“Todos tienen que ser mas que actores, sino directores”

Around every corner there is always someone’s son, father, grandfather, uncle, boyfriend, husband, waiting to hiss at the roundness of femininity. Except for March 8th,, International Women’s Day.

On this day, instead of hisses, we get smiles and felicidades. Congratulations, Appreciation, Thank You for all that you do.

One is better than none, but what kind of fraction is 1/365?

As for the scattered photographs

Cuba and Blogger.com are not compatible. Anyways, the three randomly placed pictures from top to bottom:

1. Dancer from Danza Contemporanea, the best national modern dance company, which we got to see rehearse for their international tour. Think rumba, hip-hop, opera, electronica paired with incredibly acrobatic, dramatic partner dancing, on top of bright red polyester androgynous dress/suits. Wild.

2. A neighbor in Vedado celebrating his birthday with skeptical friends.

3. The sky from El Moro, the castle on the outskirts of Havana where the international bookfair was held.

“For hot water, turn the cold faucet three times to the left and wait ten minutes.”

Fidel lives. This morning’s paper was easily more stimulating than any of the many cups of café con leche which I have been religiously consuming. Four pictures of The Legend on the front page of Granma, the national newspaper, alongside Brazilian president Luiz Lula da Silva, the two in the midst of a lengthy conversation about climate change and Brazil’s adoption of the successful Cuban literacy program “Si, yo puedo.”

Fidel lives. His words are painted on the wall around every corner, printed in bold letters on every other page. His face is chipping off of places where the revolution is commemorated in mural form. He is so omnipresent that the majority of Cubans must see his face when they close their eyes, even if just for a second. But who is that elderly man in a Nike sweat suit in those faded black and white photos? Supposedly the same Herculean figure which has crafted and cradled the island for fifty plus years. If this man is indeed a mortal, we really all must be too.