Francisco Castro’s Diary

My cousin – who is intelligent, but lazy when it comes to studying – was not getting the best grades. So, my aunt saw the need to pay a tutor so that she would receive the correct instruction for the subjects that the government offers her at the school for free.

Nobody seemed to notice, only me, who observed silently thinking of the fines that I could impose if I had any physical or legal authority. Once again, I felt ashamed. I’m embarrassed to admit that I feared the reactions I could have triggered if I’d called attention to their conduct.

I’m ashamed to admit it that it took observing a foreigner to make me reflect about the need to be concerned about my environment. He did it in a very simple way: by his example.

The testimonies published in Escobar’s assemblage are those of people who had actually met Marti during his passage through those backwater areas. Despite having been brief, it was enough time to leave them with lifelong impressions.

Later, when the history of Cuba was taught in my class, they introduced me to “Marti the Apostle,” the flawless person who sacrificed everything for the cause of independence. This was a Marti distant from my childhood, elevated onto an immaculate pedestal, locked in an urn of unbreakable glass impossible to access.

I can’t remember exactly when I had my first encounter with religion. I can say with certainty however that the first religion I had contact with was the Catholic faith, through visits to the church in the town of Manati, Las Tunas, during one of my summer vacations.

When I returned to the city of Santiago I wanted to continue visiting the Catholic churches and to receive Catechism instruction.

Here, like in the rest of the world, the law of the jungle exerts itself, and never did we feel as close to being its victims as when we lost our apartment. Is it impossible, too expensive, or unimaginable for there to exist apartments rented out by the government?

In the market we divided up the purchases. Ana Maria was responsible for yogurt and eggs. While she waited in line, a more than seventy-year-old man struck up a conversation with her.

In terms of getting permission to stay in Havana, we’re OK for now, in that we’re currently here legally as students. Afterwards -once we’ve finished our studies- that remains something we’ll have to take care of.

A few days ago, my friend Ana Maria and I moved to an apartment near the Havana neighborhood of Vedado. For a long time we’ve had plans for living together. We had looked for the smallest apartment possible for the sake of paying the least amount of rent.