Erasmo Calzadilla’s Diary

Every six months, during the plenary session of the National Assembly, we have the opportunity to confirm whether democracy exists in Cuba.

It’s surprising that a country that lacks the legal and financial resources to protect animals was the recent recipient of 146 exotic mammals donated by Namibia from nature reserves in that country. The project is called “Noah’s Ark II,” and the animals begin arriving in October.

There’s a rumor circulating, outside of the newspapers. They say it was discovered that a doctor at the Calixto Garcia Hospital had a private clinic for cosmetic surgery, using materials taken from the hospital to treat his patients.

This past Sunday afternoon, by mere chance I was cutting through the busiest and most centrally located park in Havana: “Parque de la Fraternidad” (Fraternity Park). It was drizzling only slightly, the temperature was nice and I was walking along in pretty good spirits, eager for human contact.

I spent the day with a nagging sense of emptiness, as if I were falling. What happened was that last night they stabbed and killed a ‘madman’. For starters, he wasn’t really crazy, he just didn’t think straight.

Native Americans maintain a vast knowledge about curing diseases with plants and substances from their natural environment. For centuries, large pharmaceutical companies have been appropriating and adapting this knowledge to the Western paradigm, to the degree possible.

Even before the emigration fever hit Cuba, I dreamed of going to Syria. My sister married a guy from that Arab country, one who came to study medicine but was actually even better at storytelling.

A few months ago I interviewed a young woman who has a disability and is battling alone in her life. Mercedes suffered paralysis in her legs due to a fever she had when she was a child. Ever since then she has struggled to avoid being left bedridden.

This post is the continuation of a previous one about our recent trip to Cienfuegos province. Everything started when some relatives in Cienfuegos booked a week’s stay at a “campismo” public campground there in that province for me and a few friends. (15 photos)