![[Blog] Masanga Marima Brings “Guantanamera” from L.A. to Zimbabwe and Back (+ Video)](https://dainabeth.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/016.jpg?w=290&h=290&crop=1 "[Blog] Masanga Marima Brings “Guantanamera” from L.A. to Zimbabwe and Back (+ Video)")
The simple tune and patriotic lyrics of “Guantanamera,” Cuba’s signature song, have traveled to numerous far-flung corners of the planet. Even unlikely ones, I learned last Friday at a concert by Masanga Marimba at MacArthur Park’s Levitt Pavilion. Masanga Marimba blends African and Latin American musical styles, mostly played on seven Zimbabwean marimbas ranging from … Continue reading
![[Blog] Summer Reading: China, North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Cuba and New York City](https://dainabeth.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/msi-summer-reading.jpg?w=290&h=290&crop=1 "[Blog] Summer Reading: China, North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Cuba and New York City")
We’re nearing the end of those “lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer,” as Nat King Cole put it in his 1963 pop hit. The days have been especially lazy, crazy and hazy for those of us who just graduated college. Plenty of time for reading! No syllabus necessary. My picks have taken me to the … Continue reading
Sultry dancers, daiquiris, and the mambo. Cuban, or American? Perhaps both? In “The Havana Habit,” Columbia professor Gustavo Perez Firmat explains the numerous ways in which America has sucked up Cuban culture, creating an imagined vision of this exotic island. He argues that “No other Latin American nation has left as pervasive an imprint … Continue reading
Lotus land 