Marta Oliva

Saturday I went to an elegant luncheon at the home of Marta Oliva in Miramar, the fancy part of town. I stayed in that neighborhood when I was here for my first visit in 2003, five years ago. Marta, who came to stay with me in New York with her friend Mary Montez of Paris in the mean time, is the sister of my dear departed friend Jorge Oliva, the mainstay of my years at Columbia and my neighbor on 112th Street before he passed in 1986. That sad occasion was when I met Marta and we have kept in touch ever since. So two of the children in the swimming pool are his neice Claudia's, Sofia and Alessandro. There was a nice gathering including Mauro, Marta's husband and Miguel Barnet, a distinguished writer on Cuban folklore and anthropology. He is sitting next to Marta. I am sitting next to Alejandro Montecito, an artist friend of Marta's with whom we paled around in 2003. Marta and her daughter spend most of their time living in Rome where her husband Mauro comes from.