Author: Irina Pino

I took part in Cuba’s “countryside boarding school” program while in junior high school back in the 1970s. At the time, young people were obliged to go work in the countryside and contribute to the country’s agricultural output for 45 days each school year.

I recall that the portrayal of the Battle of Borodino in Soviet director Sergeui Bondarchuck’s War and Peace, an adaptation of Tolstoy’s novel, made the film a true work of art, as did that ballroom dance scene, with its costumes, lights and dancers performing a delicious and interminable waltz.

I’ve noticed that some of my previous articles dealing with the issue of sex have stirred up a number of debates and also a bit of mockery. I would therefore like to touch on this issue again. I imagine I’ll find other related topics of interest later, as this is a rich and multifaceted issue for discussion.

We should have relationships made up of three or four partners. Love and sex know no rules – we are not monogamous by nature. People merely imagine that we are and live with this false concept as something pre-ordained by nature. Breaking with these rules would be a form of liberation.

Talking a walk around this old and refurbished quarter of Old Havana, where one always seems to find something new, something one missed during a previous stroll among the ancient buildings, is very agreeable experience.

It would be worth asking ourselves, however, what “normal” would be when it comes to sex. Can sexual preferences be classified in any way? I don’t think they can. There are so many different forms of sexual conduct that any treatise on them would be endless.

I had recent news of two deaths; one at the end of last year and the other early this year. First came the death of brother of a good friend who lives in the United States, then the mother of Veronica, my friend and colleague.

To follow the latest fashion, Cuban teenagers shave their pelvises and genitals. Many don’t even like to have peach fuzz on their faces. Before this dominant trend, there are apparently only two alternatives: either we shave or accept being labeled savages.

While I was studying at the Technical Institute for Hotel and Tourism Services, a terrible accusation was leveled at me: I was accused me of being a prostitute – and not just any prostitute, but one who sold their favors to foreigners.

The other day, a friend of mine (who’s quite the oldies fan) gave me a CD with music by Wham!, a duo that was very popular in the 80s. Listening to it, I thought that, though commercial and deliberately catchy, their music was quite agreeable and harmless.