Samurais a la Cubana
As people circulate around Havana with their umbrellas, I’m surprised to find they almost always hold them perpendicular to their bodies, meaning parallel to the ground.
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Diaries
Cuba, the Virtual Island
The position taken by my friends regarding my decision to write for Havana Times has gone through several phases. The first one was the unavoidable stage of warning me that anything could happen to someone in Cuba who collaborates with the non-official press. “Be careful, please, be careful!” they cautioned.
Read MoreA Change of Life
When we refer to a “change of life,” everyone understands that generally one is talking about a change in the quality of life, a trip, moving, a new partner or something of that nature. However, in the vocabulary of the Paleros, this phrase indicates a much more serious and more complicated action.
Read MoreFree of Parasites but Not Content
A short while ago I was reading about the parasites that infect human beings. I felt great peace of mind knowing that the majority have been eradicated in Cuba or are well under control. I also felt sorrow, because in other parts of the world they snuff out millions of lives each year, even though they are curable illnesses.
Read MoreCuban Youth Flirting with Religion
In recent times, groups like these have proliferated in Cuba. It’s increasingly frequent for them to swoop down on you in street with divinatory phrases like “Christ will save you,” or for you to run into groups of teenagers and youth singing praise to the Lord.
Read MoreSalinger: Between Childhood & Adulthood
If someone were to ask, “How did The Catcher in the Rye influence your adolescence?” they would certainly receive many varied and dissimilar replies. Some of us Cubans had the good luck to read J. D. Salinger’s novel in the precise moment that we needed it most.
Read MoreTalking “Seriously” About Values
This is the continuation of my last blog entry when I kicked up a stink about the teaching of values here in Cuba. I’ll now repeat my tantrum, but this time basing my argument on several myths often used by those who appeal to Marxist rhetoric. Let’s see how it comes out.
Read MoreGreen Medicine in Cuba
Today Cubans are also discovering the benefits of “green medicine,” natural remedies that for a long time were associated with a low-level of cultural development and “obscurantism”; their use had been limited to people assumed to be “ignorant.”
Read MoreAn “Atypical” Fair
We think that contact with the “strong” currencies of tourists is one of the most profitable sources within the context of the lack of money —almost chronic, almost typical— among most Cubans.
Read MoreLeaving the Book Fair
In the morning buses travel to and from many points across the city to the Book Fair, but it’s most difficult to catch one in the late afternoon, when everyone is leaving at the same time, 6:00 pm.
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