Diaries Archives - Havana Times

The Flintstones of Cuba

Lately I wake up waiting for the rooster to crow at me from the window. Living on this Island is like inhabiting a version of The Flintstones.

Your personality changes in a matter of seconds. You feel joyful, almost euphoric; you want to laugh, to dance (even if you never have before)

It might sound strange, like science fiction, but the reality is that I’m only communicating with my friends through WhatsApp.

I’m wondering about the following: when faced with friends abroad who aren’t Cubans and want to see Cuba, what do I tell them?

One morning last week – I don’t remember if it was Monday or Tuesday – I found myself near the home of an old friend.

It used to be that having a mark on your skin was almost a guilty verdict. In my childhood, we had a neighbor who gave me the shivers.

Manolín was my youngest cat, and my favorite. Cowardly and very sweet, he was by my side almost all the time.

Just imagine. We travel through part of the universe hand in hand with a child (not from Earth). It’s a clear and unburdened gaze.

The power went out half an hour ago, and the neighbors on my block are saying it won’t be back until the early morning…

We Cubans are tangled up on this island. And it’s not as easy to get out of the mess as many might think from abroad.