Diaries Archives - Page 472 of 633

A Cuban Kid’s Hunger

Around 9 o’clock last night, while I was passionately reading an autobiography, my youngest daughter interrupted me. With the face of a good little girl, she announced: “Mummy, I’m hungry.”

Like many Cubans, I went to La Caridad’s sanctuary (“El Cobre”) without promising anything. Maybe it was because I was there on a day when mass wasn’t being conducted, but what I came upon was the grayest church I’d ever seen.

Serious but Hilarious Cuban Cartoons

Nonetheless, this “father of the Cuban cartoons” doesn’t have a monopoly in terms of quality. A new generation is emerging who are somehow heirs of that flower pollinated by Padron with his creations. .

Cultural Adjustment in Cuba

I’ve entered my second year at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Cuba and I can’t say with any certainty at which stage (or stages) of cultural adjustment I’m currently in.

Reymundo’s Nephew

“Don’t you remember me? I’m Reymundo’s nephew. I was one who had the accident with the machete hitting the electric cable,” a young man asked me at the market.

The Twisted Tree

When I head out to the agricultural market to buy a few items, I have to pass by a bakery located just a half block before my destination. I always come across the same situation: a cart pulled by a horse, driven by a man with torn and dirty clothing.

Customs Regulations, Important to Cubans

The heralded tabloid sized pamphlet “Customs norms that all travelers should know” went on sale a few days ago at Cuban newsstands and post offices. The customs tabloid “flew out the door” in a few days.

Cuba’s New Foxes

In 1959, the same year as the Cuban revolution, Soviet scientists began implementing a project to tame silver foxes on a farm in the ill-famed region of Siberia. From among the initial population they bred the meekest animals, repeating this procedure with each subsequent generation.

I Want Some Coca

Buying it already processed is not the same as growing it, if they are so afraid of it. If we negotiate petroleum with Venezuela, why not negotiate coca with Bolivia?

Viva Mexico! or a Bad Word

The power of decision making for a social group is held either by an aristocrat, a dictator, the people, the middle class, the populace, the rich or by a priest. We can speak of aristocracy, autocracy, democracy, mesocratic, ochlocracy, plutocracy or theocracy.