Category: Uncategorized
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In Ohio, our forsythia and magnolia bloomed two weeks early. Elsewhere, apple blossoms are starting a month early. And this appears to be part of a general heat wave in the USA. Is it global warming; or just an early spring? What’s the climate doing where you live?
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At last, the invasive nutria speaks up for itself–in the NYT no less. Nutria are well-known pests in the southern USA, reportedly reducing wetlands to mudflats. Scientists have found chemical attractants to control them, and big game hunters are after the cute little menace. There are even recipes to eat them. Are these all good…
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On my last day, I stopped for ice cream at Coppelia, where they had filmed Strawberry and Chocolate; and I went into a children’s playground. The playground, with giant balloon-bouncing rides, was the one place where my tourist currency (CUC) was not accepted; only Cuban pesos worth 1/25 of a CUC. Without my asking, a…
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Wednsday morning we visited the main synagogue in Havana. The building is well maintained, with no security, because (the director tells us) there is no anti-Semitism in Cuba. There are 1,500 Jews in Cuba (if my notes are correct) and 5 synagogues. According to the director, 90% of Jews left after the revolution; many stayed…
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Yesterday we received two different views of Havana. Please be sure to read the whole post, not just the first part. I am trying to present facts only, although this is difficult. Our first stop today was ICAP, the Cuban agency for managing foreign visitors. ICAP was started in about 1960 (after most governments broke off relations with Cuba)…
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Yesterday morning I got up at six to jog in the Vedado, where I saw many people going to work and children in their red uniforms going to school. Since my geographic sense is very bad, I got lost and asked someone the way back to my hotel. Occasional security persons are seen; one can…
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At night, Havana has no street lights. The more upscale homes have fluorescent lights outside, but no lights in the street. I didn’t think that was possible. The bus seems to manage ok. The stars and moon can be seen. By day we toured the forts, the Jesus statue built by Battista’s wife in thanks…
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The internet here is very slow, so please forgive mistyping. The plane from JFK was full of students from Columbia University. Next to us, a distinguished Cuban gentleman wore a white suite and shoes, with three black hats. The pilots were Venezuelan and American. The Cuban flight attendants were jokers, like on Southwest. As the…
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Our charter flight to Havana leaves from New York–an innovation of the current administration, permitting flights from cities other than Miami. So I took the opportunity to stay a few days at the home of my parents, Katonah, a Westchester town not far from where the Clintons now live. Named for a Native American chief,…
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On Saturday, I head out to Cuba for background research for Frontera 2. Cuba is like the Matrix turned inside-out; the bad guys are the ones trying to squeeze access to the “virtual” world, and keep people stuck in a rather limited material world. To see what Cubans have to say about this, I recommend…
Joan Slonczewski 