Last month on January 28th Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Relations presided over a large gathering in Havana’s Parque Central to place a floral offering before the statue of National Hero, José Martí, for the 157 anniversary of his birth. Marti famous for his poetry, was an inspiration to Cubans in their fight [...]
Filed under Cuban History by on Feb 25th, 2010. Comment. 
The year 1960 was a pivitol turning point in Cuban history. In July of that year all U.S. businesses and commercial property on the island were nationalized by the new Castro government. And in December Castro aligned himself and Cuba with the Soviet Union. It was also the last time I was in Cuba.
Unlike most of the harrowing stories [...]
Filed under Cuban Culture, Cuban History, Cuban Travel by on Feb 19th, 2010. Comment.
I don’t watch TV, per say. I watch hulu.com. As some of you may know Hulu is an internet service that streams television programs and movies. One of the nice things about Hulu is that it has a desk-top platform where one can program their favorite television programs and watch them at their leisure. When [...]
Filed under Cuban Culture by on Feb 12th, 2010. Comment.
I live and work in the Princeton, NJ area. Besides Princeton University, there are a number of well established schools near here. The other day I was talking to a friend who graduated from one of these schools, The Lawrenceville School to be exact. We were talking about the many different Spanish dialects in the Caribbean, when the [...]
Filed under Cuban Culture by on Jan 31st, 2010. 1 Comment.
Different cultures celebrate the coming of Christmas in many ways. Like most Cuban-Americans I have adopted the American way of having all the presents under the tree by Christmas Eve. I remember that as a young child, my mother would let me open one small present before going to bed, but the rest were opened on Christmas [...]
Filed under Cuban Culture, Cuban Food by on Dec 25th, 2009. Comment.
Reunions of one kind or another are not uncommon at resorts like the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach. Hundreds of lavish weddings, anniversaries and other comemorative celebrations are held there every year. There was a recently held reunion that was not a lavish affair in any way. It was a small, somber gathering, only 33 [...]
Filed under Cuban Culture, Cuban History by on Dec 16th, 2009. 1 Comment.
I recently read an article about Cuba opening an outdoor railroad museum in Havana just outside the Central Railway Station. It seems that Cuba, along with Great Britan, the United States and Germany, was one of the frist countries in the world to establish a railway system. In the 19th. century Cuba was the major [...]
Filed under Cuban Culture, Cuban History by on Nov 27th, 2009. Comment.
Many of the posts I have written for this blog have dealt with some lighthearted observations. But in order to get a better understand what my Cuban thing is all about it is important to know that there are also some very harsh and ugly elements to it as well. Racism is one of these elements. When the Rev. Jessie Jackson and Danny Glover made [...]
Filed under Cuban Culture by on Nov 23rd, 2009. Comment.
I have always had a sweet tooth. I’m a sucker for pastries and ice cream. My favorite pastry of all time has been “pastel de guayaba.” The Guayaba, or guava is not necessarily a Cuban Thing, it is a tropical fruit very popular in the Caribbean and Latin America and can be found in recipes [...]
Filed under Cuban Food by on Nov 18th, 2009. 2 Comments.
As modern as we may think our society is we are still plagued with the conflict of war. Though being victorious is the ultimate goal in any conflict, the sad outcome of all wars is casualties. The greatest gift a human being can give is to lay down his life for a fellow human being [...]
Filed under Cuban Culture, Cuban History by on Nov 14th, 2009. 1 Comment.
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