Osmel Almaguer’s Diary

The first class that I had with my students was focused on me getting to know them and visa versa. I was interested in learning about why they were attending that particular school, and I was especially curious about their plans for the future.

A few years ago, discussion began on radio and television sports programs about the desirability of making the All-stars Game picks in Cuba more democratic, as was formerly done on the island.

It’s no longer something merely suspected; our national sport is being sabotaged.

“Students here have no interest in learning,” said the principal of the polytechnic institute where I recently started working as a teacher. “Just take it easy; treat it like a way to survive, because if you try to force yourself it’s useless when you consider the immaturity and apathy of our students.”

When I discovered that the term “revolution” was also applicable to other fields outside of politics, such as machinery, I was about nine years old. Prior to that, I’d been indoctrinated by my parents to learn to see the world through notions such as dialectical materialism, atheism and “revolutionary principles.”

I’ve always heard that the island of Cuba is shaped like a crocodile. Alligators too have that long, narrow body, but they eat and sleep a lot.

They say that Cuba is the best place in the world to live. I’m sure, though, that this affirmation is merely a rumor spread by those in power.

Hitching in Cuba is regulated by the state. Pick-up points were established near some bus stops where inspectors (known as azules, or “blues,” which is the color of their uniforms) have been positioned to stop any government-owned car and fill extra seats with passengers who need a lift.

The crackers we bought to “liven up” the end of the year ended up hurting my tongue and gums. They’re so hard that they snap off and break if you bite them, and though they’re sold as “saltines” they have no flavor whatsoever.

I discovered him sitting next to a garbage can on a street in the Vedado district. He was chewing something that he seemed to have pulled out of that grimy overflowing container, with the filth was almost surrounding him.