Diaries Archives - Page 337 of 647

Beyond the Neighborhood

Society fits us with the chip of normality and the overwhelming fear of stepping over the line when we are very small.
Humanity comes together as a herd by casting out the black sheep. The latter react in different ways…

My Third Visit to Ciego de Avila, Cuba

Cuba’s province of Ciego de Avila seemed different from what I remember from my first trip during this, my third time in the city. People didn’t seem as civil to me. State Cuban-peso establishments, though still cheap, had lost in quality.

Cuba’s Outrageous Cell Phone Offers

The promotional message which ETECSA sent to mobile users recently illustrates why I don’t own a cell phone. The message read, verbatim: “If you add 20 CUC (Cuban Convertible Pesos) of credit to your line from April 15 to 19, you will receive 40 CUC of credit.”

When Words Fail Us

While reading the article “Love in Times of Indifference” posted by my friend and colleague Warhol P, I find myself talking to him in my head because we live at opposite extremes of the city and neither of us has a home phone or a cell phone, much less internet service.

Farewell to the Cuban Winter Kitsch

It would seem that time of the year in which Cuba is chilled by cold fronts arriving from the north – the period we euphemistically refer to as “winter” here – has definitively ended. A couple of cold fronts gave us slightly cooler days last week and had no other significant effects on the country.

On Cuban Poet Reina Maria Rodríguez

I’ve been meaning to write an article about Reina for some time now. Yes, I like to write about her in this relaxed, informal way, without the bombastic surnames and honorary titles and awards. I want to evoke her simply as a woman, as the human being she is.

One of Cuba’s Ridiculous Laws

On April 23, I was notified by phone that, after many months’ wait, I was finally going to be paid the royalties for an illustration of mine that had been used as a book cover. I was happy to get the news and the next day, I headed over to the Letras Cubanas publishing house.

World Baseball on Cuban Television

Cuba’s Beisbol Internacional (“World Baseball”) sports show has been on the air for some months now and we have not yet seen one of the many Cuban baseball players now in the major leagues on TV. Mere coincidence?

We Want More Violence (II)

Though I do not have access to the Internet and I am unaware of what ratings say about the interests of the general public, in Cuba I am always exchanging all kinds of information with friends and, without having to go too far, have been able to see that violence is a common denominator in people’s actions.

Cuban Telecommunications and its Problems

Communications have always been a problem in Cuba, and telephone services have been the biggest of the lot. There aren’t enough land and cell phone lines and existing services are inadequate. I won’t go into the causes or name those responsible (we all know who is to blame).