Kidding. But she has popped up here in a most unexpected place. Yesterday we went to visit the Museum of Dance here in Havana- and by dance, in this case, I mean ballet. It was surprising to me at first, but ballet has been popular here for hundreds of years. Obviously, though, Cuban ballet truly became famous with Alicia Alonso's leap onto the stage. She's world-reknowned, in earlier days for her dancing, and now for her choreography as well. So in the museum, there was alot of space dedicated to her, including proclamations from the governments of other countries about her prowess as a ballerina, etc. Imagine my surprise, as I'm inspecting these, to find a commendation from Dianne Feinstein, Mayor of San Fran. Granted, it was a bit dated, but she had pinko leanings! And to think how close she was to Obama during the campaign...oh no, the commies have finally infiltrated the government!Kidding around, obviously. I feel like my writings are getting stranger and stranger, but it's just so that I can cope with the experience of being in Cuba. It's like we live in a state of constant emotional drainage here. I'm going to need a vacation, psychiatric help, or a beer (or all three) when I come home in order to recover. Not joking about this.
What else have we been up to? Recently, we visited a hogar materno. This is basically a rest home for women who are having difficulties during their pregnancies. It's actually very interesting. The Revolution wanted to combat health problems, and they realized that the best way to do that is to start young, so maternal and child health is really prioritized here. By going, we found out that the US isn't the only country with teen pregnancy issues. We met a 17 year old, very pregnant and boyfriendless girl while at the hogar materno. A note regarding teen sexuality here: it's rampant. We recently learned about the "escuelas del campo", or countryside schools. I already wrote about the schools where kids attend classes but also do agricultural work like picking oranges. The dorms of the schools are basically comprised of three story buildings, and on each level of the dorm is one long barrack-style room that houses about 80 kids. There are two dorms, one for the boys and one for the girls. So, in total, 240 boys, 240 girls, and little supervision. Sexuality starts young, and it's coupled with little privacy. This is why to some people (Americans) it seems like Cuban society is oversexed. But I think it's just a different type of sexuality than in the US, where it is at the same time celebrated and reviled.
In other news, this is my new tattoo. It's a dove, which is the symbol for peace. Has a lot to do with my modus operandi, and I think it's fitting inside the "siempre pa' adelante" tattoo. The dove is also the symbol of my orisha, Obbatala, who is the orisha of peace and purity. Fitting in so many ways.
