Feliz veinteseis de julio! (Happy 26th of July) On this day in 1953, a young lawyer named Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (26 at the time) and his baby bro, Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz led a group of 135 young rebels to storm the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Short run down of the events of the Cuban revolution: http://www.biography.com/people/fidel-castro-9241487/videos/fidel-castro-mini-biography-2079117496
The Goal: to deal a major blow to Batista's army and to secure weapons in order to execute a coup The Result: 1. Short Term: un fracaso (a failure)-The insurgency is crushed. Nine rebels are killed, 11 are wounded. All those who couldn't hide or eventually flee the country were put on trial and sent to jail. After passionately defending himself and inditing the Batista government of failing the Cuban people, Castro is imprisoned.
2. Longish term: While in jail, Castro writes La Historia me absolverá(History Will Absolve Me) and continues to organize an eventually very successful movement to overthrow Fulgencio Batista on January 1st, 1959. Notechaself: If you fail, try, try again! :p Anyways, we all pretty much know something about the Cuban Revolution. If you are, have ever been, or have ever known any super Leftist, Che t-shirt wearing wannabe revolutionary, today is like his/her second birthday. *Sigh* Reader, I'm not going to give you a historical account of what happened, who was involved, and the ripple effects of the Cuban Revolution because if I were to do such a thing, it would be a book. And obviously, since you're not paying me for my services, I don't feel obligated to provide you such great detail. Also, if you're really interested, Google it or better yet, go to your library and read about it. There's a crap ton of documentation to satisfy your curious mind! Instead, I'll toss in my humble two cents about what I think revolutions are all about: Cuban Revolution=the nation of Cuba being free from the economic/political bondage of the United States + Cuban citizens being free from the economic/political bondage of their own government A revolution isn't a moment in time, like today was 60 years ago. It isn't a blast of a cannon, a firing of a pistol, or an igniting of flames on human flesh. No amount of eloquent words, tweets or Facebook posts can launch a revolution unless a group of people are ready to get off their collective asses and do something about a grave injustice. In the case of the Cuban Revolution, it was the young people, the poor people, and many of those who were screwed over by the Batista regime who declared: "We're done. No more." But rather than just saying so, they actually did something about it. Yes, it was a violent something but many argue that the only way to take power is through violence. [I beg to disagree. I abhor violence and believe that it gets no one anywhere except to a hospital or a grave.] But honestly, the Cuban revolutionaries were following in the legacy of their American and French counterparts who acted before them and left their mark for the young Tunisian and Egyptian women and menwho came after them. Revolutions are a whole-lota things but two thing they are not are quick and clean. Those who were tortured/lost their lively hoods/lost their reputations/lost their lives didn't do it so that history would absolve Fidel Castro or make a sexy leftist icon out of Ernesto Che Guevara. They did it to give the Cuban people their dignity. It is the type of dignity only economic and political independence can create. The restoration of dignity Jose Marti (the number one mustachioed face you see everywhere on the island) died trying to establish in 1895 was carried on by Castro and the hip-cool-downwithit-troublemakin-dang-nab-kid-get-off-my-lawn-whydoyouplayyourrocknrollmusicsoloudly- youth of the 1950's generation. Its a revolution that is carried on today by people like Yoani Sanchez and countless other young, nameless Cubans who refuse to live in a country where they cannot speak freely about certain topics (*cough cough how the Cuban government sucks a lot of times) without fear of imprisonment, cannot earn the fair wages of their labor and education, and cannot travel where they wish among other injustices the Castro regime has forced this generation, our generation to endure. Viva la revolucion! So to them, to the revolutionaries in Syria, Palestine, Turkey, and in my country and in your's, I say: "Viva la Revolucion!" We who are privileged with worldly comforts, a computer with internet connection, and the freedom (albeit limited) to openly criticize and choose our politicians owe to those who have the courage to voice their grievances and to get off their asses and fight for change our attention. Its the least we can give. Paz, amor y besitos desde NJ a Cuba y en cualquier pais vives, mi querido lector! ;) (Peace, love, and kisses from NJ to Cuba and to which ever country you live in my darling reader) -Loretta Pictures and other stuff!
José Martí
Good ole Propoganda at the Revolution Museum! The top part reads: "Free Press". Haha! Free press my ass. The Granma (super proganda filled government newpaper) is the main source of news most people on the island have access to.
Guns Kill People and violent people pull the triggers
Vilma Espin: Another gun totin woman of the Revolution.
The Three Musketeers: Che, Fidel, and Camilo
The Gang's All Here: Important figures and events from all of Cuba's 4 major Revolutions
Marti: This man's face is everywhere on this island!
The coolest apartment exterior decoration I've ever seen!
From the building I took my Cuban literature class. Written on the Monster's skin are names of major international corporations (McDonald's, Nike, etc) and the 99% are trying to bring them down.
News flash to Raul and Fidel: Listen dudes. It isn't that reggeton, drugs, and violent media that are making the Cuban youth violent, lazy, and acting like hooligans. Give the young people well paying jobs (Yeah, I know easier said than done especially when the largest economy/most powerful country in the world isn't really on your side), and the freedom to express themselves. Also, what right do you have to criticize the people if they can't criticize you back?!
Hey hey, reader! Long time, no talk. Sorry about that but I've been kinda busy-a good kind of busy. The stress free kind. I'm enjoying my summer for the most part. Reading a lot, listening to great music, and practicing math = super fun time! Also, I've been dancing, running, yogaing and just keeping my body in constant motion. :D I realize that all my activities in some why or another involve language....yes, even bodies speak through dance and movement!
Here's a poem I wrote a while ago on this very topic= language!
Speechless Arabic is the language of my soul Spanish is the language of my heart English is the language of my mind And Twi, Twi is the language of my flesh, my bones, my blood. How my tongue hungers, thirsts to speak the language of my ancestors.
On Language
Fun fact: Globalization has allowed us to connect faster and with greater ease than ever before. And even though some academics challenge this notion and argue that we were just as connected back way in the day before all our technological advancements, its obvious that keeping in touch and sharing ideas would have been a lot easier during people like Ibn Battuta's time if Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and [insert whatever medium you use to share your thoughts/read the thoughts of others here] existed. Sucks for Battuta but maybe not cus he got to travel the world in style! ;)- Tengo celos de su vida!
Ibn Battuta...he is the Most Interesting Man
The Frequent Flyer Miles this guy would have had!
But despite not having access to the same stuff we do (actually reader, you and I are really damn lucky to be living where we live because a good chunk of the world still doesn't have access to the internet), people still communicated. Sometimes I wonder if they communicated more/had more profound conversations. We have so much information at the tips of our fingers yet I find myself talking about banal things like the weather far too often than I would like...tangent. K back to what I was saying on language.
Reader, I'm going to give you a run down on my lingual skill development.
1. Twi- take the "ch" sound from chew+ weeeeeee (the sound you make when swinging on a swing set)=Twi!
FYI: In case stupid African stereotypes are popping in your head, no, there are no clicking sounds in Twi...(this is mostly found among the small group of people who speak the Khoisan languages in Southern Africa )
Even though Ghana's national language is English (adopted the language of its colonizers following independence), there are a crap ton of languages spoken on this itty bitty West African country. I was born in Kumasi, Ghana and lived in a suburb in the city where my Adansi mommy and my Asante daddy along with my large extended family, neighbors, and friends taught me and my two sisters to speak the Akan dialect of Twi. (Adansi and Asante are two different ethnic groups even though at one point in time the Adansi were part of the Asante. There kerfuffle a long time ago and the Adansi split off to do their own thing.)
FYI in case your curious how many languages are spoke in Ghana: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/tribes/languages.php
Anyways, before I immigrated to NJ as a 6 year old snot nosed kid, I thought, sang, played and did everything in this language.
Hey! Here's a video of a nice Ghanaian lady teaching her adorable Ghanaian/American baby boy named Kofi ="Friday" some basic Twi.
Woah, woah, woah! Hol up...just discovered this on Youtube. Globalization is officially here to stay! :O
Reader, with further adieu, I give you...
The Chinese Twi Gospel
I'm really diggin it!
Twi is a pretty neat language but there are also a bunch of other neat languages in Ghana as well like Ga, Fante, Ewe, Nzema, etc.. I was super annoyed when I went back last summer and all the arrogant Asantes would say things like "You're in Ghana, speak Twi". My response: "I grew up in the States and unfortunately, I forgot how to speak it but I still understand it all when its spoken to me. I really want to relearn it though." What I was actually thinking: Ummm xxcus me, I would love to but first of all, the national language is English and second of all, why don't you speak the languages of the other ethnic groups? The arrogance some Asantes have come from the fun historical fact of the Asante conquering, exploiting, and dominating over the other ethnic groups before the British came...speaking of the Brits, conquering, exploitation, and domination. What was Great Britain's most important legacy besides the Spice Girls? Clue: the great lingua franca/ lingual hegemon of today! Oh that's right, the language we're communicating in right now!
2. English
After so many tears from being ostracized, made fun, and laughed at by a bunch of American kids (I got "Go back to Africa" so many times) in elementary school, ESL classes,books, t.v, and music got English stuck in my brain and before I knew it, I was walkin', talkin', and gun slingin' like an Amurikin! Yuppers, reader I adopted English and tried so hard to assume this new all American identity to the point of rejecting Twi and my Ghanaian identity. My sisters and I, spoke, screamed, fought, and played in English together and with the kids in our apartment complex and whenever our parents would speak to us in Twi, we would reply in our bratty, kiddy voices in the Queen's-bastardized-American-version English. My dad tells me, that one day, he realized we could no longer speak Twi after asking one of us respond to his question in our native tongue.
"How do you forget how to speak a language but still understand like 99.9% of it?" you ask
Easy: Like math, dance, sports or whatever, practice is everything! If you don't practice speaking a language in a very long time, you loose it. I'm also pretty sure that my our (my sisters and I) anxiety and frustrations over trying to assimilate into our new culture definitely had something to do with it too. Also, we were/are the type of kids/young women who just sit around and read stuff all day. Like stereotypical Africans, we sure do love/are forced to by our parents to learn and do well in school! So as a kid, my head was stuck in the Dr. Seuss, Junnie B. Jones, Amelia Bedelia, Ramona Quimby, Harry Potter ,a Series of Unfortunate Events and a crap ton of other books. Also, my parents (fortunately or unfortunately) aren't all that prideful when it comes to things like culture. Yeah, they like being Ghanaian but if they were something else, they would be fine with that as well. They encouraged us (to a degree: no boys, dating, study, study, study =not what stereotypical American teenage girls are forced to deal with) to embrace America because they are pragmatic immigrants. So when we girls lost our ability to speak Twi, they were shocked but not disappointed or too bothered by it-I guess?
Now that I'm older and no longer a I'msoobsessedwithwhatpeoplethinkofmeomagodomagodomagodmyparentsaresuchlosers-teenager I really regret not being able to speak Twi. :-( Its really awful when you get off a plane and the only thing you can say to your grandmother who you haven't seen in 14 years is "How are you?", she responds and the conversation dies. I'll relearn it fo sho but right now, I'm really uncomfortable/annoyed by how my American accent makes me butcher this language so a lot of times, I'm hesitant to say stuff. Speaking of languages my American accent butchers...
Video: The English Language in 24 Accents
This is soooo sooo funny. My favorite is hands down the Southern accent he does. ROFL! XD
-Also, the Southern British snob is how I image the guy/bloke/tipo who converted my great-great-great grandpa to Christianity sounded like!
3. Espanol!
Como Inglis, hay muchas personas de identidades étnicas diferentes alrededor del mundo que hablan
esta lengua preciosa. Una amiga mia me dijo que en su opinion, Espanol es
una lengua divertida. Y si, estoy de acuerdo. La lengua suena como las olas de un rio y pienso este especialemente cuando hago rodar mi lengua. Por mas que siete
anos, he estudiado mi lengua tercera. Al principio, la aprende en mi
escuela primera donde una maestra me enseno palabras basicas como los colores y
otras cosas. Queria seguir aprendiendola porque a mi me encanta esta lengua y en particular, cuando hispanohablantes la hablan tan suavemente. Ahora, tengo muchos erorres con la gramatica y necesito mas practica pero sin duda, he mejorado muchisima. Cuando fui a cuba, al principio, no pudi entender nada. Los cubanos hablan espanol tan rapido y con muchas palabras diferentes que nunca oi antes. Pero despues de algunas semanas, pudi entender mas y mas. Me algro que mi primera vez en un pais hispanohablante fue en Cuba. Con extranjeros y con cubanos, hable y aprende sobre mi mismo y el mundo! Ahora que ha sido mas que un mes que sali del pais, extrano mi mama cubana, mis amigas y amigos, y a veces incluso los piropos...mmmmm-cambie mi mente-no los extrano! Pero un dia voy a regresar por supuesto y lector, debes ir tambien! Cuba es un pais increible!!!! :D
Una cosa mas: Aye mi madre...que lastima que no hable espanol aqui en mi barrio. :'(((
Video: Si el Miami Heat Fuera Cubano (If the Miami Heat Were Cuban). I <3 Cuban Spanish. It has so much personality-just like the people who speak it.
4. Arabic
My kid sister has coined it Parsletongue but she's an idiot. :P Arabic is the most beautiful language I've ever heard! It sounds like the language wood nymphs would speak to each other as they fly under a night sky twinkling with stars. I did an Arabic immersion program like two years ago (woow! How quickly time goes by.) and was able to get a good intro into the alphabet and learn some basic but important vocab (as well as hang out with super cool people)...all of which I've mostly forgotten since as I said earlier, with languages and anything, once you stop practicing, you loose it. :( I love the way Arabic speakers pronounce their words with the guttural and breathless-windy sounds. Its tan gamil! Its also something I have great difficulty doing. Anyways, Arabic is a language that I want to be able to speak comfortably one day since I've ALWAYS wanted to go to Egypt and I've had an interest in Middle Eastern politics for a very long time. Also, Middle Eastern food is some of the yummmmisst food on this planet. And you know how I feel about food reader:I don't joke when it comes to food! So to go Middle Eastern countries, to eat yummy food, and to meet super cool people, I'm gunna learn Arabic! :D
About the video: The song is AWESOME! But the images sure as hell don't represent Egypt completely. It mostly shows white looking celebrities and tosses in a couple pyramids and sphinxes. Yup, so not an entire country.
5. Japanese
Actually, before I met Arabic, I had a fling with Japanese. My middle school/early high school days of anime and manga got me interested in the Japanese language=super fun/lovely language. But I'm not that serious about it really anymore. I mean, if there were a magical pill I could take to speak a whole bunch of languages, this would be one my list for sure following the languages I love in my poem! But if I actually had this pill, Portuguese, Pashto, and Farsi are really high up on my list since I NEED to go to Brazil, Afghanistan, and Iran. All fascinating countries filled with incredible people with long histories and contradictions just like Japan, Cuba, the US, or anywhere else!
Just so you know darling reader, when it comes to languages, no language is better than another. We speak what we speak because of where we were born, where we were raised, or what strikes our interest. The world is exciting and I want to take it all in. To understand people and to ingrain myself in their culture, I really want to learn as many languages as possible! K, reader, I'm gunna get going now but we'll chat later.
Peace, إعجاب، حب, y besitos!
-Abenaa* ,Lulu (Arabic nickname), Lorena (what my Cuban mom calls me)
FYI: Although everyone in my family has an English name, my Ghanaian day of the week name is Abenaa or born on a Tuesday just like my mom and my two sisters but no one really calls me this. My sisters call me Loretta (pronounced with a "d" since they have east coast American English accents) and my parents and cousin mostly call me Lore (the "e" pronounced like the "i" in lips since they have Twi accents)!
From Wiki: Traditionalnames in Ghanavary byethnic group. There are many ethnic groups in theWest Africannation of Ghana. Most of them base the first names they give to their newly born children on the day of the week on which the child has been born.
The Akan people of Ghana frequently name their children after the day of the week they were born and the order in which they were born. These names have spread throughout Ghana and West Africa, from Benin/Dahomey (Fon) and Togo (Ewe) to the Côte d'Ivoire (Baoulé), and throughout the African diaspora. For example, in Jamaica the following day names have been recorded: Monday, Cudjoe; Tuesday, Cubbenah; Wednesday, Quaco; Thursday, Quao; Friday, Cuffee; Saturday, Quamin; Sunday, Quashee. English translations of these names were used in the United States during the nineteenth century; Robinson Crusoe's Man Friday may be conceptually related.
Most Ghanaians have at least one name from this system. Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, was so named for being born on a Saturday (Kwame) and being the ninth born (Nkrumah). Also, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, was so named for being born on a Friday (Kofi).
Lincoln!: This is a flyer for an Oscar Movie event in the University of Havana :/
Marti Monument in la Plaza de la revolucion
The view from my balcony at my residency. I miss this view!
My room at the at the hotel/residency on Calle G.
The room I shared with a super cool roomate. Messy part=all me.
From the roof. Living on Calle G was the best! During the nights and wee early mornings, everyone congregates on this street to just hang out, drink, talk, chill. I loved sitting on the roof and just watching the sea of humanity go by in addition to hanging out there with awesome people! :D
A monument for those killed during the sinking of the USS Maine. Just one tidbit of Cuba and the US's long, complicated, messy, love-hate relationship.
Chickadies running around in a Paladar (restaurant). I felt really awful/contented knowing that the piece of chicken on my plate got to run around under my chair with its mama close by. Why can't animals killed in the states live like this?Inhumane treatment of animals in industrialized food system =main reason why I'm weening myself off meat again.
Remember me? Remember me? Remember me? Yes! Actually, I do. There is more to come so don't think for a second that I forgot. Here are some update to the Tumbler for you, beloved reader. I added a couple pictures from my home coming to Accra, Kumasi, and Nungua, Ghana last summer. Enjoy!
-Paz, amor y besitos
Fun Fact: Otonso Bokro, a suburb in Kumasi was my stomping ground back in the day. :-)
(From yesterday: 6/10) Life is bleak here in the 732. :/ Rain rain rain for way too long and its been a bit too chilly for summer. But great news! I got a new really cool oldie bike. My awesome neighbors (super bellicose-so sweet/friendly- burly 60 something-all American with Polish roots-man and his adorable sweet wife) were having a yard sale but gave it to me for FREE! Note: The best things in this life are free. Anyways, my bike is a she. Her name is Wendy and she's my favorite color. Check her out chillin on my porch. But ok, enough about my bike--lets talk about God! Lol, nice segway right? ;)
Religion
I'm really not sure where I stand on this issue and of course, its ok for my opinions and views about it to change. But right now, if I were to die in a bizarre freak accident like say I was riding my bike in my knee high socks (gunna do this later if the weather permits) and a house fell from the sky and landed smack dab on top of me, crushing my bones and killing me instantly, I'm not sure if I would go to heaven or hell. Hell, I'm not even sure if these places exist. All I do know right now is that my body would be food for the earth and that thought enough makes me content. I hope worms think I'm yummy and that my body can sustain the life source that has sustained me for so long.
Fun Fact!
Doris Kearns Goodwin told me in a Team of Rivals (brilliant book!) that Abe Lincoln was a deeply religious, philosophical man who tried his best to follow the teachings of Christ but he didn't believe in an afterlife. Question: Can one be a Christian without believing in heaven or hell?
Guess what reader: by upraising, I share the same religion as Abe Lincoln (one of my heroes). Yay for being Lincoln's twinsy! Here's how this happened...
As you may know, my nationality is American but my ethnicity is Ghanaian. Let's jump on a time machine and see my religious genealogy. My mom and dad were born into Christian households, my grandparents were born into Christian households but my great-grandparents, I'm not so sure about. Actually, I met my great-grandmother on my mother's side last summer when I went to Ghana (she's a centennial but doesn't know her exact age since in her time, women weren't allowed to go to school). Her name is Abre (literal translation from Twi to English= tired). And man has she earned this nickname! She's this super cute, gritty old woman who speaks her mind and has an incredible memory but she can't see very well because she has cataracts. But say that my great-grandmother is exactly 100 years old. Calculus 3 taught me that this would mean that she was born in 1913. The country she was born in was known as the Gold Coast, a colony of Great Britain. From Wikipedia:
"The British Gold Coast was formed in 1867 when the British government abolished the African Company of Merchants and seized privately held lands along the coast. They also took over the remaining interests of other European countries, annexing the Danish Gold Coast in 1850 and the Dutch Gold Coast, including Fort Elmina, in 1872. Britain steadily expanded its colony through the invasion of local kingdoms as well, particularly the Ashanti and Fante confederacies. The Ashanti people had controlled much of the territory of Ghana before the Europeans arrived and were often in conflict with them. They are the largest ethnic community in Ghana. Four wars, the Anglo-Ashanti Wars, were fought between the Ashanti (Asante) and the British, who were sometimes allied with the Fante."
So by force, out of necessity, or maybe for funsies, my great-grandmother and all her friends and family adopted the religion of their colonizers. Transcript of what I imagine the conversion conversation went like:
My great-grandmother's father: So you're telling me that way back in the day, in this desert place, a man by the name of Jesus Christ died on a cross, rose to heaven, and then walked the earth again?
British Missionary: (in most comical British accent) Why but of course! Jesus was the son of God but he stooped down to the level of the common man to save us sinners. He died but on the third day, he rose again.
My great-grandmother's father: Ok, I'm not sure why this is more valid than my belief that my ancestors, the animals, and the earth are gods and spirits but alright, I'll go along with it. And in God's eyes, we are both equal and will sit together at a table as brothers in the kingdom of heaven?
British Missionary: Yes, indeed. You (the black African man) and I (the white European man) are equal in heaven but here on earth, God has given me the knowledge and the power to rule over you.
My great-grandmother's father: Seriously dude?
British Missionary: Why but of course. (flustered) Ok, see here. If you become a Christian, you can send your kids to the missionary school and they can receive the education that will give them power and I'll also give you a position as a high ranking official in the colony government. Also, ignorant, foolish African, you need to accept Christ into your heart because if you don't, you'll burn in hell!!
My great-grandmother's father: Good God! I've seen the light. Christ died for my sins and I'm redeemed at last!
British Missionary: Welcome to the kingdom, my barbaric friend!
And so, compelled by the threat of eternal damnation and the opportunity to make money and rule over others, my great-great grandfather made the leap from heathenism to Christianity! :D Meanwhile in the northern parts of Ghana where there was great Arab influence, many people practice the teachings of Islam.
Pentecostalism in Ghana is a force. When I went, pastors shouting "God's Word" into megaphones and people praising and rejoicing in the wee hours of the morning was a common sight. Also, going to church is an activity everyone is really into and people (my cousins and such) would ask me like all the time what church I went to. People fast and prey often and pastors can make a LOT of money leading congregations. So for economic reasons, for networking purposes, and as a community this isn't a movement that's disappearing anytime soon.
In Cuba
Surprisingly or unsurprisingly enough, Pentecostalism and other charismatic forms of Protestantism are catching on here on the island as well. While I was living in Havana, I went to a Pentecostal church with my Cuban mother a couple of times. The hand clapping, dancing, singing loudly, shouting "Amen, Hallelujah" , people calling each other "Hermana y hermano" (sister and brother), praying out loud, chanting, speaking in tongues, etc that you would instantly notice in any charismatic church in the Bible Belt can be found openly on this island.
Bible Belt=a good chunk of the South
Ever since the 1990s when Cuba was going through the Special Period--the country's worst economic crisis in recent memory--religion (especially Protestantism) has made a strong come back. The government amended the constitution pretty recently to acknowledge that the state now has a hands off policy when it comes to religion. People are free to follow whatever religion floats their boat. In addition to this growing charismatic Protestantism, the religions or lack of religion people are now/have been practicing include:
1. Santeria: http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/santeria.htm
The black Africans enslaved and forced to work on Cuba's sugar plantations during the slave trade wanted so desperately to retain the religious beliefs and practices of their ancestors (many from the Yoruba in Nigeria) that they continued to worship their gods in the guise of Catholic saints.
Although I didn't get to attend a Santeria event like I planned , believers of this religion are easy to recognize in Havana's streets. On people's wrists, I noticed the brightly colored bracelets that represent deities like Chango, and women and men who are in the initiation process to become Santeros dress in white from head to toe. I was once walking to my residency when a man carrying a box walked past me. I asked him what was in the box and he opened it revealing the cutest baby chicks (about 20)! I was super excited and while petting a chick, I asked him where he was going with this box of cute little chickities. "A Santeria event", he replied. Light bulb goes off in my head: Animal sacrifice. Boooooooooooo!!! In another incident, I noticed a turtle missing its head while walking through Centro Habana. I walked past it once and in disbelief, I turned around to see it again and to snap a picture. A friend told me she saw a bunch of decapitated turtles lying under a tree. I understand these animal sacrifices are important parts of the religious practices but nevertheless, its inhumane and animal cruelty--especially considering that turtles are really delicate animals (http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-10-most-endangered-turtles?image=0).
For anyone familiar with West African cultural stuff, this is like an I-Spy picture!
Santeria beads look a lot like waist beads to me! ;)
2. Commonly practiced monotheistic religions
-Islam: My Core Corse professor stated that this is growing faith as a result of immigration from Middle Eastern countries and some native Cubans are now converting to Islam. Also, a couple times, I noticed women in hijab (head scarf) walking around.
-Judaism: Cuba has a Jewish community (as discussed in previous posts) that continues to keep this faith and its traditions and practices on the island.
3. Buddhism
My Cuban-Vietnamese friend had a lot of statues of the Buddha in her house but I didn't get a chance to ask her if she is a practicing Buddhist.
4. Other religions
I'm sure whatever religion you can think of, someone in Cuba practices some form of it.
5. Absence of religion
I met a lot of atheists who don't believe in God in any form. Many from the older generation who grew up in the absence of religion as a result of the Communist principles of the Revolution continue living their lives without religion.
FYI: interesting sources on Cuba's religious freedom. I noticed that a lot of my info comes from the US government and this is clearly a questionable source of objectivity especially regarding Cuba. The US and Cuba haven't exactly been the best of chums over the years...but of course, one can't throw out these claims entirely without corroborating this information with other sources.
-http://www.abpnews.com/ministry/organizations/item/8524-more-religious-freedoms-in-cuba-yes-or-no#.UbZWl_m1GAg
-http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm#wrapper
"In Cuba, the Communist Party, through its Office of Religious Affairs, continued to monitor and control most aspects of religious life. Although many religious groups reported reduced interference from the government in conducting services, importing religious materials, receiving donations from overseas, and in traveling abroad, serious restrictions to the freedom of religion remained. The government regularly prevented peaceful human rights activists, including members of the Ladies in White, from attending religious services, and routinely used government-sponsored protest groups to assault or detain them. Before Pope Benedict XVI’s visit, authorities arrested many members of the peaceful political opposition or prevented them from leaving their homes to participate with the Pope in celebrating mass. A number of religious groups, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons, continued their years-long wait for a decision from the Ministry of Justice on pending applications for official recognition." - See more at: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm#wrapper
-Paz, amor y besitos <3
jajaja! Saw this at a bookstore.
For the religious nuts! Work it out. We're rooting for you guys.
Churches are everywhere on the island.
Close to the Revolution Plaza (Jose Marti monument standing in the background)
I promise to post more stuff soon! Fun Fact: Loretta tries her best to fulfill promises!!! But until then, here's some wordless filler for now. But pictures, songs, and videos speak pretty loudly as well. ;)
Can't sleep. I'll write instead. Is that ok with you reader? As you can tell from the title, tonight's subject is all about people who own penises and identify as male. Yuppers, boyz! How the hell is this relevant to Cuba you ask. Well....from the CIA World Factbook (jajajajaja! CIA + Cuba = fun times:NOT), Cuba's sex ratio demographics breaks down into:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2013 est.)
This pretty much tells us that if Cuba were to throw a prom (conservative prom, mind you) for everyone in the country, mas o menos, every girl could get a male date to accompany her. I have dibs on Fidel (even though he is a ruthless, oppressive dictator, and a megalomaniac, he'd be interesting to talk to). Who would you go to prom with?
As a young woman who is passionate about learning a bit about everything on this planet, I have many curiosities, questions, worries, and there are many things I do not understand about this world/ponder about late at night. My top three include:
1. the meaning of life
2. Who let the dogs out?...Will we ever know seriously who did it or why?
3. The opposite sex and how to understand them.
My Darling Poet: WW
Back to Cuba
Here on the island, there are all types of guys like there are elsewhere. There are a lot of genuinely sweet, friendly guys but also
a crap ton of creepy, annoying, overly aggressive guys (product of the Machismo culture~
overly sexually aggressive, high testosterone brand of sexism). And it appears that most of the guys I've
run into—and a lot of my female friends as well—have been proud members of
the former group.
They whistle, drool, and bark anytime a young woman walks
past them, especially if this young woman happens to have been born into a pale
body covered with blond or light colored hair. There's a name for them: PIROPO!
Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
Note: Cuba's piropos are persistent motherfuckers just like this this guy.
I realize now that the way piropos in this country behave when
they see my white female friends walking past them and they way they behave
when they see me, a dark skinned black girl walking past is essentially the
same. The attitudes behind their
behaviors are sexist ones. As women, we
are objectified. Ridiculed if we do not
look like the models on the magazine covers (models in an industry supposedly for women but highly influenced by the opinions of men—lol oh the irony!*).
Yet if we’re too physically attractive, our intellectual capacity is
questioned. Clearly, having a vagina sucks for the most part and although I really
can’t say that it sucks more or less here in this clearly Machismo culture, I
can say that it sucks in a different kind of way. But at least I can always wear a dress without society judging me...
Luckily for me, for the most part, my interactions with piropos has only resulted in major annoyance and minor discomfort. On the first week or so I was in the country, this gap toothed idiot I met in a paladar kept greeting me on the street.
"Acuerdas de mi?" he would ask at first in Spanish and believing I couldn't speak Spanish upon my silence and confused look, in English "Remember me?" Over and over and over and over again like a broken record. Honestly, I must have bumped into this guy like 5 times. Always, I would ignore him cus I was almost always rushing to get somewhere but one day, I was in a really bad mood and I snapped:
"Mira, dejame en paz!," I shouted at him in front of his friends. He looked really sad and I felt horrible afterward because even though he was soooooooooo annoying, I found it entertaining that I always bumped into this guy randomly and he would always say the same thing.
Coincidentally, the last week or so I was in Cuba, I bumped into him as well. He can follow me to the pits of hell but always, I'll ignore his silly looking face. Well at least he didn't call me "linda". Most unoriginal piropos do this. Its been odd the last couple of days walking around in public in New Jersey where thus far, I have gotten no comments pertaining to my physical characteristics. Actually, I decided to leave the house with my dad and my sister today. My cousin braided my hair in the stupidest style ever and I put on engine red bright lipstick and wore hot pink tights, shorts, and boots (Fashion police, arrest me now!). Funny enough, not a comment from anyone. I love that about America suburban NJ culture. You can parade the streets looking like a moron and people will just look at you (judging away in their minds and laughing at you behind your back) but no one most people don't have the guts/care enough to say a thing to your face. In Cuba or in Ghana, someone would most definitely come up and freely start a conversation with you about what on earth caused you to leave the house looking like a hot mess.
So the worst experiences I had with the piropas where two instances when two random guys masturbated in my presence (once when I was all by my lonesome sitting in a movie theater and the other also in a movie theater with some girl friends from Germany). This is actually a common thing that has happened to a lot of women both Cuban and foreign. Dark movie theaters, along el Malecon in the wee hours of the morning, and just on the street during early mornings or late at night are just some places where these twisted assholes feel its acceptable to just whip out their dicks. Clarification: Yeah....public masturbation = not cool. Why the police don't arrest/fine them? No clue.
Carta a un
piropo: Letter to a Piropo aka My Diatribe
Querido Piropo,
Te odio, coño. Cada vez yo camino por estas calles, tus ojos
me siguen. "Linda, linda, linda" me gritas como si eso fuera mi nombre. Mira, no tengo un novio pero no estoy desesperada tanpoco, ok? No te querio. Porfavor, no me toca ( en serio, sueltame!) y busca un trabajo o haga algo con tu vida. Entiendes? Bueno, chao por siempre!
Maluca-El Tigeraso: Love the scene where all the guys are all over he and she's like: "Dudes, chill."
Of course this isn't to say that every Cuban guy is a piropo because I would say that the great majority aren't. Trust me, if piropos ruled the country, it would be unbearable and no one would ever have sex because with pick up lines like the one's I've heard I'm 99.9% sure that piropos don't get any. I once had a conversation with someone (a Cuban artist) about his country's machismo culture and he explained to me that all the Spanish and African blood running through the veins of Cuban men makes them go crazy for sex. Ummmmm, probs not a scientifically provable hypothesis and something that I really don't buy. Everyone likes sex-not just Cuban guys. Heck, if sex were to go to any high school, I'm sure he/she would be the most popular kid ever! He/she would win a Nobel Peace Prize as the the diplomat that made peace between the geeks and the jocks, blacks and whites, Muslims and Jews, and Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donald. As human beings (we can deny it as much as we want), but sin duda, we are sexual beings...unless you identify as asexual. Its just natural cus without sex, we wouldn't exist as a species. My beef isn't with sex but rather, the absurdly annoying/unjust objectification of women as a result of PATRIARCHY that manifests itself here on this island and outside its borders. Like seriously, dude, stop hitting on me. Don't touch me. And when it comes to sex, no means no in whatever language, in whatever instance, in whatever state of mind I may be in, and regardless of what I am or not wearing. Comprendes? K, chao for now!
-Paz, amor y felicidades!
Besitos!!! <3 (por todo el mundo excepto los piropos!!!) :-P
Also, I feel bad that I haven't been putting up more pics from my trip. I promised you a tumblr page and a tumblr page I shall deliver but as of right now, my computer (where most of my pics are stored) refuses to cooperate. Whyyyyyyy??!! (*crying into the heavens). But don't you worry that pretty little head of your's, I'll fix it, gosh darn it! XD But in the mean time, here are a bunch of rando pictures I took with my phone which albeit, not products of my sweet ass Cannon T2I will suffice for now.
From Carlos Tercero: a mall bursting with Capitalist activities
From the May Day Rally where people held a bunch of signs praising Socialism and declaring that it will live 4eva!
On the wall of a building next to a movie theater. Translation: "Now, without my eyes, I can't cry." jajajaja!
Translation: "If I were Columbus, I would sail day and night to reach the depths of your heart." : Piropos, take note, cleaver pick up line!
Building in Vedado
Awesome Che graffiti
Examples of the wood carvings done by my artist friend. They are incredibly massive pieces of work like 3-5 feet and touch on nature, humanity and our destruction of our environment and as a consequence, our own beings. So amazing!
