Features Archives - Page 376 of 551

Building a Home in Cuba

When the Cuban government announced that property could be bought and sold in November 2011, many people found themselves face to face with an opportunity to make some money or to finally get their own home.

Baracoa, Cuba and the Curse of Matthew

A story belonging to Baracoa’s vox populi, tells us that, at the time of our great-great-grandparents, a strange man became famous for having put a curse on Cuba’s first city and its inhabitants, who had kicked him out of the town because of his ragged clothes and beggar ways.

Entrepreneurship in Nicaragua: Yes, we can!

In Nicaragua, a country with few opportunities for young people, a small group has opted for self-employment, innovation and the drive to succeed. They’re only 2% of the population, but they’re launching a small economic revolution.

The Russian Millionaire, the Virgin Nurse and the Hustler

When a joke you hear in Cuba has a social-political nature, it always has a well-defined context or background of the time when it came into the public sphere, traveling from mouth to mouth across the island to everyone.

Will Cuba’s Higher Education Changes Provide Good Results?

In 2015, it was announced that several changes would be made to Higher Education in Cuba, which would be introduced in the current academic year (2016-2017). These would contribute to “improving the quality, equality and relevance of Cuban education.”

Pirated Cuban TV Series Highly Popular

“Zoo logico”, a TV series which has 45 episodes and was made in Cuba, is one of the five most asked for digital products in the “Weekly Package”, which offers what is mainly broadcast on foreign channels which Cubans don’t have direct access to in their homes, demanded by customers.

Talking about Cuba with a Chinese-US Couple

When my friend put me in touch with these two visitors, knowing that I was interested in what people outside think about our country, he warned me that the questioning would go both ways. They also had a lot of questions and were interesed in speaking to an independent journalist.

Guantanamo’s Unconventional Taxi Service

What are “almendrones” (literally large almonds)? Where did they come from and what have the conditions been to encourage their survival over all these years? Do they only exist in Havana or can they also be found in other Cuban cities?

Cuba: I Sold My Little Polish Car to Go to the USA

A few minutes after finding out herself, Andrea broke the news to her husband. “They changed the law, baby, there’s a new agreement,” and now… they can’t leave anymore. “We had decided to go just recently,” she said.

Cuban Women without a Man

Amarilis always tells me the story of how she finished her doctorate: “with my heart”. She used to come home from work and have to help her kids with their homework, cook, wash up, leave something prepared for the next day… It would already be 11 PM by that time. It was only at this hour, when everything else had been done, that she could sit down in front of the computer.