Show Notes
This week we are in conversation with Alexandra’s long time friend Conner
Born and raised in New York, Conner first came to Cuba in 1993 while finishing a Master’s degree in political science. In 2002, she moved to Havana permanently where she is an accredited journalist and freelance writer covering the Cuban health system, current events, the reform process, travel and tourism, and anything else that piques my interest – from dubious fashion and biotech to fidelity and the Harley biker scene. Conner writes books, essays and bad poetry...Available at your local independent bookseller (and also the online behemoth). Her blog [Here is Havana](https://hereishavana.com) has been called the best, no-punches-pulled writing about the island. In August 2013, she founded [Cuba Libro](Cubalibrohavana.com), the only English language bookstore/coffee house on the island, and a pioneer in ethically and socially responsible business practices.
Conner reveals what it’s like to live as an outsider, and an insider, in Cuba, how the culture of beauty is so different, and how they embrace the full figured beauty, including cellulite and other things shunned by the American eye. She explains how the embargoes placed by the US have inhibited residents from getting the body care products they need, and now the Black community are making business to get some products in, and teaching classes on how to best use what is available.
Links:
[Cuba Libro](Cubalibrohavana.com)
[Here is Havana](https://hereishavana.com)
[Latin American medical school in Cuba](https://medicc.org/ns/wp-content/cache/all/ns/elam/index.html)
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