Dear Readers:
As you may have noticed, since earlier this year I have not been posting much on this blog. Life has become very busy for me and in an effort to focus on the positive after the 2008 election, I discovered that ranting about politics was bringing me more negativity and aggravation than I could handle. Even blogging about Cuba began to feel stressful. With an impending move on my hands, working on my M.Ed., and the usual full plate of a busy mom who works full-time, I decided to delete something that no longer brings me happiness.
When I began this blog early in 2007 after writing some articles about Cuba in 2006 and 2007 that were run in other Cuban blogs and read on Miami radio, my passion was high, my zeal was overflowing and my determination was unstoppable. I condemned the castro regime and I defended the Bush administration and the war on terror and applauded the efforts, albeit small, of President Bush, to recognize the plight of the Cuban people- the first strides made in this area in a long time. His efforts fell on deaf ears, however, as Dr. Biscet and others still remain in jail, communism still strangles the island and the world continues to laud fidel castro as some sort of demagogue. At times it feels like I have been beating my head against a wall. Add to that my sadness about the direction that this country has taken in the past year, with the majority of the populace once having clamored for "hope and change" and seeing none (yet the Nobel Peace Prize gets awarded to the would-be purveyor of this "change").
It is for these reasons that I have decided to close this blog. I do not feel the same zeal I once did for politics. I am still passionate about the situation in Cuba and I continue to pray for a free and democratic Cuba but my blogging efforts will be directed to my other blog, where I focus on my heritage and (hopefully) humorous antecdotes that bring me a smile, not tears. Perhaps I will include some Cuban-themed entries there, but as I have been doing on that blog since its inception in the summer 2007, I will continue to avoid politics.
You can check out my blog, "Sigilicious" (pronounced "Sidge-i-licious." Sicilians often refer to themselves as sigis/sidge-ees") about growing up Italian in Philly and other random, non-political thoughts at www.sigime.blogspot.com. I ramble about my youth, Italian food, my hobbies, my friends and my kids. it's not for everyone, but it's usually good for a laugh, and if you are Italian, love and Italian or are friends with an Italian, I am sure you will find something to which you can relate.
If you are on Facebook you can follow my Sigilicious blog with the Networked Blogs App.
Thank you for your hundreds and hundreds of emails over the past two years- I saved every one of them and have them bound in a book to remind me of all the Cuban love and support that I received. Thank you for reading my blog- almost 24,000 hits later. Thank you for welcoming me into your giant Cuban family and for appreciating what I have been doing. I have made some very good friends through these emails and through blogging, many of whom I have met in person or spoken to on the phone. I may continue to write about Cuba for Babalublog where I have been a contributor since February, 2008, if I feel inspired.
Most of all I want to thank my dearest friend, my first Cuban friend, and my friend of over 15 years, Alberto de la Cruz. who supported my efforts from the first article I wrote, through my blogging, answered any question I ever had about Cuba, tirelessly explained the nuances of the revolution to me throughout the years, interviewed on my BlogTalk Radio show with me and slogged it out with me as we both started blogging at the same time while writing our own projects on the side and helping each other edit them. Thank you jaza, for all you have done for me.
QUE VIVA CUBA LIBRE
Claudia Fanelli
