Author: Irina Pino

The uncertainty of what you might find when you return to your country of birth worries Cuban emigres, returning after years of being away. Carlos, a friend, almost a brother to me, came to Havana to see his mother after 7 years of being apart.

I just presented my third collection of poems: “De las escaleras para abajo”, recently published by the Hermanos Loynaz publishing house from Pinar del Rio, on Sunday February 4th, at the Morro-Cabana fairground.

For some reason I don’t understand, people’s hopes begin with a new year. They hope to have health, achieve professional success, go on trips, always good things. But, our reality isn’t the things we want, but what can be seen in everyday events.

Between enthusiastic applause and gratitude, the Havana Medieval Festival came to end on January 21st at the Church of Santo Ángel Custodio, in Old Havana. Convened by the Ensemble Lauda, the event involved six days of concerts and lectures.

A new Cuban movie, “La Hoja de la Caleta”, premiered in the capital’s movie theaters over the past few days. Directed by the pair Jorge Campaneria and Mirta Gonzalez; they bring us the story of a boy who lives in a fishing village in Santa Cruz del Sur. His mother has left him and his father is one step away from becoming an alcoholic again.

All throughout my life, I have heard stories about separated families, children who don’t speak to their parents or parents who don’t want to know anything about their children, neglect and other stories which are too terrible to repeat… However, my experience with my father wasn’t like this.

Here in Cuba, these celebrations were banned for a long time but they gained new life in the ‘90s, I remember going to the midnight Mass with a friend and I loved it. That time, cups of hot chocolate, sandwiches and sweets were handed out after the religious ceremony.

Looking back over all of the years I’ve spent studying English, I’ve realized that the teaching methods used in schools haven’t been effective. The classes have too much theory and zero conversational practice. The thing is that we don’t learn it like we should: with daily feedback.

On November 29th, dawn broke with rain and trees invoking autumn. The sun replaced the rain at some point. Pain doesn’t last forever. All pain has a bright side.

As parents, it’s in our interest to forget how rebellious we were, our hate for school, our getaways, our drifting around. However, everything is born out of something, nothing just happens.