“Sanctions Produce Heartbreak”
Here is Havana | A blog written by the gringa next door
by connergo
7M ago
Hello from Havana, where regular people can’t afford rice or sugar or eggs, gas lines are half-a-work-day long (“lucky” for us – in the provinces they’re three-workdays long, piggy-backing on eight-hour blackouts), and real-feel temperatures are breaking records regularly. Three summers running, we’re still on the brink. You don’t need me to tell you things are bad all over – inflation, war, sedition, scarcity, an intractable climate catastrophe, plus powerful cadres who want to keep us misinformed, consuming and fearful, less we wake up to stand up. But the global malaise is one thing. The lo ..read more
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I Suck at This, But Will Get Better
Here is Havana | A blog written by the gringa next door
by connergo
1y ago
I am good at some things: camping and roughing it; making deadlines; making conversation; not holding a grudge; eavesdropping. With some other things, I’m getting better: regular tai chi practice; checking my tongue when pissed; curbing my tendency to micro-manage; interacting with small children. But there are still other things at which I’m terrible: handling stress with grace; confronting bureaucracy with grace; gardening; interacting with big children. Except for stress and bureaucracy (synonymous and perpetual here), none of this has significant impact on my daily life or prospects. Still ..read more
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Toxic Masculinity: “This is Normal in Cuba”
Here is Havana | A blog written by the gringa next door
by connergo
1y ago
‘I don’t want to go that place,’ the guy says to his friends over beers in the park. ‘That’s where the fags hang out.’ ‘Hey ladies! I’m single…my wife is the married one!’ reads the oversized bumper sticker on the 1956 Buick I’m following on the Puente Almendares. ‘They were asking for it. And it’s suspicious that another 10 women suddenly appeared after the first five denounced him,’ a friend said when I mentioned the recent sexual abuse charges leveled against mediocre-at-best musician Fernando Becquer. I’ve written about Cuba’s machismo problem previously. I also wrote about the Me Too Move ..read more
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Laugh, Shrug, Cry, Struggle: Cuba, Spring 2022
Here is Havana | A blog written by the gringa next door
by connergo
2y ago
Yesterday some friends and I were talking about banking in Cuba; the (in)famous “ordenamiento” of the economy and “re-ordenamiento of the ordenamiento” (I can’t make this stuff up); and the general business climate on the island. What business folks find here, sadly, is 500% inflation, Titón-esque bureaucracy, scarcity, a fierce blockade, and a deep-seeded, decades-in-the-making model that is impractical at best.    Me: That company pulled out when the bank made them convert their $200,000 hard currency deposits into pesos cubanos. Andrés: Of course! They get fed up with the uncertai ..read more
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The Toby Saga: Venting on Vets in Cuba
Here is Havana | A blog written by the gringa next door
by connergo
2y ago
Some call him Tobito. Tobilongo. Tobikins. Others call him Jineperro, El Mimao or Señor Tobes. On any given day, we might call him The Cutie Patootie, Coo-Coo-Coo-Choo (since The Stones played Havana), What You Say?, Labios Negros or, when we’re feeling regal: Don José Juan Quinconio Sedonio de la Mancha, often shorted to Juan Quin Quin.   Many of these nicknames won’t make sense if you’re new to Cuba and having a dozen monikers for a mutt definitely doesn’t make sense if you don’t have a dog. Believe me: it just happens. It’s a tad embarrassing how dog crazy I‘ve become since rescuing To ..read more
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Your Live Donkey, Reporting from Havana
Here is Havana | A blog written by the gringa next door
by connergo
2y ago
Remember the good ole days of the ‘coronacoaster,’ riding the ups and downs of 2020-2021 and looking forward to better times ahead? That was some aspirational thinking. Delusional even. Now, rather than breathing a little easier, it feels like we’re hanging on for dear life, hoping the coaster correctly banks that terrorizing turn. If it doesn’t? We’ll soon be careening off the rails, flying into the abyss.    Ringing in 2021, we had vaccines rolling out (or rather, some of us did—vaccine inequity is genocidal, but that’s another story). We reunited with our loved ones (or rathe ..read more
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Cuba August, 2021: It’s Not Funny
Here is Havana | A blog written by the gringa next door
by connergo
2y ago
This post was slated to be a synthesis of a game I call ‘Dodge the Russian.’ It’s what I’ve been playing since I began my re-entry quarantine, in a Varadero hotel teeming (to my COVID-19-traumatized mind) with hundreds of vacationing Russians, including children. Meanwhile, the deadly Delta variant spreads a pululu, making 2020 look like a dress rehearsal gone pear-shaped and an epidemiological harbinger for the tragedy we’re now living.    Only half-a-dozen guests are wearing facemasks; four of those are a Cuban family returning from overseas. Hotel staff, are, like me, double maske ..read more
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Unpacking the Protests in Cuba
Here is Havana | A blog written by the gringa next door
by connergo
2y ago
Recent events compel me to post sooner than I otherwise might. First, I’ve received so many questions, including in my professional capacity as a journalist, about what’s happening in Cuba that for efficiency’s sake, it’s easier to condense my thoughts here. Part I is What You Need to Know. Second, just as many people or more, have contacted me asking how they can help. And while some may be abashed to say it, I’m not: Cubans need help. So for everyone wishing to act in solidarity with Cuba and the more than 11 million people on the island, I’ve put together Part II: What You Can Do. If anyone ..read more
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Party in the U.S.A.?
Here is Havana | A blog written by the gringa next door
by connergo
2y ago
Eight-hour blackouts roll through Havana, a bottle of cooking oil costs $12 on the black market, and everything from salt and cigarettes to laundry detergent and sugar is becoming more difficult to procure. And as I type this, a tropical storm is gathering steam and heading towards my family. Meanwhile, I’m stuck in El Norte, with no real notion of when—or how—I’ll return. I’ve been here now or over three months when an unplanned odyssey dumped me back in the United States. Even after 20 years of straddling the divide, with family aquí y allá, the separation is unsettling—a discomfiting heartb ..read more
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Surviving Cuba with FE*
Here is Havana | A blog written by the gringa next door
by connergo
3y ago
(*Familia en el Exterior) I used to tell people when I’d be traveling—give them a head’s up in case they needed something from a fuera. That was when I first got here, green and eager. It took just a few trips hauling back motherboards, tires, cologne and all manner of sordid (vibrators/lube) and sundry (Dremels/extension cords) cargo to learn to keep my travel plans private. The responsibility became a burden, literally and figuratively, my luggage loaded down with encargos. Everyone wanted something. But not everyone needed something. It took me awhile and hasn’t been easy, but I’ve learned ..read more
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