Diaries Archives - Page 552 of 639

The Ostentatious Avocado

I doubt that in any other city on the planet there’s an element of the typical salad that’s the object of similar ostentation as that achieved by the avocado in Havana.

Our inter-provincial trains are a disaster. They consist of mid-twentieth century wagons built in Germany or Argentina, and are designed for a climate and a demand that have nothing to do with our reality.

Dime Stores and Designer Boutiques

There’s one group of those who drink beer, eat pizza or ice cream, play pool and place their children in the rides in the store’s mini amusement park. The other group is made up of those people who go to the cheapest departments to buy articles of basic necessity – like soap, detergent and other small less expensive items.

My Paunch, How Embarrassing!

People will point it out to me every now and then with a tone of concern, as if I had grown a tail without realizing it, or as if they were breaking the news of some terminal illness.

The Violin of Another Culture

Given the interest that Afro-Cuban culture has been receiving lately, I gladly accepted an invitation from a friend to go to a “violin ceremony,” and I dragged along Irina Echarry, one of the writers with Havana Times.

Like You Couldn’t Imagine

Despite large government investments made to improve the energy situation here, shortages are still not uncommon.

Dummying Down Kids: A Passion of Adults

With the children grabbed by the hands, ordered to remain silent, forcibly made to sit down, etc., an amusement park like Coconut Island changed from one moment to another into an island of coco-nutty parents.

Journey to the Seed

This summer I went to visit my family in my tierra natal: Pinar del Rio Province. I have to admit, though, that I wasn’t prepared for the flood of both agonizing and appealing images that appeared; that’s why I wanted to share them. (30 photos)

The Messages on Cuba’s Billboards

In the many trips that I make around the city in our articulated buses, I’ve noticed something that always catches the passengers’ attention: billboards. These enormous signs are kind of like informational murals.

An Abstraction of X and Z

Though I who usually speak as an average woman when narrating a story, this time I prefer to speak as a government functionary: official X from cultural institution Z.