A couple of adjectives cannot summarize our experience in Buey Arriba, a mountainous municipality in the province of Granma where, along with rivers and hills, the sunset is actually an indescribable display.

Nonetheless, we have no choice but to choose some words and after visiting San Pablo Yao, the community in Plan Turquino where the headquarter of Television Serrana is, the phrase that better match is beauty in the eyes and the soul.

From the vantage point, any person from Buey Arriba can tell you where coffee plantations are, and on your right, you can see where Che Guevara’s command headquarters was based in Sierra Maestra, when he led Column #4 of the Rebel Army.

A little, restless hummingbird catches your attention while you somehow ignore the barely noticeable whisper of its wings, once you hear the sound of stones dragged downhill.

Beautiful is not the only possible adjective, but it is pretty accurate in describing this small spot of Cuba.

They eat cassava even though there is common bread

If the idea is to look for unique features in each place we go, in Buey Arriba we should talk about cassava. It is certainly a food that is also made and eaten in other places in eastern Cuba.

But in Buey Arriba, people are proud of their cassava. They have even turned it into one of the main productions of the small industry that has been developing in the town as a Local Development Project.

Casabe is a cassava-based preparation that we inherited from our natives. The workers of the Buey Arriba’s small industry currently make it with amazing skill and give it the final touches in a wood-fired buren (oven).

The truth is that it is not an easy task, just scraping enough cassava to make hundreds of units, of two different sizes, is worth millions. And the heat for hours next to the oven, the same.

Stevia to sugarcoat life…

It is a plant found in Paraguay, which was brought to Cuba by Fidel, according to what they told me in the town of Nuevo Yao.

Doris, the wife of the peasant who has devoted herself to cultivating it as part of the Stevia del Buey PDL, assured us that it has anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties, which are already being tested and used in the production of medicines.

But the quintessential virtue of these leaves is their healthy sweetness, highly recommended for people with diabetes, as it contributes to the proper functioning of the pancreas and also allows them to enjoy absolutely sweet tea, coffee or juice, without the risk of sugar collapse.

Buey Arriba is beautiful and sweet, enough to make you fall in love with it and anxious to return.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSi Translation Staff