Old Havana
When I walk through the historic district I get this strange impression that they’re never going to stop making repairs. They finish renovating one building and the previous one has already fallen into disrepair.
Search Results for: Osmel Almaguer
Santiago Feliu: Musical Bridge from Cuba
Someone once called him “a hippie of communism,” and I believe one could find no better way to define his spirit. From melancholy to hope, discovering poetry in what surrounds him, he is usually heard by those who want him to speak to them – people who share his existential pain and the weight implied by understanding history.
The Miracle of Life
The P-15 bus was stuck on the train track as a locomotive was bearing down on us. I was in the middle part of the articulated vehicle, where there aren’t any windows, which is why I couldn’t see what was going on.
What They Don’t Want Me to Tell You
“Let Me Tell You” is not just a comedy show, over the past several years it has become the sole program on Cuban television that has faced up to the most pressing problems confronting our society.
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.”
Kelvis Ochoa on Musical Bridge from Cuba
From the generation of musicians who rose to fame in the 1990s, the work of Kelvis Ochoa fuses eastern Cuban rhythms (sucu sucu, guaracha, montuno son, conga, trova, etc.) with foreign, more modern melodies such as rock and the ballad.
In a Neighborhood to the East of Habana
I met Yoilan in one of those brief periods when he wasn’t in in jail. Our relationship wasn’t really what you’d call a friendship; it was more like company, or guys who’d occasionally hang out on the corner together.
A Toy Car
Those present roared with laughter because we knew that he was referring to the fact that this sound system had arrived in Cuba when it was already antiquated technology, but for us it was a something new.
X Alfonso
The idea that moves through this theme from one end to the other is that all of us, at some moment, have been fallen angels, souls that come to us from another dimension. With pure souls, we fall into this world built by the greed of other angels who lost their wings a long time ago, but who adapted.
My Neighborhood Veggie Market
The “plaza” in my neighborhood —where the State sells its agricultural products— has more rallying power than Havana’s Revolution Square itself.