Diaries Archives - Page 19 of 641

The Hour of Charcoal Arrives to Havana

When my mother told me that the hour of charcoal had arrived, I didn’t feel the shiver of excitement that used to herald celebrations…

I knew the grave where the mother of dictator Fulgencio Batista was buried, before the current dictatorship.

The present in Cuba, unclassifiable by any euphemism, is without a doubt the harshest times we’ve gone through on this island.

I arrived at the home of now-retired Quaker pastor Heredio Santos Balmaseda, who has lived in Banes, Cuba for many years.

This happened to me on January 6th, the day of the Three Wise Men. I woke up to go to work on my first day back after Christmas & New Year’s.

I know my people, and what they like best is to gather around the table with their families, to share a supper at the end of the year.

I arrived at a friend’s house just as she had finished cleaning. I noticed a corner where there was a computer chassis and a power supply.

When we leave another year behind, it causes us to reflect, summarize in our minds the positive and negative events we experienced.

It’s curious how, on that day, even the most skeptical throughout the old year feel that December 31st represents the threshold of change.

Most families used to spend New Year’s Eve with a pig roasting on a spit, turning over a fire made of charcoal or wood.