Today I am leaving Cuba. As I write this I am sitting in Terminal B, waiting for my flight to Cancun that leaves in a little more than an hour. And after 99 days here, I don’t know how I will feel. Time has flown by. I knew it would, because it always does. Yet […]
Teeth
Teeth are a manifestation and signifier of class: the ability to which you are able to care for and maintain your chompers. Physically, one of the most interesting differences I have seen between Cubans and Americans is their teeth. When I was two I fell in the tub and took a big chip out of […]
I could have danced all night
I have danced more in Cuba than I have danced in any other time of my life, and some of the best nights I have had in Havana have been on dance floors. Nothing beats walking into a club on a night between Thursday and Sunday, ordering something to drink for $2 or $3 and […]
Brow Sweat to begin with
About a week ago the sun was mercilessly beating its rays across all of Havana. The sky was cloudless as the sun touched everything in sight – tops of heads, necks, the backs of legs and faces. Heat steamed from the earth and from sidewalks, mixing with exhaust and too-hot bodies moving around each other, […]
Old Clothes, Sleepy Beans and More (menu translations)
Food in Cuba can sometimes be quite the experience. There are two types of food here: “typical” creole food and non-typical, non-creole food. Typical food is usually arroz con gris which is when black beans and rice are prepared in the same pot at the same time, so the result is a moist grey rice […]