Author: Jorge Milanes

My nephew has had his life goals well-defined ever since he was around 20. He aimed to have a job that would bring him in enough money to help and support his family, practice Rastafarianism and belong to an environmental organization.

This morning my mother got up early, made some coffee and knocked on my door to tell me that it was already 7:00. I came out, we exchanged good mornings (in French, as usual), and then I splashed some water on my face, brushed my teeth and gave her a kiss.

With all my discomfort resulting from dengue fever, I decided to go to the doctor’s office. In the waiting room were several pregnant women who, while waiting to be seen, were engaged in an interesting conversation about the pros and cons of having just one child.

“Avocado!” That was what they used to call the young people some years back when they entered the military. Obviously this was due to the color of their uniforms. But I’m not going to talk about recruits.

Some people wondered: Where does “Shakira on the balcony” gets his money to keep changing his hair color and buying makeup, clothes and expensive perfume?

In a rush, I left the hall at the “Palace of Weddings” on Galiano Street. Yep, that same place where they used to rent the matrimonial attire. I left to go to the bathroom, but at that very moment the receptionist was locking the door.

“Sir! Sir! Excuse me!” someone yelled to me while I was dozing off in the sand, lying under an umbrella. “Is this your stuff? he asked.

Since he was a child, his mother suffered miserably because she wanted him to change. It didn’t matter how or even what he became, she just didn’t want him to be like that. She would use any method to achieve that aim – punishment, hitting, screaming and even the most absolutely ignorant methods.

It was Osmel’s decision to become a poet, a task that implies major challenges. But he says that since people are born into lives that are full of challenges, then in his case he’s not going to give up on what he knows how to do best.

After having had a tumor removed from her colon a year ago, this morning I went with my mother to one of her monthly exams with her doctor at the hospital. So far the results of her analyses have been fine, though she’s lost some of her vision – according to her.