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Reporting
Live From Havana |
January
24, 2004 - Havana, Cuba |
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Birthday Girl: Ellen |
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THE
PARTY STARTEDjust
a few hours after I arrived. Decorations were already
in place; the cake was in the refrigerator, the pita
filled with candies. I was made to feel like I was
the special guest of honor when in fact it was a birthday
party for Ellen, my eight-year-old Goddaughter. (To
get up to speed on my role as El Padrino, read entries
from my first visit to Cuba - Start Here)
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Although
I had not visited in two years, my Cuban 'family' made me
feel like I had never left. The emotional reception blew
me away. It made me wonder how I could have skipped a year
between visits. |
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| In a roomful of screaming kids
birth control is something that might come to mind but you
wouldn't expect to see it hanging from streamers across the
ceiling. But this is Communist Cuba-- where shortages and
resourcefulness are a way of life. Balloons or no, nothing
is gonna stop a bunch of Cubans when there is an excuse to
party. |
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THE FAMILY
has gone through some changes since my last visit. Mostly
for the better I have to admit, even though my buddy and
original connection to the family is no longer a part of
it. The bicycle taxi driver, who befriended and brought
me into the family, broke up with Ellens' mother Mia. God
bless my pal Jose', he was certainly a fun-loving guy but
to put it kindly, hard work was not his best friend. Igor,
the new man in Mia's life has had a stabilizing effect on
the family and has brought many improvements to their crumbling
old apartment. (Mind you, every building in Havana is old
and crumbling!) |
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| The extended family in the apartment
includes in-laws and a cousin or two. The two eldest daughters
are no longer at home full-time and their grandfather (Mia's
father) passed away very recently at the age 90. This left
Mia as the legal owner of the apartment and the matriarchal
leader of the household. |
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New bedroom above the kitchen.
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THE
APARTMENTrenovations
are an ongoing do-it-yourself project spearheaded
by Igor and carried out by family and friends. Poco
a poco, little by little, as they can afford the materials.
It is amazing what they have done with cement and
scrap iron. Floors/ceilings have been added to divide
rooms with an extremely high ceiling into two separate
floors. A bathroom was added and the original bathroom
is now getting an upgrade. |
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But the
nicest change for me since my last visit was addition/creation
of a separate unit! I am staying in my own private apartment.
Although I enjoy the contact with my Cuban family, I could
only tolerate the very close quarters for so long. The new
separate unit is the best of both worlds, connected to the
main unit by a common courtyard but with some privacy for
reading and writing plus a separate entrance through a small
alleyway. |
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MY
LITTLE APARTMENT is a modest one-bedroom,
two-story (actually one and a half as I explained
before) unit that is actually much nicer than the
main apartment. It even has a hot shower. But I am
not sure if the little trickle of hot water is worth
risk of electrocution that I face every time I throw
the switch or try to adjust the flow. I got quite
a jolt the first time I tried to adjust the flow while
in the shower! |
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The apartment
is a black market rental that brings substantial income
to the family compared to the puny Socialist wages earned
by the employed family members. Tourists find the place
through a loose network of 'jineteros' or hustlers (literally
jockeys) that get a commission for the business they bring.
The daily rate of $20 is more than the monthly salary of
a worker. |
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MY FAVORITE
family outing is a ten-block walk to Coppelia, the communist
version Baskin-Robbins, minus about 27 flavors. It has to
be the worlds' largest indoor-outdoor ice cream cafeteria.
It spans a full city block with two lines forming on each
of the four sides. |
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The
wait can be over an hour at peak times, but well worth
it if you happen to like the flavors of the day. Ok,
it's not Hagen Daz, but you get a small boatload of
fairly decent ice cream for a few pennies. Not that
you can spend pennies here, strictly Moneda Nacional,
Cuban Pesos. Cubas' dual economy is a whole other
story we'll save for later. |
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I know
some you of are thinking: Mark, you're in Havana, home of
the most sensuous people on the planet--and all you got
to tell us about is going out for ice cream?? What gives?
Okay, okay... So there was an unexpected romantic re-union
between Ellens' Godmother and me. But it has not been my
custom to kiss and tell (but I guess I just did!) so if
you want more details you'll have to read the book. Ha!
I hate to be left with "To Be Continued," but
there you go. The book is due out in October and it will
be a work of fiction, with me retaining all rights to plausible
deniability. Click here
for a working synopsis. |
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Ellen and La Madrina
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