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 MoreWe 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 MoreIn 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.
Read MoreHaving gotten to know people of different nationalities over these past few years living in Havana and having shared our experiences has turned me into a cultural stew that leaves me with no doubt that homeland is a fiction maintained to divide us.
Read MoreFor many years Cuba was tied culturally with Russia. A number of generations of Cubans did their university and other types of studies in several of the republics that made up the USSR.
Read MoreA friend of mine told me that the Russians who came when the socialist camp still existed were not like this – arrogant and imperialistic. However, the truth is that the memories I maintain, overpowering ones, are unlike that.
Read MoreFortunately, my genes were never that xenophobic and were quite rebellious. Though an absurdly strong rejection of everything Slavic could have developed within me, this didn’t happen. In the same way, the absence of my mom and dad in my early childhood didn’t cause “little Armando” to hate Central America for stealing them away for a libratory cause.
Read MoreIn the beginning the complex had extreme laws regarding the adornment of one’s apartment. For aesthetic reasons, you couldn’t paint the face of your apartment in a color different from the rest. The areas in front and behind the buildings were communal. Activities were held there like meetings, parties or general clean-ups. We all felt responsible for our environment.
Read MoreHow is it possible that prestigious and experienced doctors of science have such a pathetic concept of pedagogy? What right do those scientists have to manipulate the minds of people?
Read MoreI will try to keep up a logbook, my binnacle of the Havana International Book Fair. I believe these types of writings begin with the weather: the south wind kept making a mess of my hair; I had brought a coat for nothing, according to the meteorological reports La Cabaña fair site was supposed to be cold, but instead it was hot – very hot.
Read More