What adds to quality the travel experience is having an understanding of the place to be visited and our point of departure for a “people to people” immersion. It will help participants from South Carolina converse with Cubans about some aspects of history that link them. One such example is a gun on the grounds of the South Carolina state capital that was recovered from the battleship USS Maine that was sunk in Cuba. The event took place. The sinking of the ship in 1898 contributed to initiation of Spanish American war that took place in Cuba resulting in the independence of Cuba from Spain.
It is well known monument to Narciso Gonzales honors him as founding editor of The State Newspaper. It is interesting to note that he and his brother were born to a Cuban who escaped to United States and was an artillery officer in South Carolina’s confederate army. In a conversation in Cuba it is likely to generate interest how far back there are some ties between the people of Cuba and those of South Carolina.