EWING - When College of New Jersey senior Kaitlyn Galindo stepped foot on Cuban soil, she immediately felt like she was home.
"People were hugging, kissing, coming up to me like we were family," she said. "It was the greatest feeling."
Galindo was one of 23 TCNJ students who traveled to Cuba in January for a two-week study abroad course, "Landmarks: Art and Culture of Cuba."
They lived with host families who spoke little English, toured museums and examples of architecture, took in music and dance performances and explored neighborhoods. They also spent time visiting Santa Clara, where the remains of Che Guevara are kept, and Matanzas, the "Athens of Cuba" and bastion of the sugar industry.
"The learning curve was very steep," said Lois Fichner-Rathus, a professor of art history. "It was new in the most global sense for them."
IF YOU GO
• What: Remixing Revolution: Contemporary Culture in Cuba
• Where: TCNJ's Art Gallery, AIMM Building, Gallery 111
• Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday noon to 7 p.m.; Sunday 1 to 3 p.m.
Their final projects - an artistic expression of their experiences - are now on display at the college's Art and Interactive Multimedia building through April 26.
The students, many of whom were not art majors, explored Cuba's contemporary culture through the lens of a camera, bookmaking and curatorial projects. A panel discussion with several students and Cuban scholar Henry Heredia is set for Friday at 12:30 p.m. in room 125 of the multimedia building.
For the group, it was an opportune moment in history to visit Cuba. Only weeks before, President Obama had announced plans to restore full diplomatic relations with the country for the first time in more than 50 years and ease trade and travel rules.
"They were right there in the pocket of this moment that represents all sorts of change," Fichner-Rathus said.
With its dilapidated buildings in need of repair and 1950s-era American cars, it feels as if the island has been stuck in a time warp, she said.
"With the new relationship, certainly there will be great changes physically to the city of Havana and this is sort of a time capsule," Fichner-Rathus said. "Ten years from now, 20 years, the things they saw with their own eyes, they won't see again."
The trip was the idea of Fichner-Rathus, who traveled to Cuba four years ago with an artist.
"I really was so enthralled with it," she said. "Quite literally as soon as I got back, I was trying to create some way for TCNJ students to be able to go back with me."
She collaborated with Anita Allyn, an associate professor of art, and Elizabeth Mackie, a professor of art, on the course. She said the most challenging part was logistics because they had to provide their itineraries to the Treasury Department to prove that everything they did was educational and down time was kept to a minimum.
Senior Jack Meyers, 21, who is studying international studies with a concentration in Latin America, said he had long been interested in visiting Cuba.
"I couldn't miss the opportunity to go to a country where we really can't know much about it until we go there," Meyers said, adding that he enjoyed absorbing the culture from an artistic perspective.
Among his favorite moments were seeing a production of "Rent" - one of the first after Broadway returned to Havana in December for the first time since 1961 - and the city's camera obscura, which projects panoramic views of Havana through a small hole into a dark room.
Meyers said he worries that, with the expected tourism surge, Havana will lose its character.
"I feel very connected to Cuba and the Cuban people now," he said, adding that he still keeps in touch with his host family.
Junior Susan Knox, 20, a chemistry major, said the trip opened her eyes and changed perceptions she had had of Cuban-American relations.
"It's not that the people don't like each other, it's that the governments don't get along," she said.
She said she was struck by the diversity and positive attitudes of the people, who were often dancing and playing music in the streets.
"Even though they have it really bad, they don't show that," she said. "They really celebrate life."
For her project, Knox explored how the rhythm, movement and color in works of art relate to dance.
"I would love to go back under less stringent rules," she said. "It was such an amazing experience."
Galindo, 21, whose parents and grandparents both left the country shortly after Fidel Castro came into power, said she had wanted to visit Cuba in recent years after hearing stories from her maternal grandmother.
She met her great-uncle for the first time and came bearing gifts.
"He walked over and I saw my grandmother in him," she said. "It was absolutely amazing. We obviously have different political ideologies and different ways of thinking, but we're family."
He showed Galindo where her grandmother used to live, the church she attended and the park where she played.
"He showed me everything that was related to my family and I could picture my family being there," said Galindo, a Spanish major and marketing minor.
She said she enjoyed the simpler pace of life and the warm people who would strike up conversations with them.
"Out of every country that I've been to, Cuba is by far my favorite," she said.
Fichner-Rathus said she hopes to work with other departments on future trips.
"I think this is just the beginning of TCNJ and Cuba," she said.
Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njtimes.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.