21 March 2010

Wow. March 21st already? Is anyone else in shock because of how quickly time is passing? Today was a relaxed reading day until the evening when I took a maquina into town to meet Katie and some friends from FEU by the Capitolio building. About halfway through the ride we stopped to pick up another passenger. He stepped in with a HUGE cake which read ‘Happy Birthday Josefín’ in Spanish. It was covered in frosting roses and was very pink. My guess is that it is for a quinceañera, a 15th birthday party. Quinceañera are celebrated seriously here. The girls wear really detailed gowns of pink or pastel colors and ride on the back of the old convertible cars through the town accompanied by the loud honking from the driver. They also take pictures in the squares or by the most iconic sights. I have never been in a place where they were such a big event, and it is a lot of fun to see them and be reminded of them.
I got there a little early and was reading Noam Chomsky’s Hegemony or Survival on the steps. A tourist walked by (probably Canadian, or perhaps American and commented: “good book, isn’t it?” It is and I would recommend it to all.
Anyway, I met up with my friends and we went to the national theater, a gorgeous antiquated theater, home of the National Ballet (and I think the opera as well, though I’m not sure). These places didn’t open their doors to Cubans until recently, which is a little hard to swallow. Now Cuban’s pay a small fraction of the 20 dollars the tourists pay. The show we saw was folkloric dance. The African influences were very strong in the music and movement. It was entertaining and a needed break from the reading which I returned to at the hometel.