The Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP) used to maintain an apartment in the majority of the buildings in the Havana suburb of Alamar for lodging foreigners, almost all Latin Americans. However, Building D-22 was completely occupied by neighbors from outside of our normal environment.
Read MoreI believe there were some small jumps after my first leap, but I’m only going to talk about the big leaps that brought significant changes to my life. I’d say that the second big leap came after the decision not to go to junior high school (7-9th grades) at the school near my apartment in Reparto Eléctrico, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Havana.
Read MoreMy father tells me that the roof situation could lead to a collapse and I believe him. However, for now there really isn’t much I can do. To repair it would cost approximately 200 CUC (US $250), equal to a complete year’s salary.
Read MoreIn 2001, having finished my high school and before receiving a scholarship to study at the Latin American Medical School (ELAM) in Cuba, I managed to enroll at a music conservatory. That year admission was based on ranking. I remember guys coming out crying about not achieving better scores and wondering how they could have been rejected after taking the entrance exam.
Read MoreDuring my first year at Northeastern University I had a Cuban-American roommate, my first experience with any sort of Cuban culture. Her parents had left Cuba when they were two years old, and she and her sisters had grown up in Miami. Her father owned a very successful chain of Cuban restaurants in Florida.
Read MoreWhen the union meeting was finished (see my next-to-last diary entry), the Communist Party members from my workplace asked the workers to please not leave because they were going to give a political talk and wanted to invite everyone to participate.
Read MoreI don’t know how it all came out, if they ended up in a fistfight or if the conflict stayed confined to aggressive words. Luckily, the moment came when I reached my bus stop and I walked home with the desire to read a story I had written years ago.
Read MoreI have always been a peaceful person. My teachers took a while to remember that I was part of their class and the other students to notice my presence. However, underneath that person in the shadow there was a restlessness that began as a child and until this day I can’t name.
Read MoreYesterday I slept at my mother’s apartment because in my house there is no video recorder and in her place there is. I took advantage of the opportunity to see some lectures on Cuban culture, a required class that I’m currently taking in the University.
I spent my childhood with all of my family in a very humble neighborhood in Buenos Aires. There I had the opportunity to meet a communist for the first time, my father, although at the time I didn’t know exactly what that meant.
—He spoke of how beautiful the world would be if there weren’t borders and in place you would find bouquets of flowers; a world without racism or xenophobia.
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