It was her fourth time on a plane and her first time leaving the country. After a whirlwind first semester, Caitlyn McMahan – now a sophomore majoring in religious studies and Spanish – was preparing to spend her second semester of college in Cuba as part of a long-standing study abroad program between The University of Alabama and the University of Havana.

Just a few months earlier, when she first found out about the program, McMahan did exactly what any college student does when confronted with something new: She looked up Cuba on Wikipedia.

Though McMahan was able to glean basic information about Cuba through minimal research, she said a true representation of Cuba was not readily available online.

“I went in completely blind,” she said. “I saw Cuba as just an adventure.”

There were, of course, some immediately visible differences. Cuba has a socialist government and is a third-world country. It is currently under the rule of a dictator and is on the receiving end of what has been called modern history’s most enduring trade embargo.

McMahan is now, in fact, part of a relatively select group of people who have been on a trip that landed even musical royalty Jay-Z and Beyoncé in hot water. When the Carters went abroad to Cuba in April this year, pundits and commentators were surprised, confused and occasionally outraged.

When McMahan and her study abroad peers went, they were simply part of a trans-Atlantic educational partnership in its 12th year. Michael Schnepf, the program’s director, said the University’s program involves not just the academic exchanges involving students and professors, but also cultural partnerships and athletic events. UA-Cuba relations include a collaborative photography book, an Off-Broadway play and a UA-Cuba baseball game.

“The more contact, the more personal communication, the more face-to-face contact we have the better. I think it does help [with overall Cuba relations],” he said. “You can learn from books a certain amount of things about Cuba. …[but] we need to understand what other people are about.”

Dean Robert Olin, who founded the program, said in an emailed statement that UA-Cuba relations are, in fact, exceptional.

“We have been warmly welcomed by our counterparts in Cuba. They are interested in working with us and are as excited as we are to explore educational areas of mutual interest and benefit,” he said. “In my opinion, no other U.S. institution of higher education is as well regarded by educators in Havana as The University of Alabama. In fact, in 2012 the President of the University of Havana awarded The University of Alabama its highest honor, the 280th Anniversary Medallion from the University of Havana, for our 10 years of joint educational programs.”

While studying abroad did not mean wading into international conflict, McMahan said many facets of her experience were still influenced by current political tensions between the US and Cuba. One of her professors in Havana championed the Castro regime, while another professor was open to dialogue about the issue.

“That definitely played a role in my understanding of US-Cuban relations,” she said. “When I would talk to Cubans, they would say they loved Americans but hated our government.”

Although McMahan was able to step through the political hoops that had previously kept visitors out of Cuba, she found that politics within the country had grown to influence all corners of Cuban life.

“I think the repercussions of the political situation are visible in all parts of the country,” she said. “[But] it has taken where it is and grown into being its own being.”

Since the nature of the study abroad program is to educate and not to advocate, McMahan said the experience provided to students could still rise above the political.

“We don’t have to make any concessions in order to do the other things. Also, sports and art are such an intercultural thing by nature,” she said. “Learning about the country doesn’t have to be political.”

Olin pointed out that Cuba’s proximity to the US made it especially imperative that educators take steps towards Cuban relations.

“It is 90 miles from our coastline. Cuba’s history, natural history, climate and culture are intertwined with our own, historically and by proximity. We have much to learn from Cuba, culturally and scientifically. Why would we not want to know about this island, it’s people and society?” he said. “But since the late 1950s, because of political reasons, we haven’t had opportunities to study and learn and interact with Cuba and its people. When the doors to this educational opportunity were opened, we felt compelled as researchers and educators to step through them.”

Though being a student shaped the way McMahan processed the trip, she found herself surprised by the drastic ways 50-year old US policies have shaped present-day Cuba.

“I think that we’re missing out on an opportunity to see the other side of things. Cuba has been stopped, mainly as a result of US actions,” she said. “If you’re an ambassador, you’re trying to fix things. If you’re a student, you’re just learning about their side of the story.”

And for the time being, students, professors, artists and baseball players – as well as the occasional celebrity power couple – will be among the only people who will even be making the trip. Travel to Cuba is currently restricted by an embargo, and diplomatic recognition – and therefore an ambassador – has been withdrawn for more than four decades.

In the big picture, this can be somewhat surprising, given that the United States and Cuba have not always been at odds. Stephen Schwab, who traveled to Cuba to work on his dissertation, said interest in Cuba has existed since “the early days of the republic.”

Through the years, he said, the U.S. has had a military occupation of, a protectorate over, an embargo on and a presence in Cuba. In the meantime, Schwab acknowledged that the political and cultural sometimes intertwine to the detriment of Cuba, citing the stateside migration of baseball players to more prosperous careers as an example.

“Basically, as a result of the problematic relationship we have with that country, Cuba has lost many of its best players,” he said. “That’s kind of a way of looking at the relationship in terms of what I think is a sad outcome, but totally understandable.”

Baseball, along with music and clothing, is in fact one of the tangible reminders of the way Cuba is still very much interacting with the US on a cultural level.

“There’s still a lot of influences that have been perpetuated from the time when we and Cuba were quite close and people went there all the time,” he said. “I don’t think in that sense there’s any real hostility.”