Same Old Christmas but Different

Photo Feature by Irina Echarry

HAVANA TIMES, Dec. 25 — The year 2010 is coming to a close, one more year that slips through our fingers like sand.

Cubans who live on the island try to survive from day to day without losing hope, although convinced that the solutions to our problems must come from our minds and our good intentions.

In a quick tour of Havana streets the increased number of vendors of CDs, DVDs, fast food and plumbing accessories provide a different landscape.

For believers and non-believers Christmas is apparent in the two currencies, the “dollar” stores with more fancy decorations and the shops that sell in regular pesos with less color and sparkle.

Nonetheless, the “kitsch” is apparent everywhere.

While some people comment that there isn’t much of a Christmas atmosphere, or that this New Years will go by unnoticed: others will sacrifice the unhappy pig they’ve been fattening for the occasion.  What’s certain is that 2010 has been a hard year and 2011 is looking, for now, uncertain.

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