HAVANA TIMES – My life in Brazil has been diametrically opposed to the life I lived in Cuba. For the language, the lifestyle, the culture, and because I earn my living and support my family with a job very different from journalism. I’m an açougueiro, a word that means butcher in Portuguese.
One of the many problems in Cuban society today is the lack of meat, especially beef. To the extent that between 1990 and 2022, I think I only managed to taste it about five times.
When I received the proposal to work in the meat section of the supermarket where I was employed, my initial reaction was positive, since it meant a better salary. However, after agreeing I thought nervously: “What the heck do I know about meat?”
I began behind the counter, with the prospect of becoming an açougueiro in a short time. Miraculously, I learned the skills quickly, despite having to deal with many different cuts and to get to know them starting from zero; and also to understand them and to sell them in Portuguese to customers from a slum.
In order to sell, I also had to memorize a code for each of the forty-plus products we offer. I
