Poking the Hornet’s Nest

Poking the Hornet's Nest / Rebeca Monzo

Rebeca Monzo, 31 October 2016 — Here on my planet, the government used
the term "hornet's nest" to name student groups at all levels, whose
classes were suspended because they were forced to participate in
organized protests against the so-called blockade, enlivened with
musical and theater groups, putting on the whole circus to show the
cameras with cheerful smiling faces, supporting the regime and rejecting
the United States, the country we all dreamed of.

However, "hornet's nest" was what we could also the horrible lines that
form at the bus stops, where we have to wait almost an house, trying to
get on board, if the driver even decides to stop and not pass on by
without even saying goodbye.

It is certainly not the fault of the drivers because the buses are
filled at three times over their design capacity, plus there are all the
potholes, the broken sewer holes and enormous piles of broken up
asphalt, that make the streets and avenues into little roller coasters.

We could also call the huge lines outside state bakeries
"hornet's nests," in search of the precious and only bread of 80 grams
per person under the decadent ration book. Or those that form at the
rusty and abandoned shacks that were once recognized as the points of
sale for seafood, where what it sold and most regularly available are
the badly named "island croquettes," popularly known as "what… whatever
they are," the most consumed food product of ordinary citizens who have
nothing more than their miserable salaries to live on.

Finally, the same so-called "hornet's nest" of students protesting
against the US embargo imposed on our government, would end up being a
real hornet's next in from of the doors of the embassies of the United
States, Canada, Spain, Italy, Ecuador, with the intention of getting
visas to "take off," although their vocal chords are still sore from
shouting in the organized rallies against capitalism, which they dream
of "clashing with" as soon as possible.

Source: Poking the Hornet's Nest / Rebeca Monzo – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/poking-the-hornets-nest-rebeca-monzo/