Corocoto Chachas

And I must peel away from here. The word, peel away, has been carefully chosen here as I dont really want to leave this marvelous town but I must as I run the risk of staying here ... for how long nobody knows.
and so I write, maybe just  a short farewell but a needed one, this town truly deserves be said good bye to. Nice people, foreigners and locals i´ve met throught out, hoping to keep some of the friendships for a while and longer, excellent nightlife, and two tango shows to die for. Hearing Gotan Project in Catania was certainly a high point, but dancing a whole show to Juan "Tango Negro" Cáceres was an experience on its own: I owe it to my partner for making me look good, we even got a "complimenti" at the end of the show....


I forgot it was Sunday and Im making time now for the bus (its a good trip when you dont know what day it is) but I shouldnt just  ramble
Siracusa is next

Minchia, fui a Taormina

I cannot even begin to describe the beauty of this place!!! Not even the thousand of millions of tourist that come every second can destroy (or at least not yet, HURRY UP!) the beauty and peace this place has: do believe me, every sight is breathtaking. At a point on my trip, I just sat at a rock at the beach and watched the sun and the moon switch positions around the island, and island of beauty, really, island of beauty. Before I knew it it was 10 at night! Of course I couldnt have left without doing the same in the morning, sooo never hit the sack, went straight from the plaza to the viewpoint and waited there for the sun to rise, incredible views, well worth not sleeping.
Makes me think of the people that live here, how dont they all get up at 0400 and head for the viewpoint. One local came around in the morning, but again, sometimes it takes a foreign eye to really appreciatte the beauty lying next to you. Taormina is carved out of a cliff, literally. The houses are dangling into an abyss, somehow they have managed to make some roads, and people keep on heading for the hills and making yet another feat against physics to keep that house up. The green is still green, as if the woods were in a constant fight with the houses and it is in that battle, in that struggle, that beauty lies. Or is it in the referee, us, the beholder?


And a third contender, the ocean (a she) watches them argue for something she knows its nobody else´s but hers.
Couldnt sincerely describe its beauty, so I put a buttload of pics on flickr....

Beauty even on Death

Mount Etna, what a sight! Had the luck to join a future volcanologist on this trip, not so much for the knowledge, which there was, but for the emotion. From here I got the title, everyother step was astonishing and beautiful... with pictures to be taken here and also over there, eternal. It was nice to share into that emotion, also nice to help out to reach places I know he wouldnt have gone without me...
Etna is incredible. It overlooks most of Sicily and we can just picture the awesome power of mother earth when she gets her period and things can go bersek. The walk up wasnt bad, took us around 2-3 hours but mainly because we stopped a few times and made some big loops to see most of the volcano and the newly formed craters. Hard to explain the feeling of littleness one gets in front of a crater the size of a building, or the wind blowing at 100 mph making you feel it WILL pick you up and dump you into the hole. A little tuna for lunch and ready to keep on exploring.

Next victim: Taormina, the pearl of Sicily

Fun day at the beach

Cannot stop them sometimes....

Tren a SiraXXX Catania

Being in Europe I tend to forget Italians are latin, very latin. I took the train Milano-Siracusa and it brought back home to me: the train was late, it broke down on the way, there were too many people, there was flirting, scandal, arguments, too much luggage, cats and dogs (no chickens though), one asshole, and everybody was speaking way too loudly and at the same time: it was great!. I did the first part of the trip with a girl from Tuscany, very beautifull girl, very fragile, almost not fitting in this whole context.Poor thing. She must have thought I was hitting on her at the beginning but when she realized I just wanted to talk everything went well... except my Italian which is still atrocious.
Then the 2nd part of the trip I did it with an older lady from Catania, sweet lady actually. She convinced me to stay in Catania instead of going all the way to Siracusa, so I did and Im glad. Its been day and night from Milano. From the train to the beach to the people, everything is that much more "Italian" from my point of view ;)
Tomorrow Etna….
Oh! and it happens to be the Summer Tango Festival in Sicily at the moment. And guess who’s playing Friday? Gotan Project, cannot wait….

Milano

I was just about to tell you it was not the best choice of a city to start with in Italy, then, on my last day, after getting lost, (is it considered getting lost if its done on purpose?) I found some markets, real markets not supermarkets, children kicking the ball around in the park, a huge difference from what I had seen days before. People just going about their business, mind as well be NYC! Very nice change of pace to see this other face to the city...

But amongst the sights: the Duomo, puff, certainly makes a difference. I don’t know if it has made it, but it certainly should be one of the wonders of the world: the intricacy, the detail, the painstaking goddamn detail. Bamn! About 300, 000 statues and 800,000 million square miles (rough numbers here) of carved stone, it is just breathtaking. I spent a whole day here. Pity is still being restored, I didn’t get to see the doors. And I didn’t get to see the Last Supper either, there is a 2-3 week waiting list, I guess sometimes it pays to read guidebooks. No biggie, I’ll see it on my way out of Sicily.
Tomorrow Siracusa and the Reign of the Two Sicilies ;)

Vaquerito en Frankfurt

sin mucho que decir.. una ciudad ordenada, organizada, limpia mas para mí paladar latino, casi insípida....

Con un par

With a couple of “ostiones” and a “Cubanito” I say goodbye to Cuba, the Island of my dreams. I say goodbye to that one peso rum that so many friendships forged, I say goodbye to the refrescos, the batidos, the pan con lechón, and those awfull pizzas, how I’ll miss them, I say goodbye to the Habaneros, and specially the Habaneras, el son, la salsa y la trova, but not before singing one more time, very much off key, Yolanda all the way to the airport. But I don’t say goodbye to the friends, whom they tell me, like if I were one of the 5 heroes: “volverás” & why not, maybe they’ll have me make ceviche one more time…
My dream became reality and I couldn´t ask for more. I got educated on history, religion, culture, dance and love. Love for a cause, for a revolution. Love and passion... and also discontent. And Ill treasure those sunset along the malecón calling out for Silvio, those days at the beach tuning for La Charanga, and that woman, standing on the drums, telling me my saint is Xangó…

Se me escapa

And I leave Cuba, with promises of a prompt return, but always with the fear of not being able to do it, of forgetting the people, the places, the feelings, the warmth…

Es q a mi mente se le escapa,
Se le olvida la forma de la cintura q solia abrazar
Se le olvida la suavidad del cuello q solia bezar
Se le olvida hasta el palpitar de aquel corazon q junto al mio,
hasta el amanecer, solian conversar…

Y en las noches mi cuerpo te busca y a veces no sabe q silueta buscar
Y a mis manos se le olvidan la textura de tus dedos,
A mis ojos, el color de tu cabello,
A mis labios el sabor de tu llanto,
Y a mi pecho se le olvida la desnudez del tuyo,
Será cariño acaso, q t al llamarte algun dia,
A mis labios se le olviden el nombre q solian idolatrar

La Habana

Ante la presencia de un Guapo

While an important battle, it wasnt the most important or the most decisive battle of the revolution, then why, I ask, 1000s of people get here every year? simply because here a legend was born, a myth: the legend of Ernesto Guevara, whom with a contingent of 300 soldiers attacked the third most important city in Cuba and managed to rise the population in arms against the tirany. Looking at the city, one can imagine herds of farmers, armed with nothing but pitchs, racks and forks throwing themselves against a well armed military, making barricades out of their tractors, molotov bombs out of their home grown rum, and a secret weapon out of a bulldozer... Che's statue and museum are impresive, and even more so his memorial. Pictures, songs, pistols, memorabilia, and a letter, and while reading it, this "farewell letter" to Fidel, more than one visitor allows that one single tear to run thru his cheek as he reaches the end of the letter & then the signature: con un fuerte abrazo revoluvionario, CHE... such love Ernesto had for Fidel, su maestro, su hermano, una despedidad que de verdad te razga el corazón.... but I have started wondering about the why´s of the letter, did it really had to be read preventing a return?..... Fidel, Raul, la CIA...
Tomorrow we head to... bho

Habana, Sabanas Blancas Habana!!!

And one cannot help but wonder what would have been of Cuba without the embargo, or maybe better, what would have been of the world without the yanqui imperialism...
Tabaco & Ron, somebody sings, Sol y Arena cries a second one, the third one recites the now leyend story of Playa Girón. Such beauty and history in one same spot, it can be very seldomly found. And because of this, a change of plans is in order, I install myself in Habana like if it was my motherland, but this time its not entirely my fault, I have some pretty good accomplises: Ernst, Fidel (el de antaño), Camilo, Silvio and Pablo are some of them, and leading the pack, some argentine who truly loved MachuPichu.
You can breath history in Habana, history of two revolutions, history of Son, Prosa, Poesia y Trova. And I share all this with a Fin, the warmest baltic guy there's ever been. And history continues as we make our way to Santa Clara

Jamaica

"You blood, wha gwaan? You done know, dog seen, You done know, seen dog" Just warming up...
Just leaving the airport toward Kingston and already breathtaking, you take this road long strip that connects the airport and the Parish and divides the ocean (ït's the sea"a kid will correct you...) and the bay. The contrast, the black and obscure bay water and the deep blue of open water, the kind of blue that makes it hard to distingish between ocean and sky. Beautiful contrasts in a troubled city, my visit and elections coincide, not the calmest of times, and yet people find a way to celebrate, anything. Despite the poverty, or maybe because of it, people dance till high morning, inventing dances and acrobatics that make them unique, even if for once...
And I wait now for the visit of my life,one more time switching passports, one more customs to clear, but I'm coming... Pablo, Silvio, Carlos, I'm coming...

Im out of here

Back in Florida for a bit and packing my stuff. Got the last pieces of the puzzle done, saw my best friend get married, made some mula, and got my ruski visa!!!!! about goddamn time. Entrances here will slow down but dont think nobody will mind, see you americans jan 2009 for Lindz' return!!!!! If Im making it back, you better be here too....

You go Kell

Something special about being part of a wedding, something even better about being in the wedding party & even more special about being a bridesman....
My best friend got married last weekend and cannot contain myself, happiness just pours out of me. Family I havent seen in years since the last wedding came to Fl. Faces, ocurrences, anecdotes, oh how I missed them, they certainly are my family as well. And to you Kelly and Frank: Salud!!