Though exchanging a house or apartment with “hidden defects” is punishable by law in Cuba, people continue to do it (and successfully, in more than 90 percent of cases). Hidden defects are all such flaws a household may have which are concealed when the property is shown to its future resident.
Read MoreIf we’re to believe science and our biological temperature sensors, industrial civilization and the world we live in as a whole will be gasping for air in less than two decades. The shortage of raw materials, the ecological catastrophe and the trauma of falling from so high will turn everything we know upside down.
Read MoreThe other day, a friend of mine (who’s quite the oldies fan) gave me a CD with music by Wham!, a duo that was very popular in the 80s. Listening to it, I thought that, though commercial and deliberately catchy, their music was quite agreeable and harmless.
Read MoreA woman who’s taken in a stray dog and eight street cats told me she saw a TV show that described the habit of having so many animals as a “condition.” “It’s called Diogenes Syndrome,” she said, somewhat embarrassed.
Read MoreIt happened inside a bus in Havana some days ago, for all passengers to see. A teenager attacked my friend and colleague Yasmin S. Portales Machado, yanking the veil she normally wears so hard he almost made her fall backwards.
Read MoreImagine you don’t have a broad range of recreational options for the evenings that came after long days of work, that your one alternative is TV programing and that this is the one means of warding off boredom in the time spanning dinner and bedtime. Now, imagine your television set doesn’t have very good reception.
Read MoreI still remember the impression that the first Christmas trees I saw in Cuba at the close of the 90s made on me. Their sparkling decorations seemed plucked right out of a fairy tale, promising a world of warmth, love and tolerance…all available in hard currency, of course.
Read MoreDecember tends to accentuate my awareness of time. Before, I used to hop onto January as carefree as someone crossing a line painted on the sidewalk. Lately, however, I’ve been taking the whole process more seriously.
Read MoreThe first words out of her mouth were: “I slept with a black man.” That direct phrase left me speechless. After all, it wasn’t like my friend to say such things. I wanted to know more, but I noticed she wasn’t comfortable talking about it.
Read MoreThe main argument used was that the licenses which had been granted the owners of private establishments did not afford them the right to operate the locales for such purposes and that said places (videogame centers in particular) led to an atmosphere of frivolity and bad habits.
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