Author: Regina Cano

Like in other parts of the planet, reggae and Bob Marley are well liked in Cuba. The rhythm of that music grabs us and allows us to enjoy a melody that’s different from son, rumba and other popular styles here in Cuba – in a way that rock didn’t achieve.

Certain regulations concerning housing continue to amaze and annoy me. In addition to these is the convoluted character of the case below. The problem is that for a person who doesn’t like small spaces it’s still difficult for them to add on to their houses, despite the new reforms that were supposed to make this easier.

“Hacer +” (Do +) has appeared of late as graffiti and seems to be aimed at encouraging locals to get moving. Sometimes it appears (other times it disappears) in Alamar, the Havana neighborhood where I live.

The guy felt insulted. He told me that his brother had been given a 750 peso fine — “despite how hard that is to come by” — and that the authorities had taken away his vendor’s license. This is a story about one of those crazy things that makes Cubans throw up their hands.

With the documentary “La corrupcion de la memoria” (The Corruption of Memory) — consisting of the testimony of a young girl who was raped by her uncle, the capital city’s showing of “Calladita no te ves mas bonita” (When you’re silent you’re not prettier) came to a conclusion.

On this day of celebrating Christ, people came early expecting the arrival of the time 12:12 p.m. on 12-12-12 as the numerological convergence of energy indicates.

When the end of the year holidays approach, thieves enter the picture and begin stealing other people’s belongings. Of course they’re always around; it’s just that they’re more fervent at this time than during the rest of the year,

For those of us having been born since the Cuban Revolution has obviously marked everything in our lives, as is understandable. Still echoing in our ears are the slogans of “Pioneers for communism” and “We will be like Che.

For as long as I’ve known my people, trying to find out what’s happening with others, only as spectators, has been one of the most common contaminating characteristics of everyday life here in Cuba (though I don’t think we’re any different from other Latin Americans in that respect).