Maybe my friend Yindra does not remember this. Or maybe this did not happen with Yindra and it is me who has a bad memory. The fact is that one day, in the late nineties, we were walking down La Rampa, and talking about common things usually spoken by journalism students in their early years (nonsense with pretensions of significance, delicious nonsense) and we ended up talking about one of our favorite topics by those days: how will we deal with fame when we were famous journalists, great public figures? When you ask a journalism student why he chose that degree course, it is more likely him to make you a heated argument about community service and responsibility to report… Something like that we told our teacher Rolando Almirante when he asked the question in his class. Almirante sneered at us: ” Do not deceive yourself nor wanting to fool me, most of you chose this profession because you want to be recognized.” That’s what Yindra and I were talking about; at twenty you believe that the world will be the stage for success. We arrived at O Street and had to dodge a crowd. A hefty blond man got on a rental car and waved out the window. The crowd cheered. Yindra was excited; “Who would that be? ” I said that he looked like Leonardo DiCaprio, but I half-jokingly told it: what would Leonardo DiCaprio be doing in a corner of Havana? “One day you and I will get off a car and an audience will be clapping us” Yindra smiled dreamily. “We are not going to be movie stars,” I answered with sarcasm. “We will be stars of journalism, you’ll see. We have enough talent and youth for that ” -Yindra added.”We better go buying a pizza in the corner,” I concluded. I should clarify that the pizza was for me, Yindra did not use eating pizzas on the street.
When I got to the scholarship that night someone told me that Leonardo DiCaprio, indeed, was in Havana and that he was staying at the Hotel Nacional. Next day I mentioned it to Yindra. “Is it possible that that so chubby and badly dressed man was Leonardo DiCaprio?”-I refused to believe it. The truth is that the guy we saw entering the car did not seem a Hollywood star. He rather looked like a happy and unshaven tourist. “As y ou see, Yindra, celebrities are also made of flesh and blood. Leo w as hot and was wearing an undershirt and sandals and he looked so happy! Yindra kept thinking that fame implied certain responsibilities, but the teacher came and the conversation ended up. Now I remember that Yindra, who was already collaborating with CHTV Channel, attempted to interview Leonardo. I do not know if he did or not, I think that the actor insisted in the private nature of his visit. Years passed and other celebrities came to spend their vacation in Havana. Yindra, while still a student, was already a local television reporter and I must say she was one of the most beautiful and elegant of the team (it was not very difficult to be it, we know that our reporters are not characterized by their glamour). She interviewed many famous people and she also achieved some popularity in the media. But at some point we realized that journalism was more than a pretty face on the screen. And we also realized that few journalists can ever enjoy the privilege (privilege?) of celebrity. I have no need to tell that I preferred the most discreet media. I love the relative anonymity of the reporter from the printed press. Yindra, while living in Cuba, always went out very well dressed. I dress as I like. Anyway, if Leonardo did it, why can’t I?
