventionally fueled plant.
What about Emissions and Compliance?
Our Plant is basically a big water heater that uses induction technology to flash steam. The unit when running will produce no/zero emissions. This means there is literally nothing to regulate. PENV's proposed Florida plant has been planned using an existing 10k sf warehouse. PENV's only site requirements included nearness to grid and simple building codes for the weight of our equipment.
I have a coal /gas/nuclear plant that is closed or in the process of being closed, can PENV do a conversion and is it affordable?
PENV can convert almost all plants to a clean, renewable Power Provider. If you have a Saturated Steam Turbine that can be operated in the 500 to 600 Degree F range we can do the conversion using much of your existing plant infrastructure. These old plants are an asset to their communities and our country and with PENV's no fuel requirements they will be able to keep the lights on in their communities regardless of whatever happens to the National Grid.
As for affordability, PENV's New Construction Project in Florida has a total price tag of 13 million dollars using a used 120MW steam Turbine Generator. All plants have different challenges of course, but a single conversion on an existing plant would definitely be less. Contact us for a quote and estimate, we can assure you that you will not be disappointed!
PENV has been pretty busy and an update on our progress is a year over due. We have been extremely busy with presentations and bids to numerous state and Federal Agencies as well as the private sector. We purchased a decommissioned 10.5 Mega Watt Power plant for Conversion and are planning to start this summer. This will be a CHP plant providing heating steam to local off-takers.
Three Mega Watt Facility presently in the Que for San Diego Gas and Electrics REMAT program. We are presently working with the California Energy Commission on RPS Pre-certification as a renewable source.
When can it be available for commercial Sale and at what price?
Ready to build now. We are finishing financing of the Ware plant and hope to start work on that unit in the beginning of 2016.
Sorry for the confusion, I have literally written thousands of words on this and occasionally I am not very clear and corrections do not get caught. Induction fields are generated using an AC power supply providing electricity with low voltage but very high current and high frequency. This was what I had in mind and i will correct it.
The Induction fields generated in our process are used to heat flow channels to produce steam. . Our Steam Generator vessel design is similar to a boiling water reactor, but instead of fission materials we use induction fields to heat our channels for steam production. The BWR and our Steam generation vessel have one primary job and that is to produce heat in these channels/tubes. With Induction fields this is all based on the weight/volume, surface area and magnetic properties of the metal we are trying to heat.
Please list the patents numbers (US and Foreign) and any patent application numbers (US and Foreign) that are pending for this technology.
Have any working models been built that are self sustaining once the initial power source has been disconnected?
A working model means all of the bits and pieces have been put together and are working as a combined system producing power.
Is there more than one working device?
Is there any size limitation for making this work as a power generator? How small and how big can you go?
Is there a minimum energy input required to start the process? Please give the answer in Joules.
How long has a working proof of principle generator(s) run before failing or being shut down?
How many kWh were produced by that unit(s)?
How small of a generator can you go? 1 Watt? 10 Watts? 100? 1000? or ?
What volume would a 1 Megawatt Hour generator occupy? What would be the weight of the 1MWh plant?
every time you build a copy.
Have one of these systems been put in a car, bus, truck, ship, airplane, or helicopter as a motive power source?
If yes, where is that vehicle and it is available for inspection?
This is exciting news. Have you discussed using your design in ships? That seems like another place you could do retrofits as many of them use electric motors and steam generators to produce the power.
Yes, we are trying to fund the purchase of an old diesel Electric coast guard cutter for conversion. It is running two 1.5 Mw motors, so our system is a pretty good fit. We are going to submit to the Navy's Electric boat office as they already have a directive for an all Electric boat by 2030.
The answers provided help fill in the several blanks.
Ok, no fossil hydrocarbon based fuel like bunker oil, diesel, coal or natural gas is used in the process.
There has to be excess energy otherwise there is no reason to build the plant.
MUST be greater than the initial Energy in (from the grid or a generator).
" Our plants can be started directly from the grid or by a start up generator. This start up time would require nominal emissions when compared to the output of our plant. The cleanest installations would be multi unit plants that could keep one unit on line while the other is in an outage or receiving repairs or routine maintenance. This configuration would be a zero emissions installation after start up.
and the plant eventually stops.
Is there any theory where the excess energy comes from?
substitute Phoenix Energy NV's Induction technology, you can assemble an inexpensive proof of concept demonstration unit.
And now you can offer your solution to the consumer market for home power production, and potentially the automotive market.
I've been looking at your web-site which contains technology using induction heating. I'm very impressed. I spent forty two years in industrial manufacturing and am very familiar with induction heating. I've used it for heat treating and brazing. It's a great process. Watching your videos took me back in time to those days. I think you're onto something really big. I wish you MUCH SUCCESS. … I'll be tracking your progress.
I am going to recycle a comment i sent to another fella on the wiki, I hate to do it, but i am answering a lot of questions to a lot of people.
I hope not to offend, but on the IP stuff, I have no idea who you are and since you are not contributing or involved in our process, designs or company it is a bit forward of you to ask for so much information regarding Ip and patents. There is absolutely no benefits or reason any company with new technology would do this.
As far as the home market, this was never envisioned or designed with it in mind. It is a massively complex, multi process, expensive design that will never be deployed in a home. A typical homeowner may like pizza, but most will not go out to order a 50,000 dollar pizza oven and hundreds of dollars in toppings to make himself a pizza. The expense of buying that equipment is only shouldered by those who make lots of pizza and only because they plan to make more money off the pizza they sell than it cost them to buy the equipment. Many things can be scaled down, but just many things can't.
Below is the response I am recycling, I hope it helps for clarification for you. The same sentiments apply to you about intellectual curiosity and our hope that you continue to follow our work.
You have to think of the similarities between our designs and a nuclear plant. We are both creating fields to do work and we both are relying on stored potential energy/heat. One uses fission and the other electromagnetic fields. We are not breaking any laws. Existing Industries using induction are not breaking any laws by using/relying on this stored potential. Everyday all over the world they are successfully using Induction Fields to heat metals(Energy is heat and heat is energy etc.). The rest of the plant is painstakingly designed over years to exploit these factors in the most efficient ways possible and we developed them from working in the Industry as Engineers, designers and Project managers. There are of course losses with all Thermal designs but, PENV has what we believe ,and soon will commercialize, is the most efficient steam generation system ever envisioned using existing and proven technologies.
You will not have to wait to long anyway to find out if PENV can do this. We are preparing to start the conversion of the 10.5 MW retired biofuels Power Plant we bought in Massachusetts starting in the beginning of 2016(Feb/Mar) and have a schedule of about 7 months for construction. We will update the PENV site all the way through, so keep an eye on us.
Thanks Again for your interest, questions, skepticism and curiosity, they are what fuels innovation and new Ideas.
Thanks for your kind comments and your background in Induction. Real world experience is in short supply these day. Mike had worked on the design of a nuclear waste vitrification system using Induction fields ( a first for induction) and even being one of the designers of the system it did not hit him until they were in the field. They were heating a 7 ft tall 16 inch wide steel container tube with a graphite liner and he said he was looking at the meters and it hit him like a stack of bricks. They were heating at 1900 to 2600 degrees using around 160 kw from a 360 kw power supply. BAM!!! He had one important piece of a very big puzzle. Real world experience is invaluable in Building, Manufacturing and Engineering solutions. His background in Nuclear Engineering and Power Production combined with real world operation experience made this possible.
Thanks again. We love hearing from Induction guys, they always always tend to scratch their chin and go yep, that will do it.
No Problem at all, Your interest is appreciated!! Keep an Eye on us, I think we are going to have a very interesting Year.
May I have your email and skype Id plz.
I just remembered that the Corrette Coal Power plant in Billings MT. was closed last year due to new rules. You might contact Northwestern Energy to discuss a conversion deal.


Egypt's Dar Al-Ifta warned against the spread of Islamophobia in the West following demonstrations that have swept several European countries raising anti-Islamic slogans, a Wednesday statement by Dar Al-Ifta read.
Dar Al-Ifta is considered among the pioneering foundations for fatwa (religious edicts) in the Islamic world.
The statement stressed that these movement seek to spread "hatred and persecution against Muslim communities in the West, "which will consequently create hostility between Muslims and non-Muslims and will spread "extremism".
Meanwhile, three American Muslims were found dead in North Carolina after being shot Tuesday, which caused a wave of anger on social media networks. While it is widely believed that the three were killed because they were Muslim, the real motive behind the killings is not yet clear.
Militancy in the name of Islam has been a rising phenomenon, with the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) and their affiliates. These include Sinai-based militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, now known as 'State of Sinai', following their pledge of allegiance to ISIS.
Islamist groups have been spreading in the Middle East and expanding their reach through their affiliates in countries worldwide.
Conversely, several anti-Islam movements have emerged in Europe, including the German movement anti-Muslim PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West) established in late 2014. PEGIDA holds weekly marches against Islam, holding its first march in Austria earlier in February, drawing hundreds of supporters.
According to Reuters, PEGIDA has huge potential across Germany and Europe.
Despite world leaders' reiteration that Islam is innocent from the militant groups' actions in the name of Islam, hostility against Islam has been on the rise, particularly following the attack on France's satirist magazine Charlie Hebdo early January that left at least 12 dead. The attack was claimed by Islamist group Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP).
Dar Al-Ifta pointed the need to develop "a large intellectual project" that aims to clarify the image of Islam abroad, which would put an end to this rising phenomenon.


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World Snowboard Tour Recap – 2013: The Season of Triples
Remind yourself of the tornado of super shredding that characterised contests in 2013-13 with this nice enough flashback at last season's World Snowboard Tour. But we have to ask – why so few landings shown?
The 2012/13 World Snowboard Tour Season truly introduced a new level of competitive snowboarding. Triple Corks were the state of the art trick to take the top spots.
At the first 6 Star Event of the Season, the Air & Style in Beijing in December, Yuki Kadono took top honors with his Backside Triple Cork 1440. At the following O'Neill Evolution in January, in Davos, Switzerland it was up to Maxence Parrot to take first place with a Backside Triple Cork 1440. At the same event Kyle Mack came second, as he attempted to beat Maxence with a Triple Rodeo Indy 1440 – a trick never performed in a contest before. The X Games in Aspen closely followed, where Mark McMorris gave a glance of his incredible level of riding and defended his Gold medal title in Slopestyle with the highest ever score in X Games Slopestyle history with 98 points, finishing with a Triple Cork 1440 on the last jump.
At the Air & Style in the Bergisel Stadium, Innsbruck it was Eric Willett who won the Ring of Glory with a Switch Backside 1260 Mute. Though, in the rounds before, Mark McMorris and Stale Sandbech brought the Highlight Runs, with their Backside Triples, but unfortunately they couldn't keep up that level leading into the Superfinals. In addition to the great show, Sebastien Toutant was crowned World Snowboard Tour Big Air Champion that day. At the Burton European Open in Laax it was Torstein Horgmo who won, still he couldn't show his Triple, as the Finals had to be cancelled due to the worsening weather conditions.
The Burton US Open in Vail, Colorado at the End of February crowned Mark McMorris first, which made him the World Snowboard Tour Slopestyle Champion. On the women's competitions it was Sarka Pancochova who had shown a truly solid level of riding and was crowned with not one but two World Snowboard Tour Champion Titles: Overall as well as Slopestyle. Kelly Clark was crowned World Snowboard Tour Halfpipe Champion as in the year before. The men's World Snowboard Tour Halfpipe Title was given to young gun and big talent Ayumu Hirano. At the last Event of the 2012/13 Season it was the battle between Stale Sandbech and Peetu Piiroinen for the last remaining Title: World Snowboard Tour Overall Champion which finally went to Peetu again for the fourth time.
Already kicked off with the first 6 Star event, the X Games in Tignes (FRA), the 2013/14 Season promises to be another great one. Be sure to expect further progression and highlights in the upcoming winter.
www.worldsnowboardtour.com
Monster's Mammoth Mountain Madness
Monster Energy gathered a bunch of their team riders for a private park session at Mammoth Mountain.
RK1 Crew Kill Vierli
Super tech, super stylish riding and one super horrific slam in the Norwegian übercrew's latest edit. Watch this.
Ride Snowboards present: For The Love of Snowboarding - Teaser
Check this slick teaser for what appears to be a serious look at the importance of snowboarding to the lives of Ride's pro team.
Mark McMorris peetu piiroinen sarka pancochova seb toutant ståle sandbech ttr

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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LISTEN: Bad Sounds - 'Escaping from a Violent Time Vol.1'
I'm making a bit of an effort to check out more EPs this year, and I'm very much enjoying the brand new one from Bristol five-piece Bad Sounds. It's pretty ace. The EP comes as the first instalment of a trilogy of releases, this one written and recorded underground in a former prison cell in central Bristol, close to the band's home of Bath. With the aim of creating a true representation of where they're currently at as a band, the EP was produced by frontmen and brothers Callum and Ewan themselves - "we wanted [the EP] to feel more visceral, and of this moment."
The band's first major release since their debut record Get Better in 2018, the EP features recent singles Sympathetic Vibrations (love love love that one) and Breathe, alongside the new single Permanent. On the new track, the band state that "it's primarily about acceptance - learning how to accept your own shortcomings, and your own personality. Sometimes I feel like I just mirror the people around me in social situations, and started to worry that I didn't even really have a personality of my own." They add that "with Permanent we tried to imagine how it would be to be one of those lucky people who appear to be themselves regardless of the situation, and learn to be proud of who we are. It's good to celebrate who we are every now and then... unless you're a dickhead!"
The band are heading out for some shows in the UK in May, tickets available here.
1st May: Deaf Institute, Manchester
12th: Lafayette, London
13th: The Fleece, Bristol
Follow Bad Sounds - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.
Labels: Franc Moody, LISTEN, Whiteboard PR
WATCH: Dan Croll - 'Stay In L.A.'
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The Marvel Superhero Family Car Decals are brought to you courtesy of a partnership between ThinkGeek and Marvel. It's meant for a family of super heroes aka super-nerds. Ordinary car decals showing birds and trees or sunsets just don't say it like a pack of superheroes coiled and ready to attack alien intruders or home-grown villains in a vehicle behind you that is getting too close for comfort. You get a pack of 50 decals in one package, so you have plenty of choice to assemble your own dream team of Avengers. You get six versions of four characters (Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine and Spider-Man). That's more than enough to protect all your cars, and have a few left over to cover the doors and windows in your room.


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Who said: "Politics is more difficult than physics."
Albert Einstein Benjamin Franklin Stephen Hawking more quiz questions >>
Home > Category Index for Science Quotations > Category Index E > Category: Estimation
Estimation Quotes (7 quotes)
A man who writes a great deal and says little that is new writes himself into a daily declining reputation. When he wrote less he stood higher in people's estimation, even though there was nothing in what he wrote. The reason is that then they still expected better things of him in the future, whereas now they can view the whole progression.
— Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Aphorism 43 in Notebook D (1773-1775), as translated by R.J. Hollingdale in Aphorisms (1990). Reprinted as The Waste Books (2000), 50.
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If we betake ourselves to the statistical method, we do so confessing that we are unable to follow the details of each individual case, and expecting that the effects of widespread causes, though very different in each individual, will produce an average result on the whole nation, from a study of which we may estimate the character and propensities of an imaginary being called the Mean Man.
— James Clerk Maxwell
'Does the Progress of Physical Science tend to give any advantage to the opinion of necessity (or determinism) over that of the continuency of Events and the Freedom of the Will?' In P. M. Hannan (ed.), The Scientific Letters and Papers of James Clerk Maxwell (1995), Vol. 2, 1862-1873, 818.
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In Man the brain presents an ascensive step in development, higher and more strongly marked than that by which the preceding subclass was distinguished from the one below it. Not only do the cerebral hemispheres overlap the olfactory lobes and cerebellum, but they extend in advance of the one, and further back than the other. Their posterior development is so marked, that anatomists have assigned to that part the character of a third lobe; it is peculiar to the genus Homo, and equally peculiar is the 'posterior horn of the lateral ventricle,' and the 'hippocampus minor,' which characterize the hind lobe of each hemisphere. The superficial grey matter of the cerebrum, through the number and depth of the convolutions, attains its maximum of extent in Man. Peculiar mental powers are associated with this highest form of brain, and their consequences wonderfully illustrate the value of the cerebral character; according to my estimate of which, I am led to regard the genus Homo, as not merely a representative of a distinct order, but of a distinct subclass of the Mammalia, for which I propose a name of 'ARCHENCEPHALA.'
— Sir Richard Owen
'On the Characters, Principles of Division, and Primary Groups of the Class MAMMALIA' (1857), Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London (1858), 2, 19-20.
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One of the most striking results of modern investigation has been the way in which several different and quite independent lines of evidence indicate that a very great event occurred about two thousand million years ago. The radio-active evidence for the age of meteorites; and the estimated time for the tidal evolution of the Moon's orbit (though this is much rougher), all agree in their testimony, and, what is far more important, the red-shift in the nebulae indicates that this date is fundamental, not merely in the history of our system, but in that of the material universe as a whole.
— Henry Norris Russell
The Solar System and its Origin (1935), 137.
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Qualified scientists in Washington believe that the atom-blasting of Japan is the start toward heating plants the size of telephone booths for great factories, and motor-car trips of 1,000 hours on one gram of fuel. One expert estimated that with a few grams of uranium it might be possible to power the Queen Mary from Europe to the U.S. and back again. One of America's leading scientists, Doctor Vollrath, said that the new discovery brings man's attempt to reach the moon within bounds of possibility.
The Maple Leaf (8 Aug 1945), 4.
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The Author of nature has not given laws to the universe, which, like the institutions of men, carry in themselves the elements of their own destruction; he has not permitted in his works any symptom of infancy or of old age, or any sign by which we may estimate either their future or their past duration. He may put an end, as he no doubt gave a beginning, to the present system at some determinate period of time; but we may rest assured, that this great catastrophe will not be brought about by the laws now existing, and that it is not indicated by any thing which we perceive.
— John Playfair
'Biographical Account of the Late Dr James Hutton, F.R.S. Edin.' (read 1803), Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1805), 5, 55.
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¡ Cuba Now !
A blog about traveling to Cuba
Havana's Calle Obispo: Wal-Mart Not
What you don't see in Cuba is as mysterious as what you do see. There are no billboards, for instance, or signs advertising sales or discounts. No Starbucks. No McDonald's. No Wal-Marts. A branch of the London-based Benetton chain opened recently on Havana's Plaza Vieja, presumably for tourists or relatives visiting from Miami. For the average Cuban, "shopping'' means lining up outside a darkened booth to buy sugar or cooking oil with ration coupons, or, for those with access to dollars, wandering through a cluttered "hard currency'' store filled with TV sets, bicycles, rice cookers and jeans made in China.
Calle Obispo, a pedestrian shopping street linking some of the prettiest parts of Havana Vieja with seedier Centro, brings tourists and locals together with its eclectic mix of luxury hotels, art galleries, cafes, hard currency stores displaying frying pans and toothpaste in the windows and "peso'' ice cream shops dispensing four-cent cones.
Hemingway wrote from a fifth floor room at the Hotel Ambos Mundos where the room is now a small museum displaying his typewriter and a few handwritten pages from "For Whom the Bell Tolls.'' Here, the guide explained, the writer had everything he wanted nearby: Pretty women, a view of the harbor and his favorite bar, El Floridita.
After wandering this way looking for a "House of Change'' to cash a U.S. travelers' check (several hotels and a bank turned us down), we stopped for coffee and people watching at Bosque Bologna, below, a cafe across the street from a primary school where the kids sat at desks studying, appearing to tune out the music and general commotion on the street.
I think we may have been the only tourists to step inside Varidados Obispo, the Cuban version of a food court, with stalls selling rice for 24 cents per pound and hamburgers for 40 cents each. We checked out some prices in a hard currency shop called La Distinguida. Rice cookers were $81. Bottles of dish soap were $3.15. A small frying pan was $7.85. Bottles of nail polish and tubes of toothpaste were kept in glass cases behind the counter. A security guard was checking inside women's purses on the way out, but foreigners often get special treatment. No one asked to look in mine.
This is the type of sign that is common. Not everyone toes the party line. Thirty-eight thousand Cubans left the island for good last year, and those who stay are watched, so they need to be careful about what they say, especially to strangers.
Still, more are speaking out about what they consider the government's failed economic policies and the need for change. On the U.S. side of things, some Florida politicians are pushing for the government to reimpose travel restrictions on Americans, the argument being that revenue from tourism helps support the Castro regime. It's true that the majority of tourists stay in state hotels and eat in state restaurants, but as we discovered, it's also possible to make choces that support the new private entrepreneurs.
The web site, Translating Cuba, is filled with missives from Cuban bloggers whose work is translated into English by a group of volunteers led by Mary Jo Porter of Seattle. Porter is also translator for well-known writer, Yoani Sanchez, author of the book, Havana Real. Anyone who wants a better understanding of what is going on in Cuba today should read this book and follow these blogs. I found them immensely helpful in answering some of the questions that came to mind while we were in Cuba, and after we returned.
We weren't inundated with political propaganda while we were in Cuba, but one phrase stuck with me while watching a video one afternoon with our official hosts, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples. The title of the video was "Ode to the Revolution.''
"Revolution,'' it said, "is changing everything that must be changed.''
For information on the ins and outs of legal tours to Cuba, click here to read a TravelWise column I wrote recently for The Seattle Times.
Posted by Carol Pucci at 7:41 PM 1 comment:
Havana Centro: A 'Hood Like No Other
"When that sneaking suspicion comes upon you that Havana can't be all gorgeous colonial architecture and resplendent restored plazas, head to Centro Havana. Wandering the streets hemmed in by crumbling buildings with drying laundry, this is the Havana tourist brochures don't show you." - Conner Gorry, journalist and author of Havana Good Time.
As tempting as it was to spend our last few nights in Havana at a historic hotel such as the Sevilla, the setting for Graham Greene's "Our Man in Havana,'' or the Ambos Mundos where Hemingway wrote from an upstairs room, we were drawn to Centro by the idea of dropping into a real-life working class neighborhood.
Steam coming out of buildings: Another mystery
As guests at Casa Colonial Yadilis y Joel, a casa particular a few blocks from the Paseo del Prado, a French-designed promenade flanked by 19th century parks and restored hotels and monuments, we woke up to the sound of a man yelling "Pan y montequilla!'' (Bread and butter!) as he wheeled a large blue box down the street. Why run down a flight of 25 stairs when you can put your money in basket, lower it down on a rope from your balcony, and pull up a loaf of fresh bread?
The pink building is Casa Yadilis y Joel, a casa particular in Havana Centro and a regular stop on the bread man's morning route.
The first clue that we'd chosen a neighborhood different from any we'd be in so far was the taxi driver's insistence that he drop us off several blocks away. Our street was flooded for some unexplainable reason.
No, we weren't in Kansas anymore, and it was delightful.
Centro Havana is like a rich man who lost all his money, and is gradually earning it back. Many of the buildings are falling apart. Others, many built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when this part of Havana attracted famous musicians, movie stars and wealthy American tourists, have been beautifully restored. Sitting one night on the terrace of the Hotel Inglaterra, built in 1875, we tried to imagine what the night scene along the Prado was like pre-1959 before Fidel Castro's revolutionary forces evoked the 03C rule: Zero Movies. Zero Shopping. Zero Night Clubs.
The restored Hotel Inglaterra
The scene probably wasn't all that different than it is in 2011. Tourists sip Mojitos on the "Louvre sidewalk,'' as romantics called the terrace bar, breathing a mixture of cigar smoke and exhaust fumes from the old American cars cruising by. A woman in a white halter top sits night after night at the same table, slowing sipping a Coke, waiting for a man in a polo shirt and sandals who will pay her more in a night than a doctor makes in five months.
Louvre sidewalk
Joel and Yadilis acquired their 80-year-old building in Centro the way most Cubans acquire homes or apartments that weren't handed down to them from generations past. It's been only recently that the state has allowed Cubans to buy and sell houses. Previously, if you wanted to move, you had to find someone with whom to trade, which is what they did.
They lived next door, a few blocks from the Malecon, in a small, refurbished apartment. An older woman lived in the building they now own, a large walk-up in need of repairs, reachable via 25 very narrow marble stairs. Yadilis, 32, whose grandmother left Cuba for the U.S. after the Revolution, wanted the family to move to the U.S. where her mother and other relatives live. But Joel, 39, thinks they can build a future in Cuba, and convinced her to stay, and open the casa particular. So they traded houses with the woman next door, and spent several years remodeling two rooms for guests. Each has 17-foot-high ceilings, a modern bathroom and air conditioning. They worked hard and sacrificed, but with tourism booming in Cuba, business is good, and they're adding two more rooms upstairs.
Yadilis dreams of the day when she can visit her family in Miami, but so far, the only way the government will give her a visa is if she travels without her two children, ages 9 and 13.
She is a busy woman, involved in her church and things around the house, so we didn't get to chat as much as we would have liked. But when we leave, she kisses us goodbye.
"When are you coming back?'' she asks. "When are you coming to the United States?'' I ask, "with your children?''
She answers with no hesitation.
"It is my dream.''
Next: A shopping trip along Calle Obispo
Posted by Carol Pucci at 3:22 PM No comments:
At home with a Cuban family in Vinales
I'll never know the reason three stuffed teddy bears were suctioned cupped to the ceiling of our Korean-made bus, but mysteries like these were part of the fun of traveling on our own in Cuba for five days after our tour with Global Exchange ended.
We traveled three hours from Havana to the rural community of Vinales, a UNESCO site known for its national park, limestone cliffs and traditional farms harvesting tobacco and corn. Scenic hikes and cave explorations await, but the best reason to come to Vinales is to stay in a casa particular, the Cuban equivalent of a bed and breakfast.
Casas are inexpensive, usually $20-$25 a night, and privately-owned. Staying in one is a great way to meet and find out about the ives of ordinary Cubans, something that's difficult to do on a group tour. For families lucky or resourceful enough to create space in their home for guests, running a casa is a valuable source of hard-to-come-by hard currency (convertible pesos). In Vinales, nearly everyone has at least one room to rent in one of the many of the colorfully-painted bungalows around town.
I looked over reviews on Tripadvisor.com, then made an online booking at Casa Papo y Niulvys. They requested no deposit, only asked that I call the day before to reconfirm.
Papo met us at the bus stop on his bike, and we walked to the peach-colored house the couple built few years ago on what was a vegetable garden next door to his parents. What luck! Their house was one of the nicest in the neighborhood. Niulvys wasn't home, but her English-speaking sister-in-law came over to us. Cubans rarely move, since until recently, they could only trade, not buy or sell houses. So it's not unusual for families to stay close. Niulvys' parents live down the street.
Niulvys, 36, is a gracious and talkative hostess, and a great cook. She talks so much, in fact, that voice problems forced her to take some time off from her job teaching high school physics and electronics. She said she plans to go back, but running the casa is far more lucrative than her $20 per month government job, especially now that she has more time to cook dinners. Papo was laid off a while back from a government administrative job.
We paid $20 per night for the bright, spacious room below, with windows overlooking the garden, AC and a private bathroom. A breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs, toast, juice, coffee and cerial was an extra $4 each. Dinners (lobster one night, chicken the next) were another $8. Add a couple of Papo's pre-dinner Mojitos spiked with fresh mint from the garden, and we paid around $50 a night for the room, breakfast, drinks and dinner.
Niuvys uses her libreta or ration booklet to buy cheap sugar and a few other staples, but not much is available, or if it is, it's poor quality, like the coffee mixed with pea flour to make it stretch. For good coffee, pork, chicken, lobster and most everything else she serves her guests, she goes to farmers' markets or stores and pays in the hard currency- pesos convertibles - she earns from the tourists. Government taxes are high - $150 per month in low season and $200 in high season - whether or not guests occupy the room everyday, plus an extra 25-30 percent at the end of the year, depending on how many nights the room is actually rented. With the income they earn, the family is able to buy things they could never otherwise afford. They turned a closet into a computer room for their children Ale, 5, and Maria Karla, 11, and recently bought a second air conditioner for the house. Note the late model Peugeot in the driveway. It's fun seeing all the old American cars, but there are lots of newer, foreign cars on the road in Cuba. Many families own Peugeots and Soviet-made Ladas.
Niulvys gets the kids ready for school as her father-in-law kisses Maria Karla goodbye. Life in Vinales is very much a family affair, with brothers, sisters, parents and in-laws living close by.
We spent a day hiking in the valley with Sandy Morales, 27, one of Papo and Niulvy's neighbors.
Sandy speaks English and paints houses for the government, although his real love is painting scenes like the one above. It was his son's first birthday the day we went on the hike, so he was especially anxious to earn some money to buy rum for the party. We walked togheter in sweltering heat through farmers' fields on paths of red clay. Along the way, we met the tobacco farmer below who was selling cold beer and cool glasses of sugarcane juice laced with honey and rum.
He also grows coffee, but tobacco is his cash crop. He is required to sell 90 percent of what he grows to the government at a fixed price, then he's free to sell the other 10 percent on his own. Like most farmers, he holds back the best to sell himself- for hard currency, of course. He grows his special crop without chemicals, and hangs the tobacco leaves from the ceiling of his barn to dry. Then he hand-rolls cigars which he sells to tourists. Above, he crafts a cigar box out of palm fronds. I'm afraid we weren't very good customers. We don't smoke, and even if we did, U.S. customs law prohibits anyone from bringing back Cuban cigars, run or coffee.
More photos at http://www.cuba2011.puciello.com/
Next: Back to Havana, this time at a casa particular in Centro and a look at a side of Havana the tourist brochures don't you.
Hasta Siempre!
Cubans are some of the world's most talented and enthusiastic musicians and artists. No need to go to a club. Traditional bands perform everywhere, especially in restaurants, street corners and cafes, or anywhere where tourists are likely to gather. We'll remember this group in Trinidad, not only for the (real) stuffed alligator, but for introducing us to what became our favorite song - Hasta Siempre, a 1965 Spanish tune by Cuban composer Carlos Puebla. The lyrics are a reply to revolutionary war hero Che Guevara's farewell letter when he left Cuba for the Congo and Bolivia, where he was captured and murdered. The title is taken from Guevara's mantra, Hasta la victoria siempre (Until the eternal victory).
Music is considered so important that there are special schools for young people who show interest and talent. I wish I could have studied guitar as a subject in school. It's possible here at the Ernesto Lecuona school of music in Sancti Spiritus where the students are ages 7-18. The building's in need of a paint job. The pianos are old. The sheet music is worn, but the kids are dedicated. A few performed on stage for our group. The highlight was a rendition of "Give Me that Old Time Religion'' sung in English with a Spanish accent. There aren't enough practice rooms inside the school, so the kids find space to rehearse wherever they can.
Notice the uniforms. All the kids in Cuba wear them, color-coded to their age group.
Later in the evening, we spent a fun few hours dancing and watching performances at a block party hosted by a local branch of the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution. Every neighborhood and apartment block has a CDR which kids join starting around Middle School age. The groups were formed after the Revolution in 1959 to counter resistance, and "keeping away the enemies of the Revolution'' is still one of their stated goals, although they concentrate now mostly on neighborhood affairs such as recycling, health and safety issues etc. Most, but not all, Cubans join the CDR, although doing so generally makes life easier.
These cool fashionistas couldn't be more than 10 or 11, but look at them swing. About 50 people showed up and gathered in the courtyard of a white cinderblock high-rise. They set a table with bananas and grapefruit. Jesus, our guide, suggested we take up a collection and buy six bottles of rum as a gift. It was MUCH appreciated.
The Cuba Libres (rum and Coke) flowed freely, with everyone grabbing partners and dancing to salsa tunes.
Artists and musicians are Cuba's elite. They can keep all the money they earn, and enjoy special privileges, such as freedom to travel out of the country. One of the most successful is Jose Fuster. HIs hose and studio in the suburban Havana neighborhood of Jaimanitas are on the itineraries of many tour groups.
Starting around 1995, a time economic belt-tightening after the break-up of the Soviet Union, Fuster got the idea to brighten up his neighborhood. His home is covered in ceramic tile sculptures, and now so is his neighbor's house, the doctor's office and many more homes - with their permission, of course. Fuster happened to be home when we dropped by. I had the chance to sit down and chat with him. What a character he is, dressed in a green Lone Star Auto Body shirt, green ball cap and big glasses.
With every square inch of his neighborhood covered in colorful mosaic tiles, what more is there for him to do?
"I have more ideas," he said. "Everyday, I have to cope with many challenges,'' as do his neighbors, so his art has but one message, and that is the "Joy of Life.'' When will he finish? "The end is never here.''
Next: At home in Vinales
Cuba's New Entrepreneurs
Fortunes for sale, $5
We've been experimenting with dipping our toes into the local economy by patronizing some of Cuba's newly "self-employed'' entrepreneurs. We've also been changing a few dollars into Moneda Nationale - pesos cubanos (CUPs) - to get a feel for what locals can and can't buy with the local currency, and how much whatever can be bought with Moneda Nationale costs vs. what tourists pay for most things in pesos convertibles (the hard currency called CUCs).
The woman above is a fortune teller stationed outside the church of the Virgen de Regla in Havana, a historic church where members practice a Christian Afro-Cuban religion called Santeria. Her fee for curious tourists is $5 peso convertibles, pesos, the equivalent of one week's salary in a state job, or the same amount a tourist would pay for two Mojitos in a hotel lobby bar or a taxi ride across town.
She could use that $5 to buy toothpaste or soap at a "hard currency'' store such as La Distinguida on Calle Obispo, Old Havana's main shopping street, where a bottle of dishwashing soap costs $3.15 and an extension cord goes for $12. OR, she could change that $5 into pesos cubanos, at a conversion rate of 25 to $1. With those 125 CUPs, she could buy five full-sized pizzas at one of the storefront "peso pizza'' parlors locals operate out of their kitchens, or five full meals at La Luz, one of the few restaurants in Havana Vieja that caters to locals and still accepts CUPs. Most likely, she'll use it to buy food to supplement government-subdized rations, always in short supply.
Confused? That seems to be the idea. Most tourists come to Cuba with little or no understanding of its dual economy. I get the impression that the tourism industry likes it that way. From the Cuban point of view, the whole point of boosting tourism is to increase the supply of hard currency, so having tourists out there spending Moneda Nationale is not really in their best interests. Changing a few dollars and spending it, however, is a good way to learn about local life.
The ice cream parlor, La Coppelia, is a good place to start, not just because the ice cream is good, but because it's one of the few places that accepts ONLY Moneda Nationale...except at a special "fast lane'' reserved for foreigners.
Here's how it works: Cubans form lines around the block to get inside La Coppelia. Once they do, they order four or five "ensaladas,'' plastic dishes of five-scoop servings, that cost 5 pesos cubanos, or about 20 cents. Standing in line is half the fun. People chat, or even ask someone to save their place while they go shopping. Guards motion customers in by calling out "Dos (two) mas, or Cuatro (four) mas!. Once inside, you get in another line according to the flavor you prefer- one line for banana, another for chocolate and vanilla etc. Families come here to celebrate. Everyone seems happy, and it's one of the few places where it's easy for foreigners to mix with Cubans who don't have something to sell or aren't working in the tourist industry. Many tourists miss this real La Coppelia experience, however, because the guards steer foreigners to a separate "hard currency'' area where two scoops served in a glass dish cost around $2.75.
As for private enterprise, it's growing, with entrepreneurs targeting their services to both locals and tourists. Estimates are the number of self-employed in Cuba grew from 150,000 to more than 300,000 in the past year, not a lot in a country of 11 million, but it's a start, even though the "businesses'' are often nothing more than a front-porch flea market with used clothes or plumbing parts for sale.
This young man recently opened a hard currency business with his father and brother. They sell wood carvings to tourists in an artisans market. We bought several for around $1 each, not much for us, but a lot of money by Cuban standards. Others sell what they can - rolls of toilet paper out of plastic bags, paper cones of peanuts or homemade cookies from living room storefronts. It's not unusual to walk by a home or an apartment and see a "menu'' posted on doorway listing what snacks or drinks are for sale.
I met these two ladies selling hand-embroidered table coverings in their front yard near Trinidad. The woman on the right is Maria Antonia Pucha (We laughed because we share a similar last name). Her husband was running his own business a few feet away, cutting and juicing sugar cane which he spiked with fresh lime and sold for $1 per glass. The women asked me if I had any soap, a common request. I apologized that I didn't have any with me, but I bought a couple of the table coverings. They asked to write to them, but I can't because the U.S. doesn't deliver mail to Cuba.
One of the best ways to support Cuba's new entrepreneurs is to have dinner in a palador, a privately-owned restaurant in someone's home. The owners must get (and pay for) a license, and charge in hard currency. They were previously restricted to 12 seats. Now they can have up to 50. Some are quite fancy with prices to match the food and decor. The best are the smaller ones that truly do leave you feeling as if you've been invited into a someone's living room.
One of our most memorable meals was at a little palador in the seaside town of Cienfuegos, founded as a French settlement in the 1800s. A few off us decided to skip the hotel buffet, and grab bicycle taxis to Las Mamparas, a restaurant I spotted while walking. The driver wore khaki shorts and flip flops, and moved to the beat of salsa music coming from outdoor dance clubs as we pedaled to town.
We sat at one of six wooden tables covered with lace tablecloths. The waitress took her time making our Mojitos, slowly mixing sugar, sparkling water, Havana Club rum and fresh mint. Our meal of shrimp, pork, rice with black beans, wine and flan for desert was one of the best, and $14 for two including tip, one of the least expensive. Our waitress turned out to be the owner, Mei-Ling, 37, a nurse. She and her husband and chef, Cesar, opened the restaurant two months ago in what was his family home. All the customers, except us, were Cubans, and there was a line out door when we left. Things are going well, not well enough for them to quit their $20 per month government day jobs, but well.
Getting all the necessary licenses "was complicated, but worth it,'' she told me. "Things are changing. I like it," she smiled. "To change the mind is important.''
Next: Art and music
Revolution Square
A woman in torn jeans and a ruffled top talks on a cell phone as we get ready to board our Cubana Air flight to Havana from Cancun. The men in line next to us check three flat-screen Samsung TV sets, and bring aboard a stack of Italian panini presses as carry-on luggage. The plane is Soviet-made. The snacks are Canadian. We know we're on our way to Cuba when, once airborne, the flight attendant offers a choice of pineapple juice, orange juice or rum.
An hour later, we land in Havana's modern and efficient airport. An immigration agent checks our passports, but doesn't stamp them. We pass through metal detectors where a security worker wearing tight white shorts, a black tank top and white sandals wands us down. TSA not.
"Welcome to Cuba,'' she says with a smile.
We're in.
Most lasting memory of two weeks spent in Cuba: Riding in a 1955 cream-colored Chevy taxi along the Malecon, Havana's America-built oceanside boulevard, as water splashes over the seawall and "Hotel California" plays on the radio. We are headed to La Coppelia, an outdoor ice cream parlor that could be mistaken for an amusement park. It was built by Fidel Castro in 1966 as Cuba's answer to Howard Johnson's. Life is hard in Cuba, but everyone here is happy. We watch in awe as our Cuban table mates order 10 plastic dishes of ice cream - 50 scoops in all for about 4 cents each, a grand total of $2.
"Frienemies'' is what one Cuban jokingly called the few American travelers who travel here. Tourism is booming, but it's mostly Canadians and Europeans filling the hotels and tour buses, sipping Mojitos and riding around in the vintage American cars or yellow open-air oval taxis called "little eggs."
"Why on earth would an American want to go to Cuba,?'' the man in back of me at passport control asked, then answered himself by telling me why he finds the island "unlike anyplace I've ever visited.''
Don't think about just hopping on a plane and coming here. A 50-year-old U.S. embargo imposed shortly after Castro took power in 1959 and seized privately-owned assets, still restricts travel, but the Obama Administration has opened the door in small ways. Tom and I joined a licensed tour sponsored by San Francisco's Global Exchange, an international human rights organization, then spent another five days exploring on our own. Like nearly everyone we met, we came now because Cuba is changing. The government, under Raul Castro, is taking unprecedented steps to tackle its economic crisis, and the changes are reshaping the way people live and earn their livings. Visiting now offers a last chance to experience the country as it is - a socialist state, just 90 miles from Miami, Florida - taking baby steps towards limited private enterprise, not unlike Hungary or the former Yugoslavia before the break-up of the Soviet Union.
"Every morning, we wake up and there's another change," said Jesus, our tour guide, a single father and native Habanero. Today, it's an announcement that farmers, once they've met their quota for providing the government with produce at set prices, will now be able to sell their surpluses directly to hotels and restaurants and set their own prices.
This follows news in the past few months that Cuban residents are now permitted to buy and sell homes and used cars (previously only trades were officially permitted), and start many new types of small businesses.
Jesus: Our man in Havana
Like most Cubans, Jesus is employed by a state-owned travel company. He makes the equivalent of about $20 a month, the same as a doctor, teacher or waiter, in return for free medical care, education, nearly free housing and government-subdized transportation and basic foods. After graduating college, he worked for a while as a social worker, then turned to tourism for the same reason many doctors and teachers moonlight as waiters or taxi drivers. Tourists bring in the hard currency Cubans need to buy many of the things they want and need.
The tips we leave, and most everything we pay for - hotel rooms, taxi fares, meals etc. - are paid in convertible pesos called CUCs (pronounced kooks) - each worth approximately $1.
Nice jeans. Nail polish. Good bread, good chicken or good coffee. Hand lotion. Paint. Appliances (such as those TV sets and panini presses). They're all available in Cuba, but only in stores that accept CUCs. State wages, on the other hand, are paid in Cuban pesos (called CUPs or Moneda Nationale), with a conversion rate of 25 to $1. While the national money buys some government-subsidized staples - coffee cut with pea flour, for example, and cheap and plentiful ice cream at La Coppelia- it's no substitute for the coveted CUCs.
The farmer's market stall above, for instance, accepts Moneda Nationale, but the offerings are slim. Cuba imports 80 percent of its food. For more selection and better quality, Cubans must go elsewhere and pay in convertable pesos (CUCs), sometimes called "tourist dollars.''
Bottom line: If you want certain foods, a washing machine, a cell phone, computer, a TV, an Internet card or the latest fashions, you have to pay with money in which the state doesn't pay you. And you'd better have plenty of it. Because of the U.S. trade embargo, a policy that prevents Cuba from importing any American-made product or anything made with American parts, these items sell at inflated prices, often more than they would cost here or in Canada.
Lucky for you if you're one of the 60 percent who have a way of obtaining hard currency, either through a job or from relatives in another country who send money. Estimates are that 40 percent of Cubans don't, and for them, life in the new economy is very hard.
Stashed in our money belts is $900 in Canadian dollars. The tit-for-tat for the U.S. embargo is that American-issued credit cards and ATM cards can't be used here, and the state charges a 10 percent penalty to exchange U.S. dollars for CUCs.
Our group checked into the Hotel Presidente built in the 1920s in Vedado, a residential neighborhood of tree-lined streets and wide boulevards, the legacy of wealthy sugar and rum barons and rich Americans, many with ties to the U.S.-Mafia controlled hotels, casinos and nightclubs that flourished here until Castro took power in 1959. Left behind by thousands who fled Cuba for the U.S. were elaborate Neo-classical and Art Deco style mansions that were taken over by the state and converted into apartments for the rural poor. Everyone owns the house or apartment where they live, and until recently, the only way to "move'' was to find someone with whom to trade.
Some of the mansions are faded and crumbling, with missing windows and peeling paint. They often house multiple families. Others are the well-kept residences of successful artists, or house embassies or restaurants.
The house above belongs to an artist whom we met on the tour. It was built in the 1930s, and handed down to her by her uncle. It's sometimes hard to tell from the outside what something is on the inside. I was sure the faded pink and blue villa across the street from our hotel was an abandoned building until I woke up on Monday morning and saw children arriving for school.
A few in our group were disappointed that we weren't staying in one of the historical hotels in Spanish colonial Old Havana or Havana Vieja, the oldest part of the city, once a slum, now the target of an ambitious government restoration project aimed at bringing life back to the historical streets, hotels, restaurants and bars popular before the Revolution with American tourists, writers and musicians. But Vedado feels like a neighborhood that exists more for average Cubans than tourists. People seem relaxed, friendly and anxious to chat.
We met this man while walking through the neighborhood on our way to John Lennon Park where there's a statue dedicated by Fidel in 2000 on the 20th anniversary of the former Beatle's death.
We listened for a while, then gave the man a small tip, always expected by musicians in Cuba, but in this case given willingly. The red leather shoes were a gift - one of four pairs - from a friend who traveled to Spain.
Unlike Vedado, Vieja has been almost totally turned over to tourism, now second only to nickel exports as a source of hard-currency for Cuba. Nearly all the hotels and most of the restaurants are owned by the Cuban government's Habaguanex agency, a company directed by the city historian's office. Profits are funneled back to restoration projects, including improvements for residents living in unrestored sections, often in buildings without running water.
Vieja's Bar del Medio where
Hemingway drank Mojitos
Vieja is Havana's modern-day success story. But will the government be as willing to continue to fund restoration, knowing that people are now free to sell their apartments? Will private investors find ways to exploit the profit potential in gentrification?
Despite a myriad of economic problems brought on by the break-up of the Soviet Union and the U.S. embargo, homelessness, so far at least, does not seem to be one of them.
"Could that change, if people, tempted by high offers, sell their homes, then suddenly find they can't afford to buy another, or move in with relatives as some plan?'' I asked architect and urban planner, Miguel Coyula, who led our group on a tour of the restored Vieja neighborhood.
He answered indirectly. Like most Habaneros who own new homes or apartments, he originally obtained his house in the seafront suburb of Miramar for the cost of construction materials - about $650. Since the rules changed, he's been offered as much as $150,000. Will he sell? Probably not, but others will surely be tempted.
"Until now, to have a house was not to have an asset. It was just a place to live. Now it means you have something. "
Next: Cuba's new entrepreneurs
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~Travels In Turkey ~ 2011~
Adventures in Albania
Madrid to Morocco and Back
CHINA with Carol Pucci
Travels with Carol Pucci
Carol Pucci
Carol Pucci is the former travel writer and Travel Wise columnist at the Seattle Times. She is a contributor to The Seattle Times, JoeSentMe.com, Virtuoso Life magazine and Northwest Travel magazine.


I've used silicone molds for the base of the donuts, cupcakes and for the whipped cream; for the heart cookie I used a little cookie cutter. On some of the pastries I've brushed chalk pastels for the baking effect. I've cured in advance little and long strings and after they've cooled down I've made from them small colorful sprinkles with the blade. I've used for the frosting liquid polymer clay mixed with clay and deco colors after the baking.
I decorated some of the clay sweets before baking, and the others after they've cooled down.
I've made from these sweet embellishments hair accessories for little girls.
Headbands and hair pins combined with miniature food embellishments are fun and easy to make. These are a great idea for Christmas stockings gifts.
Wow! As you already know I LOVE IT! :D I have one question, again :D Which glue do you use when you put this miniatures on metal components? Thank you.
Hi sweetie :) Thank you!!!
I use E-6000 = fantastic!
Oh Ronit I so love your work, the talent you have for putting colors together is wonderful no matter what it is it brings a smile. May I ask do you mix your colors or buy the color? Thank you for all you share.
Ohh, I mix all my colors my self, to get the result that I want.


We currently have an exciting opportunity available for an experienced Restaurant Manager to join our professional front of house at Paringa.
For over 30 years Paringa Estate has produced award winning wines in Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula. Our adjoining restaurant overlooking the vineyard has received its fifth consecutive chef's hat in the Age Good Food Guide and is Trip Advisors #1 restaurant destination in Red Hill.
Recent renovations have given Paringa Estate a sleek new look. In a region known for fine dining, Paringa is at the pinnacle.
We are currently open for Lunch on Wednesday to Sunday and Dinner on Friday & Saturday.
This is your opportunity to become an integral member of one of Australia's leading fine dining establishments. If you live on the Mornington Peninsula or interested in a sea change please get in touch today.
Email your resume to info@paringaestate.com.au . Please highlight your relevant skills, experience and reasons for your application.


Piezography has a number of variations that make a near infinitude of possibilities when all of the ink/paper variations are considered. Piezography pigment is so finely milled that the tone of a paper has an enormous affect on the final "hue" of Piezography ink.
For example, Piezography Neutral ink does not appear "neutral" on all papers. It was designed to appear achromatic (with equal amounts of red, green, blue) to human eyes when viewed under 5000k on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag paper. The tone of Photo Rag is similar to other sheets such as Innova Photo Cotton Smooth and Alise Bright White. But when the paper beneath Piezography Neutral inks is changed to a warmer or cooler white, the neutral tone shifts warmer of cooler. This is true for all of the Piezography inks.
So in one sense, it is possible to customize one's output through careful paper selection. Yet there are also paper brands such as Canson which has such a unique coating formulation, that the selection of a sheet has no bearing on what the tone of the ink might be. In one example, Canson Rag Photographique which is about the same tone as Hahnemuhle Photo Rag creates a chocolate brown color when printed with Piezography Selenium inks. Yet the same ink on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag creates the imitation of selenium toned fiber base print. Currently, Canson is the only paper we know displaying its own characteristic shift that is not necessarily related to paper color. It offers some interesting possibilities that we did not anticipate.
Another way to customize Piezography is through ink blending. There are four major inks choices in the K7/K6 series: Neutral, Selenium, Sepia and Warm Neutral. Piezography Special Edition ink is one of our most popular products. But, it is a blended ink. Jon Cone blended this ink to celebrate a more complex ink formulation he created that produced the triple-split-toning of the Ashes and Snow exhibition and collector's prints for photographer Gregory Colbert.
Special Edition ink use neutral shades in the highlights, and blends portions of selenium and sepia through the mid-tones, and finally sepia in the darkest portions of the tonal scale. The recipe is a secret. The process is not.
To blend an ink only requires understanding of how the Piezography K7/K6 system uses curves.
Curves are designed for the QuadTone RIP application to control each of the six or more print heads of the selected Epson printer. Rather than send an RGB image file that is then converted into color ink droplets by the Epson printer driver, a grayscale image is sent to the QuadTone RIP which is a unique printer driver. QTR drives each print head in a controlled way by taking data that is embedded in a QTR "Curve". A curve is actually made up of six or more curves. Each of these six or more individual curves is responsible for controlling each of the six or more print heads. Without a lengthy explanation that would take up an entire topic by itself, and has already been covered in depth on this blog, a curve represents what percentage of image tone density is represented as a percentage of ink shade at that particular print head. As long as all of the Piezography ink shade densities in an ink set are similar to the ink shade densities in another Piezography ink set – the same curve can be used. And that is exactly how we designed Piezography inks and QTR curves. We designed the inks so that they are interchangeable.
A single QTR curve works for each of the different Piezography ink sets. This means that you can mix the different Piezography ink sets as long as you keep the same shade order. This is how we split tone the inks. One of the best examples of a split tone ink set is when Selenium inks are used to print shades 5 and higher, and Sepia is used to print shades 4 and lower. But, blending – is when literally the inks are blended together. In other words, two different inks of the same shade are poured together into a bottle and shaken. Then this ink is put into a cartridge. My Special Edition inks are a blend of Selenium and Sepia.
Blending Neutral into Sepia or Selenium is like adding neutral density and is not that effective unless a subtle shift is required. But Neutral inks can be made to be warmer or colder by blending some Sepia or Selenium into them. WarmNeutral ink can be made warmer with some Sepia. Selenium can be made more complex with some Sepia or some Warm Neutral… You can buy all of these inks in small bottles and we sell empty Nalgene bottles for your mixing, as well as 60ml syringes with 4 inch blunt needles. The best way to experiment is with a desktop printer and sets of refillable carts. You can then transpose the results to large format with less expense. You only need to make certain that you do not mix one shade of an ink with a different shade of another ink. It has to be the same shade of one ink with the same shade of another ink.


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Fiesta ST hatchback
Ford Fiesta ST hatchback (2013-2017)
"The Ford Fiesta ST has become renowned as one the best hot hatchbacks ever. It ticks all the boxes, being as practical and affordable as it is fast and fun to drive"
Verdict - currently reading
MPG, running costs & CO2
Engines, drive & performance
Interior & comfort
Practicality & boot space
Carbuyer Rating
Owners Rating
Read owner reviews
Handsome, subtle styling
Fantastic fun to drive
Ride is somewhat firm
Suspect interior quality
Only available with three doors
The Fiesta ST is the hot hatchback version of the standard Ford Fiesta, a supermini that's consistently at the top of the UK's bestselling cars list. By adding some extra power and tweaked parts for improved cornering, Ford made a car that built on the impressive driving dynamics of the car in standard form. The result is a sporty hatchback that's lots of fun to drive.
The sixth-generation of Ford Fiesta ST is now a discontinued model, but it's still a great car nonetheless. Its rivals include the SEAT Ibiza Cupra, Volkwagen Polo GTI, Vauxhall Corsa VXR and Renault Clio RS, but in truth the ST is the best of the bunch when it comes to pure enjoyment – with excellent grip and engaging, accurate steering, it is a joy to drive enthusiastically.
The last Mk6 Fiesta ST rolled off the production line in 2017. It uses a 180bhp 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, which results in a 0-62mph time of 6.9 seconds and a top speed of 139mph. While this straight-line speed makes the ST a very competent car on the motorway, pure speed is not all it has to offer; it's real appeal lies in its performance when the road gets twisty.
Ford Fiesta hatchback review
Ford Fiesta ST hatchback review
Ford Fiesta Active hatchback
Ford Fiesta hatchback (2008-2017)
Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.0 EcoBoost review
Used Ford Fiesta buying guide: 2002-08 (Mk6); 2008-13 (Mk7)
It's on a challenging road where the ST truly shines, displaying agile, engaging handling that gives you the confidence to push harder, making it a faster 'point-to-point' car than many alternatives, including those with more power. While the car is front rather than four-wheel drive, it generates so much grip that you can safely place a huge amount of faith in it, and the communicative steering only adds to that feeling of security, as well as making the ST a hugely fun car to drive.
The car resists lean in corners thanks to a firm suspension setup but this does result in an occasionally hard ride that means the ST isn't the most comfortable car. The ride is made worse by the car's sporty low-profile tyres, which offer little in the way of shock-absorption when you drive over potholes or cracks in the road surface.
This is fairly typical of this kind of car, though, and the Fiesta isn't notably bumpier than the Vauxhall Corsa VXR. Those after smoothness would be better served by the Volkswagen Polo GTI, but most will feel the ST's firm ride an acceptable price to pay for driving fun.
Unlike some compact hot hatchbacks, the Fiesta ST was offered in three and five-door body styles, which means it really can mirror the day-to-day practicality of the popular supermini it's based on. Five-door STs offer far easier access to the rear seats – ideal if you have small children to carry. The boot is a little disappointing at 290 litres, though – some rivals offer a little more luggage space.
Three trim levels were available, with ST-1 as the entry-level model. All are well equipped – roughly equivalent to a Ford Fiesta Titanium but with Recaro sports seats, a special ST design bodykit and 17-inch alloy wheels. ST-2 added heated seats, rear privacy glass and a Sony stereo with DAB radio, while ST-3 boasts sat nav, cruise-control and automatic climate control.
The Ford Fiesta enjoys a trusted reputation among UK owners, but this seems to be despite personal experiences, not because of them. It finished an unremarkable 50th out of 75 cars in our 2017 Driver Power satisfaction survey, with ratings for running costs, practicality, comfort and exterior quality all below average. Reliability wasn't rated highly, either.
This all points to this generation of Fiesta being a little long-in-the-tooth when production ended, but the replacement Mk7 should be an even better all-rounder. Enthusiasts can rejoice, too – the next Fiesta ST will be more powerful and promises an even sharper drive.
NextMPG, running costs & CO2


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Mercedes-Benz SUV Vehicles
Base AMG GLC 43 Coupe 4dr All-Wheel Drive 4MATIC
Compare the 2023 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLC 43 Side-by-Side against other vehicles.
Base AMG GLE 53 4dr All-Wheel Drive 4MATIC+ Sport Utility
Base AMG GLE 53 Coupe 4dr All-Wheel Drive 4MATIC Sport Utility
Compare the 2023 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE 53 Side-by-Side against other vehicles.
S AMG GLE 63 4dr All-Wheel Drive 4MATIC Sport Utility
S AMG GLE 63 Coupe 4dr All-Wheel Drive 4MATIC
Engine: V-8 MPG: 15 City, 19 Hwy
MSRP $120,700
$120,000 Find Best Price
2023 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLS 63
Base AMG GLS 63 4dr All-Wheel Drive 4MATIC+
Compare the 2023 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLS 63 Side-by-Side against other vehicles.
2023 Mercedes-Benz EQB 300
Base EQB 300 4dr All-Wheel Drive 4MATIC
Compare the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQB 300 Side-by-Side against other vehicles.
Base G 550 4dr All-Wheel Drive
Compare the 2023 Mercedes-Benz G-Class Side-by-Side against other vehicles.
Base GLB 250 4dr Front-Wheel Drive
Base GLB 250 4dr All-Wheel Drive 4MATIC
Compare the 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLB 250 Side-by-Side against other vehicles.
2023 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300
Base GLC 300 Coupe 4dr All-Wheel Drive 4MATIC
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2023 Mercedes-Benz GLE 350
Base GLE 350 4dr All-Wheel Drive 4MATIC
Base GLE 350 4dr 4x2 Sport Utility
Compare the 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLE 350 Side-by-Side against other vehicles.
Base GLS 450 4dr All-Wheel Drive 4MATIC
Compare the 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLS 450 Side-by-Side against other vehicles.
Base Maybach GLS 600 4dr All-Wheel Drive 4MATIC
Compare the 2023 Mercedes-Benz Maybach GLS 600 Side-by-Side against other vehicles.
Base AMG GLE 53 4dr All-Wheel Drive 4MATIC Sport Utility


Chives are a bulb-forming herbaceous perennial plant, growing to 30-50 cm tall. The bulbs are slender, conical, 2-3 cm long and 1 cm broad, and grow in dense clusters from the roots. The flowering stems are hollow and tubular, up to 50 cm long and 2-3 mm across. Leaves, which are shorter than the flowering stems, are also hollow and round in cross-section, which distinguishes it from Garlic Chives. The flowers are pale purple, and star-shaped with six petals, 1–2 cm wide, and produced in a dense head of 10-30 together. The seeds are produced in a small three-valved capsule. Chives are grown for their scapes, which are used for culinary purposes as a flavoring herb. Chives are found in Asia, Europe and North America. Chives are found in the Himalayas, at altitudes of 2000-3000 m. Flowering: June-July.


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Johnson's Big Victory Makes Investors Happy—At Least for Now
The pound jumped and U.K. stocks rose after Prime Minister Boris Johnson scored a decisive election victory on the promise of delivering Brexit. But despite investor optimism, the British government still faces a number of challenges. Photo: Jason Alden/Bloomberg News
Boris Johnson Secures a Resounding Win
Kobe Bryant, the former Los Angeles Lakers superstar and one of the greatest players in National Basketball Association history, died in a helicopter crash on Sunday. He was 41 years old. Photo: Associated Press
Trump to Push for WTO Reform and Europe Trade Deal


You have dipped your toe in Black culture by watching MTV Base. OK, that is TV, you need to get with reality. Get out and meet real Black people.
I'm only 60% black, according that that. Something mus' be wrong.
Do you like water melon?
40% and I was surprised I scored that high. LOL.
Bleh, I don't even like fried chicken. I just don't like chicken skin. Weird, but true.
I love watermelon though, especially if it's mixed with cantaloupe and honeydew and drizzled with honey. Mmmmm.
You can name a few rap and R&B artists, hell even hum some tunes. You know the latest street language from your kids. Don't let them do all the integration. You get stuck in too. Meet their parents. Even invite them over.
Where do cantaloupe and honeydew spend thier summers?
PS - I am only doing a parody really of Pawnstar, who once stated, that white man has everything to fear from black people, ALWAYS!
Omg!!!! It's Because He's Black!!!!


The Associate of Applied Science in Early Childhood Education degree is a 60 credit hour, four semester program. It is designed primarily for preschool workers and P-4 teaching assistants or paraprofessionals who are not seeking admission into a teacher licensure program and coursework is designed to address the birth to age 5 population. Additionally, students who are successful in completing the degree will meet the educational component of the Arkansas Birth through Prekindergarten Teaching Credential awarded by the Division of Childcare and Early Childhood Education.
This department also offers a Certificate of Proficiency, a Technical Certificate and a Pre-K Level Age 3-4 Endorsement for Elementary Education majors.
For additional information, contact Kim Tomlinson. Link Kim's name to kim.tomlinson@uafs.edu.
Show understanding of young children's developmental stages of learning from birth through age eight be creating healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging learning environments for young children.
Demonstrate understanding of diversity in the community and the classroom by engaging families and communities in respectful, reciprocal relationships that foster classroom development.
Exhibit understanding of the goals, benefits, and uses of assessment as they work with young children, by using developmentally-appropriate assessment to develop curriculum, to use teaching strategies, and in setting goals for their pre-kindergarten students.
Demonstrate understanding if early childhood best practices by creating diverse and differentiated teaching strategies to help young children engage in their learning and diverse developmental stages. Candidates will practice self-reflection to promote to promote positive outcomes in their teaching, and they will use a broad repertoire of developmentally appropriate teaching strategies/learning approaches.