Scooter

Throughout the world the desire of kids to play is overwhelming. They are resourceful, creative, andf will work very hard to make a toy or something to play with. I have helped Cuban boys wrap tape into a ball so that they can then play stickball in the street. These guys are even more inventive and mechanically talented. They are building their own "blade". It is made from scraps of lumber they have found and old roller skate parts. The typical child in Cuba is certainly not spoiled by excess nor do they grow up as part of a consumer society. They do like to play, they play outside in the sun and heat, and they are resourceful in creating their playthings. I was fascinated by the number of games and the hours spent by the boys in the neighborhood where I stayed in Havana when I brought them a simple rubber ball to play with-it was amazing how thrilled they were.

Tropicana, 2000

This was a beautiful night-warm, slight breeze, not too humid. We went to the Tropicana and this picture of the dancers in the smoke was probably more luck than anything else. The Tropicana is probably the one single constant that has existed in Havana from back in the 1940s until the present. While the cost of admission is well beyond the reach of most Cubans, there are always plenty of visitors and upper class Cubans who are present to cheer on the dancers and musicians.