There are those who have a wall full of diplomas, or a shirt straining under the weight of medals. Heroes who accumulate scars, and we citizens who stockpile frustrations. Not to be left behind in this widespread mania for collecting, I attempt to have my own collection of something. I collect denials of travel, slips of paper that repeat that I may not leave “for the moment” and airplane tickets postponed. All this with the same compulsion that others amass soft drink labels or ceramic figurines.
Stubborn, like a can of condensed milk, I have resubmitted my papers to visit Europe. Not acquiescent with the “no” they already gave me in May, I returned to the Plaza municipality’s Bureau of Emigration and Immigration. I waited several days, while the breaking of the machine that prints the stickers delayed an answer that I already intuited. In the end, someone in olivegreen confirmed to me that the penalty still stands. The corrective, being made to kneel on rice, is in my case a prohibition on leaving this Island. Won’t the Daddy-State learn how irritating children become when they rarely leave the house?
* Here is a link to the second document, in less than a year, that tells of my condition: Captive Blogger.
Translator’s notes:
More information about this canceled trip is included in the footnote to the Italian translation of this blog entry; click on the Italian flag, above.
Previous entries relating to the “no” Yoani received in May are: The Second Prize and No, “for the moment”.
Yoani, you don’t know, how much I understand you, being from postcommunistic country (Czech republic). Let me tell you, that even dictature of money, fastfood and useless expensive goods is better then tyranny of your own people. At least we can travel wherever we want to, although it’s sometimes hard to get money needed 🙂
We all cubans collect fear and frustrations !
Hang in there… if there’s anything I’ve learned from my Cuban ex-pat friends is that if you knock on the door often enough, eventually someone will open it for you.
Keep up the good fight and keep writing.