CUBAN TENDERNESS

Cuban
Tenderness
Cuando me cuentas de tus dias siento nostalgia de que
habitemos lugares tan distantes, no poder tenerte mas cerca, para poder
pasar
mas tiempo juntos, visitarte y que me visites, conversar y acompañarte en
el
yoga, en los ejercicios respiratorios, tomando el te,...son mis sueños
relacionados contigo
y la presencia que me gustaria tuvieras en mi vida.
This letter arrived from Cuba, from a colleague, a
wonderful friend, Her husband has been a journalist for Cuban Press for
over
ten years and together they have 11 year old son. She lives by the sea at
Guanabo in the city of Havana.
I translate:
When i read about your days (in Paris and Kuala LUmpur) I
feel very nostalgic because we live in places so far away from each other,
we
cannot have you near us, to spend time with you, to be able to visit you,
and
for you to visit us, to talk about and learn Yoga with you and the
Breathing
exercises you talk about, drinking TeaŠ these are my dreams. .. to be
closer to
you and to have you in our livesŠ
Where do they learn such tenderness?
i had noticed that from the very first encounter.
they harbor such tenderness , that is how they are brought
up. and don't think it is just the women, men are equally demonstrative. to
quote my closest friend in baracoa, he always says goddbye when i leave
our little village by the sea: i am
not saying good bye to you, because i am taking you away in my heart.
another friend said: you are not a friend, you are not a
brother, but you are a tattoo in my heart.
i think the special situation in cuba, which limited
freedom in many aspects of commercial and consumerist life in cuba, gave
rise
to an expression of such pent up emotions, in its purest form , so that we
can
talk to each other, with such open minds and hearts.
when i am in baracoa, if a non cuban in our company, it
happened only rarely since we didn't encourage that, since wwe were not
looking
for any form of escapism like the tourists were, i would say to them: you
see
the young woman walking on the other side of the road, i don't know her
and she
does not know me; i will go across and kiss her and talk to her. the
outsider
is surprised , because i don't now how many countries exist in this work,
where
a total stranger can cross the street and kiss a young woman and begin
chatting
with her and receive a warm feeling?
pablo once called his lover, that bakery in the sky. i
would like to refer to cuba as the great bakery in the sky for me, with
inexhaustible affections.
if you are reading this note, you are also experiencing
that warmth, however indirectly, through me, as i try to dispense my
affections
wrapped in as much innocence as possible.
so wherever you are, imagine yourself being hugged and
given a load of affections from me.
you have to give me nothing in return, not even an email.