Osmel Almaguer’s Diary

When we refer to a “change of life,” everyone understands that generally one is talking about a change in the quality of life, a trip, moving, a new partner or something of that nature. However, in the vocabulary of the Paleros, this phrase indicates a much more serious and more complicated action.

We think that contact with the “strong” currencies of tourists is one of the most profitable sources within the context of the lack of money —almost chronic, almost typical— among most Cubans.

A few years ago I met a man whose name I can’t recall although the story that he told still astonishes me. He was a man in his forties who was always dressed in shorts, with no shoes. He never cut his hair, and when he smiled, you could see that almost all of his teeth were missing.

The rooster is one of the most common creatures in Cuba. Within the world of the visual arts, this bird was the preferred theme of a 20th century Cuban painter: Mariano Rodriguez. In our national sport —baseball— the Sancti Spiritus team has the rooster as its mascot.

Joshua is my youngest and most recent friend. He’s 22 and has worked for eleven months at the same place I do, the Cuban Book Institute. It turns out he has an apartment in Old Havana, the oldest area of the city, one where many colonial structures still remain.

When I’m at the bus stop, I almost always see a number of buses fly by that don’t pick anyone up. These aren’t the vehicles that make up the public transit system, but ones that belong to certain State-run rental agencies.

As we entered the city of Matanzas, for me it was a completely new sensation and utterly different from what I’d imagined. I only knew that this province was a major producer of citrus fruit and henequen fiber, that it had a very intense cultural life, and that a large number of Cuban baseball stars had been born here…ah, and that it’s known as the “City of Bridges.”

“In the Footsteps of Che Guevara” is an annual chess tournament held between different ministries and agencies of the State. We are now holding the competition for the second time.

Everyone in Cuba must be a member of a number of the mass organizations. Although most are “voluntary,” this is only window dressing, because rejecting participation or membership in one or several of these organizations means declaring oneself to be tacitly against the revolutionary process.

My friend Jorge invited me to lunch at a restaurant; it opened recently near where we work. He said it was supposed to be pretty good and fairly inexpensive.