Less than a year ago, there began to appear a considerable number of people in the streets of Havana who reminded me of my country. Beggars had re-emerged. In the beginning, I thought this involved only a few Cubans who were simply trying to take advantage of tourism to pocket some easy change.
Read MoreThe local media constantly hammers us about the measures we must take to avoid contracting the AH1N1 virus, an infamous pandemic. However, when I stop to analyze the many things that affect us in our society, I note that there are other pandemics that can and do upset the stability and balance of any human being; these are situations that directly threaten our mental health.
Read MoreThese days I’m bidding farewell to something truly unique. I believe that in the history of all humanity, in the whole world, unless you’re Cuban you won’t know how to explain it, and from whose separation I don’t know if I’ll survive. I speaking of my beloved “ration supply book.”
Read MoreSeeing my 12-year-old cousin obsessed with the new treasure that he handled daily piqued my curiosity. I found out it was a collection of cards based on stories from Japanese “manga” comics. The much-desired cards are permeated with magic.
Read MoreBut nonviolence in Cuba is not a new phenomenon: it was mentioned for the first time at the end of the 1960s by several Protestant church leaders. They broke with a tradition that had been adopted in the conservative gospel of the North, now being reformed by its Black American adherents, especially the southerners and particularly by the thought and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement.
Read MoreThe experience of standing in front of a group of students to discuss or orient them on the history of philosophy shifts between the agreeable and the absurd. At times I feel like I’m making a real contribution to the spiritual or cognitive development of some of them, but in most cases I sense that the message is falling flat – and despair becomes my companion.
Read MoreI never expected to hear such words coming from her mouth. She’s part of a generation that today fills the media with words instilling ideals of patriotism, revolution, honesty, spirituality and material indifference among the younger generation.
Read MoreMy first encounter with Jose Alejandro was on second page of the Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde (JR). It was when a section of letters from the readers called “Acuse de Recibo” (Acknowledgement of Receipt) first began. His section captured my full attention because it pointed out people’s problems and sought solutions – something not very common in the Cuban press.
Read MoreSeveral weeks ago, I met a young guy named Alejandro who gave new spark to my hope that Cuban youth are awakening from the lethargy that presently marks them. He’s a 21 year-old who, despite all difficulties, is not this willing to resign himself to pessimism.
Read MoreWhen I board a public bus in Havana, I pass my one peso over the money box and put it directly into the hand of the driver, who returns the look of an accomplice and silently pockets the change. This scene occurs routinely.
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