Monday, February 16, 2009

Donde lo consiguiste?

Today we had a class about media and communication in Cuba, and the most interesting thing to me was this phrase, which means "where did you get it?" The women who were speaking to us said that it's much more common to say that instead of "where did you buy that?" This is because it's so difficult to get your hands on commercial goods here, and most of what people do get is somehow or another under the table. Reflecting that, the answer to this question is usually "a la izquierda", or "to the left", signifying some kind of deviation from the straight and narrow (aka legal) path. The language is being affected and changing due to economic stresses in society.

The other interesting note about the press is how international news articles are written here in Cuba. Let's use the Israel-Palestine conflict. Basically, a Cuban news agency will take about 12 or so articles from international press bureaus, and piece together from this their own account about what's going on. However, at the same time, the articles must also be checked and aligned with the Cuban Communist Party line...

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