In a tribe where there’s a shortage of water, anyone who possesses a bucket of that precious fluid will feel superior to the rest of the horde. Similarly, the owner of an air conditioning unit in Havana will have reasons to feel different from the rest of us. This is because here, anyone who possesses such an appliance will escape the severity of summer – at least at night.
Read MoreWhen I heard the word “computer” for the first time, I was only six. Of course I didn’t know what it meant so I asked my mother, who told me that she wasn’t really sure either. However, she had heard that it was a device that “answers anything that someone asks it.”
Read MoreWhat this means is that prior to the secret balloting that will take place this Sunday April 25, there’s has been a filter: only those candidates will go on the ballot who received a majority (relative) expressed by a show of hands in an open vote.
Read MoreMy immediate sensation was one of watching a comedy film. Everybody was laughing at this man who only hollered (perhaps at himself): “Whoever you are, Christ will save you. Say yes to Christ in the depth of your soul.”
Read MoreOnly three years prior, we were a capitalist colony when a popular revolution occurred that was nationalist and anti-imperialist – but non-socialist. We were not socialist because the US media was able to implant a horrendous image communism in our minds, but also because our way of life and work had little to do with socialism.
Read MoreYesterday I got up early as always, but I guess I was moving more quickly than usual, since by 6:50 I was already at the bus stop to see if I could get the 7 a.m. bus and save myself the trouble of hitchhiking, or the 2 pesos for a collective horse-drawn taxi.
Read MoreThis guy had spent a few unforgettable days in Cuba: he rode a horse, went diving in a coral reef, visited both Havana and Cienfuegos, danced reggaeton and conga, roasted a pig on a stake, drank a whole lot of rum and —to top it off— he fell in love.
Read MoreThere are certain types of personalities who are repeated, like in the spiral of the history of a nation. For example, there were once overseers with certain levels of education who were hired by slave owners to whip the black slaves and thus ensure that sugarcane was cut; or those who served as mercenaries for the Spanish to track down members of the independence army. Some of these types are still around.
Read MoreValues are of course a magnificent tool for dominating from “within,” and thus exercising total power. After instilling them (that’s to say installing them), the manipulation of people is quite easy. It’s as if they were marionettes.
Read MoreCubans are always looking for reasons to celebrate. It doesn’t matter if it’s a birthday or a “non-birthday.” Common reasons for celebration include the victories of sports teams, the birthdays of saints, job promotions or getting together with friends you haven’t seen in a long time.
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