Capitolio and Solitude in La Habana, Cuba

It is so rare for me to pass by the Capitolio in La Habana and see just one individual. It was early morning and so quiet.

Guajiro en Oriente...

More accurately in the country just North of Banes.

One day I took a jeep and just wandered off down a dirt road...and just kept going. I have always had a curiousity about whats around the next bend...over the next hill...what's up those stairs. This character has served me well in Cuba and becoming intimate with the country.

On this trip I took my wife with me...she kept encouraging me to turn around and go home...but we came upon a village...and their we bought a piglet. This was April of 2001 and knowing that we would most likely be home at New Years. We got the main course early

The most peaceful times in Cuba have been on the farms. I definitely am a Guajiro at heart. Someday I'll have a farm there and raise pigs...no cuesta nada a sonar. (Costs nothing to dream)

Happy New Year...

and we all wonder...what will this year bring to us...how will Cuba change...who will be born...

Who will die? Will it be a better place...there is always hope that Cubans will see a better day.

Feliz ano nuevo!

Feliz Navidad!

Wishing all of you viewing and those that cannot view a wonderful Nochebuena y prospero ano nuevo!

I repost this image....in the upper right hand corner on the right bell tower of La Catedral De La Habana you may be able to see where it says " Gloria A Dios En El Cielo y En La Tierra PAZ Feliz Navidad". This image was taken just before the visit of Pope John Paul II to Cuba in January of 1998.

M-26-7

M-26-7

Always around July 26th throughout Cuba you'll find cuban flags...everywhere! As the months pass you'll continue to see traces of the small paper flags that adorn everything.

This is a very typical street scene in La Habana...so much life...someone on the street yelling up 6 stories...music from many different radios...the piropos...it's a very addictive energy. You could walk the same street every day at the same hour and it's miraculously always different...and the best part is you don't know what to expect around the next corner.

I spy...

an "angel" and the "devil". This dance troupe was rehearsing for a show and I was fortunate enough to be seeing with my ears this day. Music is prevalent all over Cuba...it seems that no matter where you go, no matter what time...someone is listening to and moving to music.

Getting ready for Nochebuena...

It's this time of year that you'll begin to see hidden in balconies, bathrooms and any spare space the fat pig...all year families will feed whatever scraps they have to fatten him up. Quite often several families will "co-op" to share in the meat once he is butchered.

Nochebuena is a wonderful spanish tradition. Some traditions even communism can't eliminate.

Che oversees the Ruins of La Habana

Anywhere you go in Cuba you'll see this image of Che Guevara in most homes, artwork, key chains. Capitalism runs amok in Cuba...and Che rolling wherever he might be. As I walked through this building...many parts of it have already collapsed...buildings that in many parts of the world would be condemned and destroyed...for lack of housing many Cubans have little choice but to live in ruins.

Pinar Del Rio-Train Station

I find place that people meet fascinating and train stations are just that...

Waiting in Cuba is a national epidemic...you'll see lines everywhere. Cubans are very patient and waiting is a way of life.

They are waiting for a lot of "cambio".

Cubana in La Habana

In La Habana it's commonplace to see or better yet hear a man whisper a "piropo" as a woman walks by him.

"If beauty were a sin, you’d never be forgiven."


"I’m now sure there is a heaven because I’ve seen an angel."


"Oh! If you could cook like you walk, I want to eat scraps!"


"So many curves, and me without brakes."


Pi-ro-po \pi-‘ro-po\n. pl-pos [Sp. Piropear]1. An amorous compliment 2: A flirtatious remark.

"We Must Be Soldiers Of The Economy"

All over Cuba, you'll see signs exorting Cubans to greater ideals, better times ahead...that all is well...I think the only ones that read these are the foreigners that visit Cuba.

He used to play...

baseball in the streets...jumped from the Malecon into the ocean...chased girls with reckless abandon...

Now he has a family to support and the "burden of adulthood" to live. So many young Cubans grow up with hope and promise...thinking their parents lives will not be repeated in their own...

This is a bicitaxi...transportation is so lacking in the cities that these inventions started showing up in the early "90's. Some are so elaborate they have radios/cd players...cushioned seats...lights...they are legal and licensed (taxed) but as the "paladares" have been so taxed that they are hard to find, so to will these someday meet the same fate.

He told me that...

he hasn't heard from his daughter in three years, that she lives in California.



Many of us may have family in Cuba...let's not drink from "la coca cola de olvidar"



If you have family in Cuba, reach out, don't let them feel as if they are forgotten.

Wise words...

"Put your brain into function before putting your tongue in movement" a literal translation...

Oh how I wish I heeded these words so many times in life...

A building once stood in this location...quickly small shacks started being built. There is a tremendous lack of housing in La Habana. Most homes have several family members living together.

Superman in La Habana

No he's not "that" Superman that we have heard about...

Walking along Avenida Montserrate in La Habana...I chanced upon this gentleman who repaired glasses...notice the collection of used frames. To his left on the wall was a page torn out from a magazine showing him in a Carnaval in the 50's dressed as Superman.

As I have noted in prior posts, everything in Cuba gets recycled and nothing is wasted...except the potential of the Cuban people.

A Cuban Portrait...Boys of Summer

Tonight my son...looking forward to his first sporting experience...soccer...in the same breath asked when he gets to play "baseball" and this image came to mind...I relate most of my day to day experiences with experiences in Cuba.

So ingrained in my memory, I can remember details, locations...the sounds, what was going on around me...I have such a sense of peace and tranquility in Cuba...I feel led by a spirit...a presence that seems to be guiding my sense of feeling...seeing with my soul.

Sometimes Colour...

doesn't mask the reality of Cuba...

Bahia De Nipe

Antilla

Always being watched...

I am very aware as I walk throughout Cuba, that there's at least one pair of eyes on me. It's not unusual that someone will pass by and say hello and mention that they saw me in another part of town last week Friday...

Just hanging out on a corner, listening, taking in the scene and I noticed the guy on the balcony...smoking a cigarette and looking at me...he then turned his gaze elsewhere turned to enter the apartment and had to take one more look...

In their dreams...

they are dancing on a world stage...dancing for Alicia Alonso and the Ballet Nacional De Cuba.

There is a cuban phrase..."no cuesta nada sonar"...it cost nothing to dream.