Interviews

We Need a Little Common Sense

One must to try to unite the useful with the satisfying. In other words, you have to try to reconcile earning a living with doing what you like. In my case, though I can’t generalize, it’s like what Marx said: “Social consciousness reflects social being,” which is to say that you think like you live.

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Chatting with a Maker of Sacred Drums

I attended so many ceremonies that I started to get interested… The elders wouldn’t allow you to play the sacred instruments, so you had to learn to play adlib, by observing and copying. I began in a self-taught manner and they would later correct what I was doing.

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Cuba’s Opportune Changes

Requirements and standards are very positive for achieving efficiency. Me in particular, I like to do my job well. I have years of experience in work that has made me known as a straight shooter.

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Limping His Way to Success

Mercedes Aguirre, my famous model friend, told me about him when she found out that I was “hunting” for interesting characters to interview. She described him as a hairdresser who was missing a leg and who lived in a small room on an upper floor of a building in the Centro Havana neighborhood.

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Xiomara Reyes Returns to Cuba with ABT

Xiomara Reyes, a principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre, is returning to her native Cuba for performances in the 22nd Havana International Ballet Festival, which begins on Wednesday, October 28th, and will continue through November 7th.

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Cuba’s Little Train Project

Basically, its the four of us and all those who feel good about what happens here inside. There are children, neighbors, family members, friends who drop in frequently or appear after many years. All those who enjoy participating come and go as they please. It’s as free as that.

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From Housing Inspection to Snow Cones

“In 1997 I joined the ranks of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). While its members are obligated to report any misdeed, during those years people resuscitated a concept from prior to the 1959 revolution: that of the “chivato” (informer), and informers back then were always given beatings.”

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With Less Money, but More Happiness

A couple of months ago I met “Marielys”. As I walked with her to the bus stop, she told me something that almost knocked me on my butt. She said, “I quit a job where I earned 475 pesos a month plus a bag of toiletries (with soap, deodorant, detergent, sanitary napkins, razors, etc.) for another job where I earn only 355 pesos and don’t get a toiletry bag”

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