The dawn already warned of the coming Saturday. Since dawn, the gusts of wind and the cold drizzle marked the first day of 2023 in which the people of Havana can assure that something of winter has already touched them this year. On Malecón avenue, vehicles continue to circulate in some sections, towards the area closest to Paseo street; On the other hand, in El Vedado, the entrance of the sea has forced the closure of traffic.
“The water is advancing rapidly,” complains a resident of the area. The man had to hurry up because “it’s very cold” and he’s already beginning to cover the sidewalk and drag the two garbage containers next to his house. The flooding is bad news for those who have been waiting for hours at a nearby store to buy the sausages and hash that arrived after weeks of waiting.
Gray Havana, with wind and temperatures below 20 degrees Celsius, is much less photographed and described than when it has that blue sky and the sea like a plate that is reproduced so much in the paintings sold to tourists and in the advertising of the travel agency. Of the cold fronts, if anything, the waves that overcome the wall of the Malecón or the onslaught of the sea against the Morro lighthouse are immortalized, but rarely the opacity that a city acquires whose colors are dulled by cold fronts.
The cracks in the walls look deeper, the holes in the streets more unfathomable, and the dwarfed people stuffed into coats several sizes too big or threadbare jackets. When the thermometers drop, the city acquires a certain sincerity, because without the makeup of the sun all its shadows emerge.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
