Allison Hepler takes her position as a Woolwich selectman seriously. So it was surprising to hear she couldn’t attend the board’s Dec. 21 meeting. She explained it was because she was going to Cuba.

For Hepler, a professor of history at the University Maine at Farmington for 20 years, traveling to the Communist-ruled island fulfilled a lifelong dream. “I have wanted to go to Cuba for years. As a historian, my fascination is not only the Revolution but U.S. influence there,” she said.

Hepler teaches history at UMF. She’ll be teaching a class in Latin American history when she returns to the university this month. Her visit to Cuba was through the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC), a nationwide organization that fosters faculty collaboration between the U.S. and Cuba, including teacher and student exchanges. The UMF administration hopes to one day establish a study abroad program with Cuban officials.

“When COPLAC offered the chance to take part in their Cuba trip, I jumped at it,” Hepler said, adding she was one of six members of the UMF faculty who applied. She was selected along with Nancy Prentiss, a biology teacher at the university. “We flew down to Miami together where we met other teachers from around the country that were going, including two instructors from Keene State in New Hampshire.”

Following a short 45-minute flight, Hepler found herself in Havana. “I was so excited and kept saying to myself, I can't believe I am here,” Hepler told the Wiscasset Newspaper in an interview Jan. 14 at her home on Montsweag Road.

The Cuban Institute for Cultural Research hosted her group. The group of educators, some from as far away as California, stayed in an historic Catholic retreat in Havana, the Casa Sacerdotal (Priestly House), San Juan Vianney.

“The accommodations were very nice,” she continued. “They fed us meat or fish at every meal along with rice and beans at both dinner and lunch. The meat was usually pork or shredded beef. They also served us coffee at every meal along with a sweet dessert.”

She said her week in Cuba seemed to fly by and included morning lectures on many different topics: environmental sciences, economics, urban development and more. An early riser, Hepler got up at sunrise every morning to stroll the city streets taking in the colorful sights and nostalgic charms of old Havana. For centuries Havana was a Colonial city of Spain and although the city continues to modernize, much of the architecture still reflects those earlier times.

“When the lectures were through we had the rest of the day to ourselves. Some of my group went to visit the (Ernest) Hemingway Plantation. I went to the beach every chance I got and it was just wonderful!”

Everywhere they went, Helper said, the Cuban people greeted them warmly. During one morning walk, she discovered a beautiful vegetable garden in the middle of the city. She said people grow food there to supplement their diet and to sell because they need the extra income.

“I'm embarrassed to say that I was not really aware of what hardships the Cubans experienced when the USSR collapsed,” she said. “Caloric intake went from 3,000 down to 2,400 or even 1,400 calories a day! The Cuban people still have a ration card to get some basic products they need.

“In some ways Cubans are similar to Mainers,” Hepler added. “They do a lot of different things, work more than one job if that’s what it takes to make ends meet. You have to respect them for that.”

Since the Obama administration eased travel restrictions to Cuba more Americans have been traveling there, over 100,000 visited the island last year. Hepler said private enterprise and entrepreneurship appear to be taking hold as more small businesses spring up to cash in on the tourist dollars.

“We met or saw many people there who operate small cafes, restaurants or bed and breakfasts that are attached to their homes and cater to tourists,” she said.

When the American and Cuban governments finally establish full diplomatic relations the atmosphere of Havana will likely change. This might be why tourists are flocking to the island, Hepler said people are curious to see the island the way it is now.

If someday you’d like to visit Cuba, Hepler said it helps if you speak some Spanish even if, like her, you only know a few words and phrases. She also recommends getting to know as much as you can about the island’s history and culture. On her next trip she hopes her husband Rob Stevens can go with her.

Hepler said, putting politics aside, she left the island with a feeling that the Cuban people really enjoy having Americans visit their country.

“Cubans love Americans, even if they don’t support U.S. policy,” Hepler continued. “One morning as several of us walked through downtown Havana, an old man stopped us and asked in Spanish where we were from. I answered him, “Los Estados Unidos,” and he took my arm and said, ‘Barack Obama, good man!’ and gave us a thumbs up.”