July 1, 2009

Today I met Conchita Campa, director of the Carlos Finlay Institute, inventor of Cuba's meningitis vaccine, one of two women in the politburo and a passionate advocate of natural medicine—also a friend of my father's. She came to fetch me at CIREN in order to bring me to the Institute, where she had arranged for me to eat in their macrobiotic cafeteria. After weeks of atrocious food at CIREN, slabs of over-cooked, greasy turkey, white rice and starchy roots twice a day, every cell in my body sang halleluyah as I savored their brown rice pilaf, pickled radish, steamed green beans and lentils. Conchita has arranged for Leah and I to get all our meals there for the rest of our stay in Cuba! Every day at lunchtime the cooks will pack up dinner and breakfast for us. As I sat sipping bancha tea, one of them came out with a big bag of rice cakes for me to take home!

Conchita is warm, bubbly, full of enthusiasm for her work of promoting natural medicine-- though her day job is still inventing vaccines. She has, she says, the complete flower remedy collections from California, Australia and her favorite, Chile, as well as Bach's original 38. She will arrange for me to see their nutritionist, and a famous homeopath. She asks what I do and I tell her I'm a writer. I say I'd love to connect with other writers, get to read my work. “I'll call the Minister of Culture,” she says. I tell her I'd love to spend some time in Cuba writing. All things can be arranged, she says,smiling. And then-- Wait a minute! She zooms out and returns with a man who directs a cultural foundation. He also eats here every day, and his work is to support the arts. He will arrange for me to see Nancy Morejon, the national poet, and connect with people at Casa de las Americas where a new program for US Latina/o writers and artists has just been launched. Also a network of women writers. And set me up to do a reading. I mention that my brother is a visual artist. Let's do an exhibit, he exclaims. I say I only have a few of his posters with me. No matter. Have him send digital images. We'll put up some poster and project the images and you can read. It'll be great! He says he'll get back to me tomorrow. After weeks of trying to grab minutes out of rehab time to access a phone, trying in vain to reach people whose names I've been given, suddenly I'm hooked up. Conchita and I adore each other from the first phone call. She says her family is full of Auroras,so I'll fit right in, and what's my sign. I decide she will get one of Ricardo's posters of Marx meditating, with the slogan “Synthesis.”

Today I also speak with Rosita from International Relations, who tells me I have to be like Cubans, do a little bit every day to resolve complicated logistical problems,and not let myself get stressed. My sacrum has been out for a few days and once again I can't do my exercises. My foot is better, though, so I walk a lot. Jorge says I have to strengthen my back muscles. Conchita says once I start eating well, the inflammation will go away. Tomorrow I should hear back from the Ministry of Public Health about my second cycle of treatment. If all goes well I'll take a week off before starting round two. A week for visiting Cenesex, ACLIFIM, Casa de las Americas and friends we've made.

Besides the stress of unresolved housing, food and authorization issues, this week has been all about the coup in Honduras and the ongoing evidence that Latin America and the Caribbean are in a new stage of history where thugs can no longer get away with kidnapping elected presidents and terrorizing their own people into submission. Cuban TV and the Venezuelan based multi-nation network Telesur have been carrying detailed coverage almost continually-- the proclamations of the OAS, the ALBA nations, the Central American nations, the Rio countries, the UN, all condemning the coup, refusing recognition to the de facto regime, withdrawing ambassadors, cutting off trade. The OAS has given the golpistas (coup-ers) 72 hours to step down. Zelaya has declared he will return at that time, accompanied by the secretary general of the UN, the president of the OAS and several presidents of Latin American countries. In place of ads for useless and toxic products, we see photo montages of the Honduran congress voting in one of their own to replace Zelaya, of Hondurans in the streets, of heads of state condemning this attempt to turn back history and restore the evil days of dictatorships and death squads. We also continue to get live reports from all over Honduras via cell phone-- somehow Telesur and Cuban TV have the phone numbers of dozens of resistance leaders. (I've posted some details on my facebook page.)

Today I saw Pedro, who came with his wife from Venezuela a day before I arrived. We were on the same buses to get tests done the first week. He has Parkinson's and when I first saw him, I couldn't understand anything he said, he walked with a shuffling gait, and he shook constantly. I sat with his wife on a park bench watching him stride around the track, catch and throw balls, and speak clearly, with no tremor at all! They will be leaving soon, but will return for one month a year, until the center based on CIREN opens in Venezuela.

Right now I'm deliciously tired, sitting in front of a fan, getting ready to go send emails. Then we'll come home to macrobiotic dinner and early to bed.