By Mia Taylor TheStreet It’s called “phajaan.” Directly translated, the word means “crushing,” as in crushing an elephant’s spirit. More specifically – divorcing a baby elephant from its spirit. The brutal practice occurs throughout Southeast Asia in order to make elephants submissive to humans, and suitable for a life spent entertaining and amusing tourists, whether […]
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By Mia Taylor TheStreet The opening scene of the novel Dreaming in Cuban could not have been a more appropriate allegory for our journey. Sitting on her front porch in her best housedress and pearl earrings, protagonist Celia del Pino vigilantly scans the ocean with binoculars, guarding Cuba’s northern coast against the yanquis. “The Yankees […]
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By Mia Taylor TheStreet Maria Pena’s eyes welled with tears as she stood on the deck of the Adonia watching the Havana skyline come into view. “Coming on this ship was a difficult decision for me — my family spent a lifetime fighting the regime,” said the Miami attorney whose family fled Cuba nearly 60 […]
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