A few nights ago I celebrated my birthday in Hong Kong. The advantage of celebrating a special occasion in a foreign place is that no matter what you decide to do you will be doing something new or different. There is no much planning needed, at least for me. We went out in the neighbourhood […]

Cuba made it to the front page of different Canadian newspapers again. I am glad when my small and noisy island gets to the international news and people are able to see and hopefully learn something about such an isolated country. Now the reason is sports, in particular the defection of athletes in a recent […]

Rice is a product that you find on the table of each Cuban family every day. It explains why the rice cooker is so valuable in a Cuban kitchen. When I was growing up there was no way to buy a rice cooker at the regular stores, only a few Cubans had the privilege of […]

Hoy comparto una carta que me enviaron por correo electrónico desde La Habana. En este mismo hospital del Vedado estuve con mi padre los últimos días de su vida y no había ambulancia para trasladarlo de un edificio a otro (hubo  que pagar unos dólares para que apareciera una disponible), ni la medicina que necesitaba […]

Al estar fuera de Cuba es lógico que uno se desconecte de los nuevos dichos callejeros y canciones. Todas mis actualizaciones de nuevos discos y conciertos llegan a través de amigos, que normalmente siguen la misma música que yo, el pop rock de Cuba, el jazz y la trova, principalmente. En internet, se puede ver […]

                 My native land, good night!                                                                                                                 Byron  ¡Señor, Señor, el pájaro perdido Puede hallar en los bosques el sustento, En cualquier árbol fabricar su nido, Y a cualquier hora atravesar el viento!¡Y el hombre, el dueño que a la tierra envías Armado para entrar en la contienda, No sabe al despertar todos los días […]

¡Ay, José, así no se puede! ¡Ay, José, así no sé! ¡Ay, José, así no! ¡Ay, José, así! ¡Ay, José! ¡Ay!

  A través de un calado jirón de nube, rosa por el último rayo de sol agonizante, luce Venus su fuego de pulido brillante y la luna su aspecto de palidez medrosa. El crepúsculo acaba. La tarde silenciosa, avanza lentamente, y el manto acariciante de sus velos, extiende sobre el rizo constante de la sondas, […]

The more I listen to Roberto Fonseca’s CD “Yo” the more I like it.  With this work, he touches the Afro Cuban music grounds in a way that no matter where I am on the planet, the sound of the music puts me back in Havana in a second. Fonseca and his band are touring […]

This summer has brought a lot of rain to Cuba. The first few days Cubans were praising the stormy weather and the cooler breeze, there was also a heavy drought so nature started to be kind to the island. After a week of showers, mostly in the afternoons and around the time people are finishing […]

Some things are consistent in Havana and those are usually the negative ones. Every pavement has a hole, every building has a public hall with a missing lightbulb, every block has at least one informer. As crazy as it may sound this time I noticed the consistency of the lack of street signs. Every traffic […]