Diaries Archives - Page 570 of 642

Fencing Off Public Parks

Havana had its private clubs and beaches long before the 1959 revolution, however, for as long as I can remember, the parks have always been public. And that’s how they are today.

The people who surround me are increasingly serious. Their faces contract increasingly. They spend increasingly more time with unfriendly looks. They remain increasingly silent. Their silence is interrupted only by laconic comments in whispers.

On Cuba’s “Integral Education”

The playful, the sexual, the emotional and the divine are dimensions forgotten by traditional pedagogy and which could be incorporated into a project an integral education.

At My Age, I’m Telling You…

“Everything from here looks tiny. The hours pass and things below become distant. Sometimes I think I won’t ever walk the streets again. But what I miss most is not being able to work with the young women; I’ve already told them they need to start looking for someone else,” ruefully quipped 86-year-old guitarist Sarvelio Fuentes.

Early Lessons in Russian Activism (II)

A wise woman once told me: “Perhaps not all abusers of animals will become fascists when they grow up; but in their childhood, all fascists were abusers of animals.”

Good Things That Turn Bad

Often, when we solve one thing, we end up transforming something else into a problem. How long will this go on? Is it that we don’t realize that we ourselves are capable of erecting our own blockades?

Bottles in My Bag

In this city it’s not unusual to come upon empty bottles, especially those that once held alcohol. Recycling is worthwhile both for the country and the world and some change earned from collecting recyclables does no harm to my ordinarily empty pockets.

Equality or Equity, Dream or Reality?

“Equality, I don’t know who the lunatic was who invented that idea!” I heard that statement while on my way to a friend’s house. It managed to shake me completely out of my thoughts. It came from the back of a mechanic’s workshop, whose front I was happening by.

Chickens, Baldness, Gays, Native Peoples & Left Destinies (Part II)

What I found more worrisome was when I heard Hugo Chavez a few days later saying that socialism had existed in Latin America before the arrival of the European conquistadors. The Venezuelan leader said native peoples had experienced a socialist system and that such a reality was frustrated by the capitalist system brought over by the settlers.

Snake Rum, Arepas & Flowers

Cubans usually try it with reluctance, but with voraciousness I’m continuing to appreciate Venezuelan cuisine, from the city and the country. This is because after going up and down the hills there’s nothing like a plate of kinchoncho (lazy bone bean stew), accompanied by two or three arepas. (11 photos)