Elementary school dean recalls visit to Cuba
St. Patrick School’s Dean of Students Rita Polansky visited Cuba in the fall and brought along school supplies for Cuban schoolchildren. Polansky holds the Vatican and Cuban flags along with other items she brought back from her trip.
Rita Polansky holds a ceramic bracelet she brought back from her trip to Cuba.
Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba that begins today marks the first time in 88 years that a United States president has visited the island nation.
Since travel restrictions to Cuba were eased when the U.S. and Cuba restored diplomatic relations in 2015, a growing number of American visitors with a valid reason to travel there (the 12 authorized reasons include educational activities, professional research, sports exchanges and humanitarian projects – but not smoking Cuban cigars and sipping mojitos) have made the trek.
Among them is Rita Polansky, dean of students at St. Patrick School in Canonsburg,
Polansky visited the island, which lies 90 miles south of Florida, last fall when Pope Francis spent three days in Cuba ahead of his trip to the United States.
She brought school supplies and health items for children at an elementary school: Think pencils, markers, coloring books, toothbrushes and toothpaste.
“I thought my chance of seeing the pope in Cuba was better than in the United States,” said Polansky, who is no stranger to travel. “And I think it’s important to travel. I just think those of us who stay in one location don’t realize how big our world really is. People are people, and I believe it’s important to get to know them.”
Polansky said despite a half-century of deprivations under communism, the Cuban people she encountered were open and friendly.
“Cubans didn’t seem to be afraid to talk to us, even though the government owns everything there. The people didn’t seem reluctant or afraid to talk to us in private,” said Polansky, who applied to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to get a special license for the trip as an educational endeavor.
“I took the American flag with me, and a lot of kids took a picture with me and the American flag. The people are just warm and friendly, and they were happy to see Americans there,” she said.
Polansky’s driver and tour guide was a Cuban man who wanted to become a doctor, but a mandatory aptitude test indicated he should enroll in a track to become a teacher. He wasn’t permitted to pursue a medical career.
He escorted Polansky to picturesque locales and historic landmarks including Revolution Square and Cuba’s stunning beaches, and she saw first hand the country’s contributions to art and culture (a must-see, she said, is ceramic artist Jose Fuster’s “Fusterlandia,” a neighborhood in northwest Havana where his art is on display).
One of Polansky’s most memorable moments was when she gave the school supplies she had packed to the school principal, and one of the students who was outside began excitedly speaking English, happy to demonstrate his language skills.
Polansky also observed community projects through a people-to-people grassroots program, including a school where deaf students were training to be hair stylists and barbers.
Another highlight of the trip was visiting the home of her driver and his family.
“I don’t know what impression of Americans the people there have because of the embargo that’s in place, but I tried to be a good ambassador for the United States,” Polansky said.
Cuba once was a playground for American celebrities and socialites, among them Ernest Hemingway, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner, and Polansky was impressed with the Spanish colonial architecture, the abundance of vintage American cars and the cuisine.
Polansky pointed out Cuba isn’t quite ready for American tourism, noting the small airport and long waiting lines, few hotels (many guests rent rooms in family homes) and limited, government-controlled Internet access.
In 2015, Cuba hosted 3.52 million visitors, including 161,000 Americans.
Despite its rough edges, Cuba is a fascinating country, she said. “It was a pleasure to experience the culture, the people, the food and the beauty of the country,” she said. “I will definitely go back.”