November 6: A New Anniversary in Cuba
This past November 6 marked the first anniversary of the “March against Violence” that was led by a group of young people along Havana’s 23rd Avenue.
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Diaries
Quiet and Surreptitious Gambling
Quite a few people have always been involved in the numbers. In Cuba it survives despite everything. It’s both concealed and open at the same time, as a level of permissive complicity serves to expand it.
Read MoreGetting to Cuba
Getting to Cuba for a US citizen involves many questions and few answers. It is an illegal adventure for most Americans, an utterly bureaucratic one for those with family in Cuba, and, so exceedingly complicated for those of us with special licenses that someone with professional knowledge must do it for us.
Read MoreChinks in the Armor
“Cubans complain a lot about health care because it’s free.” Those were the words of a physician, who’s a friend of our family when I told her, “Maria, every day I hear more negative comments from people related to health care services, especially concerning doctors.” She added that those people who complain so much about health care in Cuba should go to any Latin American country for a few weeks.
Read MoreOld Havana
When I walk through the historic district I get this strange impression that they’re never going to stop making repairs. They finish renovating one building and the previous one has already fallen into disrepair.
Read MoreSlow Internet Connection
The news about the laying of an underwater fiber optic cable that will reach our island from Venezuela should be a reason for joy, but seems to be irrelevant because everyone feels skeptical about the real possibility of eventually having open access to the Internet.
Read MoreSeeing in Order to Affect Change
My delegate is a fine person, but he’s not permitted to do more. He listens to whatever person comes to him, and he sincerely wants to solve their problems, but the answers are out of his hands.
Read MoreThe Sparrow
It was with time and my being friends with people who had family members in other countries that I began to be a little more interested in what was felt by those who remained here waiting, as well as by those who left.
Read MoreSantiago de Cuba: Pain without an Antidote
My mother is witnessing a city that is falling apart everywhere around her. She remarked the following in one of her delicious letters…
Read MoreMy Mother’s Friend
People speak marvels about his polite ways, his pleasant manners and how quickly he attends to his customers. When meat products are delivered, he immediately goes at it, often working into the night.
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