English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 2 May 2016 – The roots of a bush have grown up between the stairs and weeds hang over the marquee. The Hotel New York, a few yards from the Capitol Building in Havana, is the very picture of abandonment. For more than a decade its doors have been closed to … Continue reading “Nobody Is Welcome At The Hotel New York / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 27 April 2016 – Under the hot sun, while passersby seek shade under the balconies, one hears the sound of truck on Jovellar Street in Havana. It goes along loaded with tanks full of water, and as it passes the residents look out their windows and run inside their houses looking … Continue reading “Carriers, Tanks And Trucks, The Ways To Get Water / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, 7 April 2016 — Google may be the Internet giant, but in Cuba it has had to jump through hoops. This Wednesday, the newly inaugurated Google+Kcho.MOR site opened its doors late because the employee who keeps the keys arrived late and because fumigation against the Aedes aegypti mosquito –carrier of dengue fever … Continue reading “Google Jumps Through Hoops In Cuba / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 31 March 2016 – “Is Google working yet?” the young man asked on Tuesday at the Organic Romerillo Museum (MOR). Outside the cultural center managed by the artist Alexis Leyva, known as Kcho, dozens of people gathered, excited about the launch of web browsing room, However, the place hasn’t opened its … Continue reading “Jumping on the Google Bandwagon in Cuba / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 20 March 2016 – They call them the “Kholy cottages” and they look out of place with their humble architecture in a neighborhood of mansions and well cared for buildings. In some areas, the roof tiles have fallen off and residents do a juggling act so as not to get wet … Continue reading “The Orphaned Children Of “The Empire” / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, 14 March 2016 – The activist Iliana Hernandez has taken one of the most difficult decisions of her life, to resettle in Cuba after almost two decades living abroad. Nationalized with Spanish citizenship, the dissident has begun the paperwork to return to the island and continue her work in support of a … Continue reading “Somos+ Activist Applies to be Repatriated to Cuba / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 7 March 2016 — One’s last will reveals much about the life one had or wanted to have. Some ask for a glass of rum or a lit cigar at their wake, while others dream of returning their ashes to the courtyard where they took their first steps. To achieve these … Continue reading “Coffins First, Boxes Second / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 3 March 2016 — They never accepted him at the San Alejandro Academy. Perhaps this is why, the work of the artist Yulier Rodríguez Pérez (1989) is not part of the narrow mold of what is learned in the classroom. He came from Florida, Camagüey, to settle in Havana in an aunt’s house with the … Continue reading “Yulier Rodríguez Pérez: “We are souls in a purgatory called Cuba” / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 3 February 2016 – In a recent interview, the young playwright and actor Yunior García Aguilera affirmed that he was “dissatisfied with everything.” A finalist for the Virgilio Piñera Prize for his work Sangre (Blood), and highly praised by critics for his piece Semen (Semen), this graduate of the National School … Continue reading “Yunior García’s Uncomfortable Questions / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 2 February 2016 — She is not wearing a uniform, she is not carrying a bag with snacks, nor does she have a kerchief tied around her neck. However, at nine years of age, Malena is on her way to school, a learning center for the children of diplomats where she … Continue reading “The School for Others / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, 23 January 2016 – The upcoming school year will see transformations in access to higher education. The changes affect both regular and distance courses, and eliminate the entrance exams for the latter. This measure seeks to increase enrollment in universities, which in the last five years has decreased by 60,000 students, according … Continue reading “Cuba Announces Measures to Stop Decline in University Enrollment / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 19 January 2016 – The noise of the rain mixed with the sounds of the clerk complaining because the cash envelopes were overflowing because they can’t cope with “so many Cuban pesos.” The scene is repeating itself lately at the Cubatur tourist office in the Habana Libre Hotel, with the authorization … Continue reading “2,850 pesos for one night in Varadero / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, 10 January 2016 – A Cuban jaded in the cynicism of the present travels back in time to the year 1960 searching for the lost epic. The story of someone who wants to regain the enthusiasm around a social project that turned into something very different from the dream, will move and … Continue reading “Eduardo del Llano’s ‘Epic’ / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 28 December 2015 – Pablo Milanes gave a splendid concert on Saturday night to those who, with their Christmas hangovers, made it to the Karl Marx Theater in Havana. Starting before seven in the evening, the audience gathered in the doorways to enter the venue for what would be presentation with … Continue reading “Pablo Milanes Reprises “My 22 Years” in Havana / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 24 December 2015 — Cuban kitchens and restaurants are preparing for Christmas Eve. The menu that is placed on the tables will evidence the purchasing power of each family and deepen social differences. While some make reservations in exclusive places with gourmet food, others will be satisfied with products from the … Continue reading “Christmas in Cuba: Turkey or Hot Dogs? / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
