Regina Cano’s Diary

I first began by making complaints to the company that built these homes, and later to the Communist Party and to the city government that represents our area. Eventually the company wound up acknowledging the poor state of the home construction.

The Poder Popular (city council) representative christened our subdivision the “Gingerbread Homes.” In any case, after ten years of complaining and talking to anyone who would listen, it seems that some of these problems will be addressed.

Also attending were partial transsexuals, exhibiting their achievements under their cloths, and transvestites made up especially for the occasion: all of them displaying their finest attire on this warm and informal day.

Firstly, though the price of the bus is 40 centavos, passengers usually pay one peso every time they board; this is due to the recent installation of collection boxes and a lack of change. Prior to these, fares were paid directly to a collector, though one would often run into the same problem, “Sorry brother, I don’t have any change.”

Wow! This was a dream come true, because Alamar had become one of Havana’s symbols of poor transportation ever since the beginning of the economic crisis of the 1990s. Far from the city center, the neighborhood is made up of a huge population of which most people work outside the community.

When we moved to Alamar I remember my mother telling me to behave myself and be careful how I acted because only the families of the “the vanguard workers” were allowed to live there. Those were the days when the children believed that “the future belonged to us.”

My friend is much loved and his friends and family eagerly skipped work or other activities, or took their vacations to spend time with him going to parties, renting beach houses or traveling the island. I joined in two activities.

The day I decided to write this blog, somebody stole my documents and my appointment book while I was on the city bus. I want to chronicle my life experiences in this city that perhaps someday you will decide to visit.