Santiago de Cuba

Tourism is one of the largest growing industries in the world due to globalization. The term tourism was first coined by Thomas Cook to explain travel by the European Railway, which marked the beginning of modern tourism. Travel has become an easily accessible and relatively affordable mode of transportation for the sole purpose of recreation and entertainment. Using the lens of anthropology, numerous ethnographers have addressed questions regarding our global state. In the plethora of new technology, virtual tourism has enhanced business structures, travel opportunities and reconceptualised what constitutes as travel. Roland is an anthropologist who applies the multi-sited ethnography approach and travels to the nation of Cuba to address the…

The Battle of San Juan Hill was the engagement between the United States and Spain that concluded the Spanish colonial control. The most acclaimed unit that was in Cuba at the time was the “Rough Riders”. Led by Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt and Colonel Leonard Wood. The Rough Riders were camped along the Santiago Road in Cuba during the first day of July of 1898 getting ready for battle. The Battle of San Juan Hill was a pivotal battle for both antagonist. Teddy’s “Rough Riders” was a…

In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez sets the story of a murder in a small town in Bolivia. The novel takes place in the 1950s, with parallels of political characters such as Santiago to the Cuban regime under Batista and the Vicario bothers to Fidel Castro, Marquez creates an allegory for the rise and fall of left wing Latino governments. Left wing governments, in this context, aim to create equality through regulations while right wing governments govern with the ideology…

Constructions of gender throughout Cuban history have shaped Cuba into the country that it is. Both masculine and feminine constructions have occurred, with Fidel Castro’s beard as a sign of masculinity or how patriarchy before the 1930’s shaped the way that women were sexualized and controlled. In the past century, women’s roles had changed tremendously from before the revolution, during the revolution, and post-revolution. Cuban women were sexualized before the revolution, which increased…

In the seventh century, a Carolingian church had been constructed and stood for many years. Prior to that, it was considered a holy land by people living in the surrounding forests.3 Around the same time that the Benedictine monks had founded the abbey, the relics of Saint James had been discovered in Spain. This discovery sparked a movement and many pilgrims began to make their way to the shrine at Santiago de Compostela in hopes of seeking forgiveness for their sins or cures for their…

Religion and pilgrimage to holy sites was developed into an integral part of the society during the 12th century. The Christian believed in the resurrection of Christ and the afterlife that depended on the actions of an individual over the course of their lifetime. In order to gain salvation Christians at the time made pilgrimages to holy sites in order to please their God and attain salvation from hell and find a place in the abode of God; the heavens. As the favored place of pilgrimage was…

At one point in history most parts of Spain were controlled by Muslims, so when pilgrims decide to take on the journey to Santiago they consider it as the” Holy Land”. Santiago de Compostela cathedral began its construction in 1075 but wasn’t officially consecrated until 1211. Today one of the most visited points of all western Europe is Santiago, Spain for many reasons. From St. James the Greater, to the richness of the architecture of the cathedral, to the significance of the journey…

Resting on the edge of the Niger River in the usual searing heat of Timbuktu, Fatima, daughter of a village trader Oumar and his wife Awa, quietly ponders about her father and his current pilgrimage to Mecca alongside Musa Keita I and 72,000 other men. Oumar was individually selected by the Mansa himself for this journey, and as important as the pilgrimage is, Fatima cannot help but to feel perturbed by her father’s absence. Awa and Fatima have uniformly quarreled with each other for the past…

500 plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. From drugs to activist to lyricalist, Paulo Coelho found purpose in his life by writing and it is demonstrated in many of his books such as “The Pilgrimage”, “The Alchemist” and this novel, “The Fifth Mountain”. The common theme and message was appreciating life and doing what you want. In “The Fifth Mountain”, the novel contains many ideas of faith, religion, and self belief which are some of the skills we need to possess in life. “Stop…

Santiago de Compostela has many mysteries that have not been discovered and things that we don't know for a fact. One of the mystery is whether or not saint James the greatest traveled from Jerusalem to Iberian, Peninsula. Even though we don't know some things we still have a bit of information of it and how it has in the past. The town is located northwest of Spain were one of the most well know cathedrals. Santiago de Compostela is the capital of Galicia. The town is named after the…