Rosa Martinez’s Diary

Surprising as it may be, more women die worldwide as a result of diseases that spread through dirty water and poor sanitary facilities than because of AIDS, diabetes or cancer.

“Boys don’t cry, damn it!” How many times have we heard this? I, for one, heard it many a time from my father, scolding my younger brother for crying over something (being hungry, tired, etc.). My poor, misguided family forced the boys to swallow their pain.

When, on December 17, Presidents Obama and Castro announced a prisoner exchange and the restoration of relations, millions of Cubans living on both sides of the Strait of Florida began to speculate.

If we allowed ourselves to be persuaded by the news going around the Internet, we would conclude Cuba has one of the worst educational systems in the world – and that’s not the case.

I’ve heard that shame is popularly known as the “secret” or “hidden” emotion. We’ve all experienced the feeling at one point in our lives, an episode we do not wish to share with anyone, not even our closest friends.

Today I will only share one of the moments we should be prepared for, but that, even so, never fails to inspire deep emotions. The youngest of my girls is seven and in the first grade at a day school in the area of San Justo.

“Some love kills, some love hurts.” So go the lyrics of a song that is very popular in Cuba, and they happen to be very true. The love that exists among siblings is a great example of how two people who love each other can also hurt each other deeply.

“You dunce! You’re the dumbest thing in the world, nothing gets through your thick skull!” “You’re just like your dad, who doesn’t know squat.” “Turn your brain on, I’m losing my patience! My god, what am I to do?” I hear these and other phrases often.

I’ve been hearing that sleep is one of the most important activities in a person’s life since I was a little girl. “People who don’t get enough hours of sleep are always irritable or in a bad mood,” my grandmother used to say.

In recent weeks, social networks were once again filled up with comments about the life – or, better said, the death – of the world-famous leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro. We even talked about his possible death at home…