During class Wednesday I mentioned Paul Theroux’s line (from The Pillars of Hercules): “Nobody has ever described the place where I’ve just arrived.” And as an example I mentioned my visit to Havana – a city I’d read a lot about, and seen many photographs of – and how I’d been surprised by the water crashing over the malecon and flooding the street near my hotel every night. One of the students said that the Cubans have a saying, “This or that will happen when the malecon is dry.” “Meaning,” he added, “never.”
