INTERNET – SHORT
WAVE
High school was
finished, pre-university starting.
16 years old.
Thin, very
white. Not tall yet. Many books in my head.
Economy like everybody,
almost poor.
I wasn't happy.
For some reason I wasn't happy.
Half session at
the school. I had to go to school in the afternoon.
We had just
moved to another house. Older, but bigger.For the first time I had my own room.
When rearranging
things after moving in, an old record player ended up in my room. Logical.I was
the one who listened to music the most. And it had to be from the radio because
the turntable was broken.
I spent hours
with the radio on, but without listening. I was hoping that at some moment they
would broadcast a song that I liked. A game of chance. Almost the same
probability as a DNA match between two people.
It was still
forbidden to listen to rock music on the radio. At least the rock in English language.
Some of my
friends’ parents belonged to those privileged ones who travel for working
reasons and they brought the long plays camouflaged inside Cuban record covers.
One morning,
still October.
My parents just
left for work.
I already had
breakfast.
Nothing
interesting to do.
Reading?.
Almost never in
the mornings, I like it better in the afternoons and at night. The sounds fade.I
look at the radio.I take a closer look and discover that it has SW (shortwave).
Does it work?
Let's try.
I took out the
antenna.
Lots of static.
Suddenly they
start to appear.
Voice of
America: presentation in English and then the announcers in Spanish.
BBC, Deutchewelle,
Radio Netherlands.
How weird.
Even after
listening to the programs for hours I am sitting on the edge of my bed.
Perplexed?
No.
I was happy.
I knew.
I was sure.
I was sure that
the World was different to what I was told: Always sad. Always oppressed. No
opportunities for most.
I knew somehow there
were happy people somewhere.
That life had
followed its course in many places.
That it was
still being built, developed and not everyone was a villain. I was happy because
it was the first time that a spiritual truth was revealed to me.
A logical
knowledge, of course, and that came from the depths of my being was revealed.
I knew it!
No matter how
much they try to manipulate us, we must always be sure that somewhere things
are different, there are happy people everywhere and life flows because of
them.
And it was not a
consolation. It was my truth of that moment when I was just sixteen.
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