An Encounter with Youth Intellectuality
The group I was gawking at was made up of both that sector of Havana youth who study the arts and also by those who are already members of the Cuban art scene.
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Diaries
Getting Out of a Jam
As soon as I stepped in the door —after they took a brief glance at my qualifications, which wasn’t a thick file— they already wanted to hire me as a teacher on a permanent basis. That was strange…
Read MoreClowning Around in Cuba
I hope the new taxes they’ll be required to pay end up culling out the less popular clowns, and that it doesn’t become an obstacle that further distances others who hope to eventually achieve their dreams of acting in a play or on television.
Read MoreThe Miracle of Life
The P-15 bus was stuck on the train track as a locomotive was bearing down on us. I was in the middle part of the articulated vehicle, where there aren’t any windows, which is why I couldn’t see what was going on.
Read MoreThe American Ballet on a Caribbean Island
Early last Monday morning I went to the Karl Marx Theater here in Havana, the venue where the American Ballet Theatre will perform the first week of November. When I got there, a veritable “Trojan War” had broken out. People crowded into eight lines, with everyone pushing and screaming.
Read MorePatience Running Thin
Luis is a fervent revolutionary, though he only carries a regular ID card and not one of the Cuban Communist Party. The State is unable to solve his simple plumbing situation because two departments within it cannot come to an agreement. The two entities are the Water and Sewer Department on one hand, and the Housing Authority on the other.
Read MoreBang Bang, You’re Dead
Like anyone who’s not accustomed to having such armaments so close, a light anxiety came over me. Whenever there exists an arm, there also exists the possibility of it being fired…of someone being injured.
Read MoreLaying the First Stone
“Laying the first stone” is a phrase that more than one Cuban boy or girl has communicated, or at least heard. It’s not new in settings where there coexist the glamour of one’s early youth and realization of a teenager’s inexperience.
Read MoreFears of the Economic Changes
There’s a rumor spreading in the streets of Havana. Fear is setting in as a result of the recent announcement concerning the planned mass lay off of Cuban workers – a half million within six months.
Read MoreWhat They Don’t Want Me to Tell You
“Let Me Tell You” is not just a comedy show, over the past several years it has become the sole program on Cuban television that has faced up to the most pressing problems confronting our society.
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