I would guess that he is about 55, maybe 58, but no older\u2026. He needs a few more wrinkles and a few more gaps in his memory to be 60. He tells me that he lived for almost 10 years in Germany, and that he saw the fall of the Berlin Wall with his own eyes.
\n\u201cI might have been one of the first to pick up a piece of the Wall,\u201d he says proudly; or at least, that\u2019s what his expression seems to reflect.<\/p>\n
For a moment I\u2019m startled when he releases his hands from the steering wheel. They are rough, stiff hands, and he rests them for an instant on his thighs, as if he were feeling that piece of wall in his hands again.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what were you doing there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was sent to work in Berlin for almost five years as an instructor; I\u2019m an agricultural engineer\u2026. Then I was assigned to the Cuban embassy and another five years went by before I returned to Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI meant, what were you doing by the Wall?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh! I was sent from the embassy to attend to the Cubans who lived in Berlin and the rest of the RDA [East Germany] and who were crossing to the other side of the Wall, to the other Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prosperous Germany, the RFA?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, that one\u2026. My mission was to collect the passports of the comrades who deserted; I collected about 650 in a short amount of time. It was a crazy scene. People were crossing desperately, screaming and crying; it had been many years since they\u2019d seen their families. Can you imagine?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I imagine. That reconciliation must have been wonderful\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
We\u2019re on the way to the airport and the whole time I\u2019ve been carefully watching his face. Now I turn my eyes toward the street (Avenida Boyeros) to see how far we have to go. As usual, I\u2019m late, but I\u2019m not worried about missing my flight\u2014I\u2019m more worried about arriving before we can finish our conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now you\u2019re a taxi driver?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, it was hard to find work when I came back, and this is what fell to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re not sorry?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry about what, being a taxi driver?\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, about not crossing the Wall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, are you crazy?! I am a happy man. With all of its problems and defects, this is the best country in the world\u2026.\u201d
\n\u201cYes, you\u2019re right. We have to make some changes, knock down some walls, but I agree with you\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I would guess that he is about 55, maybe 58, but no older\u2026. He needs a few more wrinkles and a few more gaps in his memory to be 60. He tells me that he lived for almost 10 years in Germany, and that he saw the fall of the Berlin Wall with his own […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":20192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[33566,7417],"class_list":["post-20202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-propositions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n