With those words Val Prieto launched Babalu Blog 5-1/2 years ago. Since then Val, George, Ziva, I and our fellow contributors have logged almost 11,000 posts, more than 3,600,000 visitors, and more than 69,000 comments. We've won awards, raised money for charity and most importantly raised awareness about the Cuban reality, a job that has been willfully neglected by the American and international media.

Babalu has also been meeting place for those of us who carry Cuba in our hearts and acts as a connection point for Cubans scattered throughout the country and around the world. In an interview last year Yoani Sanchez honored us by calling Babalu "the grandfather of Cuban blogs". In short, Babalu is a special place.

So it's with great pleasure that I introduce you to Babalu v2.0. For those that are interested we have migrated away from an older version of Movable Type and are now running the latest version of WordPress. We've changed the look slightly, for example we now have a 3-column layout with two sidebars. The left (west side) sidebar is called PINAR DEL RIO and the right (east side) sidebar is called ORIENTE. The biggest changes however, are behind the curtain. We will now be able to blog much more efficiently and the interface is more intuitive. 

Unfortunately commenters will have to register again before being able to comment on v2.0.  You can register by clicking here or on the comment link on any post.

The archives from v1.0 are fully accessible from here. In the PINAR DEL RIO sidebar there's an item labeled "Babalu Archives" with a dropdown menu where you can go back to see older posts. You'll also be able to search them as well. 

Another nice thing about v2.0 is Mobile Babalu.  If you have a smartphone or internet capable PDA then you'll be able to view a specially designed version of Babalu that's easy to navigate.

Getting back to what this blog means, for me it has been a door to friendships I would not have otherwise had. To my Babalu family, this new and improved version is my gift to you. So if the question today is still the same as it was back in June of 2003 the answer also remains the same: Muy bien!