IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 9 ENGLISH | Page 17

money to support his family. He
expanded his plot fighting against weed
and marabou, but then realized he
needed some additional resources.
Thanks to a loan from a friend, he
bought a yoke of ox, a plow and rake.
So, he began to open space and make
the farm more productive. After

perceiving its fruits, he sells them at the
very farm to retailers who come from
and return to the city. Farming does not
bring plenty of outputs, but enough to
survive in these difficult times, where
and when putting a dish on the table is
almost
a
torment.

On the way to his farm, riding in his
wagon, he opened his peasant’s
breastplate and told me he had not
wanted to be a farmer because, like all
human beings, he has dreams. He said
the point is not unhappiness, but the
preference for being something else
than a farmer, although the latter does
not look bad at all.
On the contrary, he thinks that being a
farmer is a matter of pride and makes
him a better person, but when I asked if
he would have preferred to deal with
computers, he denied it and smiled.
With intense gleam in his eyes, he said:
"I would have wanted to be a famous
humorist; yes, that will fill me with
gratitude."
He told me about his background as an
amateur artist in carnivals and other
popular festivals, cabarets and other
nightclubs, which marked him with
what he feels today. With his friend

Iván Echevarría, Esnel formed the
amateur humorist duo "The Scythe." He
always enjoyed it. With broken words,
he confessed: "You see me here and
now, with my yoke of oxen. I call them
Itch and Hornet’s Nest."
Living off the sweat of his labor, this
young boy has managed to overcome all
kinds of difficulties. Perhaps the social
life played a trick on him because of his
skin color, and he couldn’t get another
steady job in his specialty after
becoming
unemployed.
Or
the
competent authorities did not want to
help him for becoming a professional
comedian. Even so, he maintains the
faith that someday he will launch a
successful artistic career in Havana. In
the meantime, he is satisfied with his
piece of land as stage, his oxen as
public, and his plow as an instrument
that makes the land smiles.
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