Author: Isbel Diaz

Through the Cuban media we’ve been called to go back to working the land. While there’s nothing more legitimate than this, I have to ask myself why there are so many obstacles to engaging in such productive undertakings.

I sowed Ceiba tree seeds for the first time, and now they’ve sprouted. The procedure is very simple, and I want to share it with you readers.

My sister-in-law doesn’t know what she’s going to do. The new school year has already begun but she still doesn’t have the full uniforms needed for her two children.

My niece Isabela was just born. As occurs with all Cuban babies, she had to come into the world in one of our “vigilant” hospital institutions. In this case it was the renowned Maternidad Obrera hospital in Havana.

Luxurious apartments built on W. 25th Avenue in Havana for high-ranking officers of the Cuban Army and the Ministry of the Interior (State Security) contrast sharply with housing units constructed barely a few miles away in the capital’s community of San Agustin.

The government’s idea to sell building materials without a structural or a productive basis—isn’t working very well. In fact, I’ve always wondered: if they didn’t have materials yesterday, where do they hope to get them from today?

One of the things I have always praised Cuba for is its safety. Lately, however, looking closely at everyday life around me, I have found signs of violence – restrained, but ever present.

The father commented with pain to the public that “the initiative is in a difficult situation” because the center’s locale “is in total disrepair and for months they haven’t been able to do anything.”

Summer has begun, and —as is now the custom in Havana— artisans have taken over the Cuba Pavilion facility on busy 23rd St. What caught my attention this time were some colorful key rings that had inside… scorpions?!

If you want to offer your services, there’s nothing better than a Yutong bus. The backs of the seats of these Chinese buses, with their resistant acrylic, offer an effective surface.