Author: Ariel Glaria

The first time I saw her, she was talking to her cousin on the balcony in front of mine on a Monday afternoon. Then, I kept watching her, alone on the balcony, every afternoon that week.

There are some memories which Time makes appear less real. One of these memories was in the early morning one day, on the wall of a bridge that crossed a river. Back then, I was doing my military service, I had escaped the afternoon before and was returning to my unit.

The camera moves from the 50-year-old man’s face with the backpack and cap to faces of those who are also waiting with us for seats to empty in Coppelia’s covered area. Then, there is a long take of the area where you can see customers’ backs along the bar…

Walking through Vedado recently on a cool day in Havana and having forgotten some things, I decided to go and have and an ice cream at Coppelia. My first surprise when I arrived was that there weren’t any tiresome lines on the pavement of 23rd avenue or L street.

Roberto is an old neighbor who always talks to me about the same things over and over again. Julio, another old neighbor, repeats the same things to me, and these are the same things that are always going round and round in my head.

Like everyone else, among most of the things I have heard about and have learned something about are those that are sex-related. Some go back to the days of my childhood, as is common.