I did not know what Havana would look like. I imagined a warped paradise of sunshine and communism. Here we are, day four and the manifestations and clues of paradise and a failed communism surround us in a brightly-colored hodge podge. Clouds of black diesel smoke bloom behind cars, nightclubs of mulatto women drinking with […]
Navigating Feminism Within a Machismo Culture
I have come to two obvious conclusions: First, sexism is an international phenomenon that transcends borders, languages, and cultures. Second, the same goes for the look of a woman who isn’t having any of it. The other day I took a botero (a cross between a taxi and hitchhiking) to my university’s campus. It was […]
Ruinas y Piscinas
This Thursday team Yuma took our strongest game to the Instituto Superior de Arte (el ISA). The ISA is magnificent. It stands as the Juilliard of Cuba – the most elite expressive arts school in the country. It was commissioned on Havana’s largest golf course directly after the 1958 revolution, and legend has it that […]
Havana, weeks 1-2
Becky Friedman March 2, 2015 I have written around four drafts of my first blog post, each entirely different from the previous one. Some I rewrite because my feelings have changed so drastically from the last time I procrastinated going to the WiFi centers, and once because I ended up without a computer. But the […]
First Impressions of the Second week in La Habana
I want to preface this post by saying I have not used the internet thus far, have no idea what my fellow Cubanistas have been writing about, and although I would hope that each of us responds to a different aspect of life here in Cuba, apologies if I repeat information or anecdotes. Havana is […]