My Big Fat Cuban Family: A Cuban-American Blog

My Big, Fat, Noisy Cuban After-Party (come on - do The Wave with us...)

Exhausted but happy. So much I want to share.
The wedding was last night and it was fabulous, but I have to have some functioning brains cells to do it justice, so I will save posting about that until I get home.

I've had some incredible experiences with my family this weekend, but seriously, the after-party at my cousin's house tops them all. 

Everyone leaves tomorrow. For California. For Texas. And even for Cuba.  We don't know when we'll all be together again, but trust me when I tell you we took full advantage of our time together.

Our sides were splitting from laughing so hard. Seriously. We're all hoarse from yelling and carrying on.

The highlight was trying to teach Tio Fernando (97) how to do The Wave.....

FERNANDO (with his hands obediently high in the air): "What's supposed to happen now?"

We all just dissolved into piles of noisy laughter.

I know. You just had to be there.

And THAT was the best part. We were ALL there. =D

(Thanks, Illy & Bob for your generous hospitality!)

My Big, fat, Cuban Family Party (together) before the Wedding

Today's the wedding day. We've been anxiously awaiting this chance to have a big, fat, Cuban family wedding in Miami. Today is that day. People, we're out of our skin excited!

To be together, to be a family, to welcome more family, to poke fun at each other, to laugh together, to dance together, to tell jokes and family stories.

To celebrate being a family and NOT have to wait until Christmas.

Needless to say, we've been soooo looking forward to this wedding (to be together).

But wait.... we all flew in from somewhere this week.... and there's no time like the present, so last night we all got together in South Beach.....

And, of course, I had my camera.....

So after the buzz of "where are you?" phone calls, we managed to meet in some posh bar....

And we got the chance to be together, to be a family, to welcome more family, to poke fun at each other, to laugh together, to dance together, to tell jokes and family stories.

We agreed that it would be fun if we all dressed up and got together to do it again the next night.
Oh wait.... that's the wedding. Then how about Saturday night? Ummm.... Family Reunion at Cousin Ileana's?

Seriously, this is going to be a LOOOONNGG (and REALLY FUN!!) weekend (together).

(good thing we're all stocked up on Red Lipstick! =D)

Code Red

Prepare yourself South Florida.....

The last few days have been a flurry of texts and phone calls between my mom and my sisters and my cousins and my nieces and myself.
My big, fat, Cuban family is preparing to invade Miami. (Ay Dios mio!)

Michael and Kimberly are getting married on Friday. (Yay!)

And because of the nature of weddings and all the wedding business that has to happen during the reception and all that, well, there just won't be enough face-to-face time, so... we're all getting together again on Saturday. (Ay Dios mio!)

So, see, we're not just going to the wedding (which I'm sure will be just fabulous, but that's not important right now) we're TRAVELING. And as you well know, traveling involves PREPARATIONS.

And so the phone lines are burning with the questions:

"What are you wearing to the wedding?"
"Can I borrow your (fill in the blank)?"
"It's pouring rain in Miami, bring an umbrella."
"Are you having your hair done here or there?"
"What time is your pedicure?"

And so we carry on, as typical Cuban girls/sisters/cousins/nieces do.

So, world-class list maker that I am, I've got my checklist and realize that I completely forgot to get a new red lipstick! I know! Serious Makeup Emergency!!  (you can tell by all the exclamation points I'm using that this is SERIOUS!!!)

My current red is down to the embarrassing scraping-with-the-lip-brush stage and I have been meaning to get myself to Nordstrom, but that would involve actually getting dressed up just to go buy lipstick and well, darn it, it's summer! And I just haven't been feeling it and blah, blah, blah.... All that to say that I never got my new lipstick.  =(

Panicking here. Yes, I know it's my own fault for procrastinating and it's late in the game here. My flight leaves in a few hours....

So, I call my sister, Ofelia (who actually works at the Lancome counter at Nordstrom, which is why I get my makeup there in the first place, because I am being supportive, but I digress.....)

Me: "Ofie, Makeup Emergency! I need a red lipstick for the wedding!"

Ofie (in a completely calm, I-live-for-moments-like-this voice:
"Come over to my house. I think I might have one."

One hundred and fifty lipsticks later, I found seventeen reds.
(God, I love my family!)

Ay Dios Mio!  ;-)

See you in Miami!! 
(I'll be the one in the fabulous Red Lipstick. =D)

"Felicidades, Abuela!" (state your name)

I've written before about how my family spent summers in Varadero Beach in pre-castro Cuba.
My grandmother's birthday was in late June so we would be out of Havana and not with her to celebrate.

So we would call....

It seems like such a simple thing, making a phone call from Varadero to Havana, but it was quite an elaborate operation because the beach house didn't have a phone, so the parental units had to herd us kids to a nearby public phone. There were usually anywhere between 12 and 20 of us varying in ages from toddlers to teenagers.

Here we are at the beach house, Villa Obdulia, all dressed up in some get-ups that our mothers thought were adorable. What a fashion statement! Mini-striped & pleated skirts, colorful sleeveless tops, matching flip-flops and RIDICULOUS Peter Pan hats. If anyone is still thinking that yesterday's Toga thing is weird, as you can see, I come by it honestly. =D   (I'm in the 1st row, 2nd from left)

Back to my story and the phone call to Abuela on her birthday.....

We lined up and marched over to the phone booth and got our instructions:
There were so many of us that we were only allowed to say, "Felicidades, Abuela!" followed by our name.

It was all going beautifully...

"Felicidades, Abuela! Betty."
"Felicidades, Abuela! Miriam."
"Felicidades, Abuela! Lupe."

Perfect choreography. One kid in. One kid out. Next.

"Felicidades, Abuela! Yoly."
"Felicidades, Abuela! Alina."

Eventually, after all the big kids had said their felicidades, it was time for us four year olds...

"Felicidades, Abuela! Regina."
"Felicidades, Abuela! Marta."

At this point, my cousin, Fernando, who was right behind me, was so hyped up, nervous and worried about blowing his line that he breathlessly grabbed the phone and practically shouted:

"Felicidades, Abuela! MARTA!"

This is one of those family anecdotes that lives on and on. We all LOVE this story.
And of course, the line: "Felicidades, Abuela! MARTA!" has now become the stuff of familial legend.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I get an early morning text telling me that my cousin, Maria's daughter, Suzy, just gave birth to a beautiful 8 1/2 lb. baby boy. Suzy is a mother! Maria is a grandmother!! Doubly wonderful!  I called my cousin immediately, and (Yay!) I got to legitimately deliver The Line:

"Felicidades, Abuela! MARTA!"  =D 

I swear. I am so easily entertained.

Welcome Erick Daniel to our big, fat, Cuban family!

When in Rome...

It was a TOGA party we had last night for Adam's birthday.
(And yes, we did a sing along -  to Disney's Hercules)
I dressed in a toga.
I cooked dinner in my toga.
I became quite attached to my toga.
They're very comfortable and I think I look spectacular in RED.
Heck, this might turn out to be our Christmas card picture this year.... (that wouldn't surprise me).

Meanwhile the neighbors are thinking.... "Are the Darbys wearing TOGAS tonight???"
I swear. I'm serious about the Christmas card thing...

I took a moment from the frivolity to go post a recipe at Babalú for Pastel de Pollo.
But I quickly came back here. I wouldn't want to miss the fun!
TOGA!  TOGA!  TOGA!  =D

Helen.... Wheels?

My sister, Helen, has a daughter, whom she named... Helen. I know. It was a totally Cuban thing to name children after their parents back in the day, but that's not important right now.

Technically, she named her Helen del Carmen.
So in order to differentiate between them, the family thing has been to call the younger Helen by her full name: Helen del Carmen.
Ah... but there are so many levels of differentiation.... and you'd think with there now being two Helens in the family there would be no more room for nicknames, but nooooo....

There are times when my sister becomes Big Helen (which she's technically not) and my niece becomes Little Helen - which is a name more appropriate for a circus midget - meaning no disrespect to either Helen del Carmen or to circus midgets.... is it even politically correct to call them midgets anymore?

Ah.... but I digress....

Today is Helen's birthday.

My niece.
Little Helen.
Helen del Carmen.
Helen dC.
Helen Wheels.*
Helen del Taco.
My Disneyland Buddy.

or just Helen del...

Never mind. It's a Cuban thing. ;-)

Happy Birthday, HdC!

(* "Helen Wheels" is a song by Paul McCartney and Wings which is about Paul & Linda's Land Rover which they nicknamed "Hell on Wheels," but that's not important right now, either. =D)

Bilingual in the Bubble

DISCLAIMER: The following post may not be completely understandable to my non-Cuban blog readers. I apologize in advance.
 
I often refer to South Orange County (where we live) as The Bubble. This is white whole-wheat bread capital of So Cal.
I miss my Bilingual in the Boonies friend, Carrie. Unlike my (lovely and fabulous) American friends, Carrie "gets" me and I "get" her in that inimitable Cuban way. In other words we speak the same Spanglish. =D

For example, she didn't bat an eye when I told her that I was not just tired, I was "desmoñingada." (umm... extremely tired). And then she called me "una fiera" (a ferocious beast) and of course, I took that as a compliment. We spent hours "metiendo tremenda muela." (umm... talking... a lot).  She explained some ideas she had about sending my cookbook to Andy Garcia (which we'll discuss in greater detail later, but that's not important right now) and her explanation "me la puso en China" (umm...appeared to create some difficulty for me). There it is. Hours of Spanglish fun for the whole family! That's right, my whole family and hers, too...

Yes, that includes Maria, who knew exactly what to do when my kids yelled "un besito!"

Los extrañamos muchisimo! Too bad you live "en casa de yuca!" (umm...far. =D)

Because fireworks always make me cry (but that's not important right now)...

We're taking the day off, of course.
We'll swim today. It's hot here in Southern California.
Later we're meeting some other families to share food and a picnic at our local lake.
We'll wait until the sun has set and we'll all watch the fireworks together.
Just a typical family celebrating a typical 4th of July.

With one small exception.
When I typically watch 4th of July fireworks, I pray. And I cry.
I know. That sounds so odd doesn't it?

I am grateful to God. Oh, so grateful.
I'm grateful that this country took us in when we were wide-eyed, traumatized Cuban refugees.
I'm grateful and proud to call America my home.
I'm grateful for the freedom we've been afforded here. Something I will never take for granted.
I am grateful for my big, fat, Cuban family and my English husband and my Cuban-American kids, and my wonderful friends.

Those things will run through my mind as I'm watching fireworks.
And so I will pray to God and thank Him for it all.
And I will know I've connected with Him when the tears sting my eyes.

I am grateful to a living God who has a plan for my life and for this country.

So this 4th of July, I will be the uber-geeky, proud and happy Cuban-American celebrating my independence, who weeps while watching the fireworks. (sigh)

And, okay, I might be embarrassed for a moment, but I'll get over it right away. ;-)

Happy Independence Day from the Darby clan!

Cuban-American Pride

Kikita here.  Boy, do I have a story today!

In my many dancing travels, I have made some Cuban friends.  I'm sure I've mentioned them before, but that's not even that important right now.

By some fluke, my friends were playing a venue early in the evening at a place close to their home.  Being that we've become really close (there aren't that many Cubans out here anyway), they are always inviting me over and I just haven't gone.  Well, this night was perfect.  They finished their set early and convinced me to follow them home with promises of homemade Fricase de Pollo.  Loca that I am (and never one to turn down free Cuban food), I went home with them.

Before those of you who consider yourselves my surrogate parents start to freak-out, let me just say that these are all very nice guys who are more protective of me than my own brother and instantly made me feel at home the minute I crossed their threshold.  (And no, their pollo was not as good as Mami's) ;-)

We weren't there two minutes before the music started.  They've been schooling me in newer Cuban artists and I've been teaching them English.  Yes, a hilarious thought, I know, but all of them can now say, "To your right, to your left, and the eyes, with your hands up . . ."

After we ate, we were dancing and enjoying each other's company when I notice one of the boys is sitting at the computer while holding an official looking document in his hand.  As it turns out, he was using an online translator to figure out what the document said.  While my brain is working this out, one of the other boys suggests I do the translating.

Holding that paper in my hands, I realized what a momentous occasion it was.  I felt tugs from my Cuban side as my heart swelled with American pride.

Excitedly, I explained to my friend how his application for permanent residency had been approved.  His Green Card was on its way!  I know how desperate all of my friends had been waiting for their approval letters.  It's been 5 years since they've been back to Cuba and they miss it terribly.  That was when I realized how well I really have it here and how much I take my American side for granted.  I'm always so ready to express my Cuban pride, but rarely the American and here my friend was just dreaming to share that pride with me.

With the 4th of July right around the corner, my friend's good news seems that much more poignant.

You can bet I'll be singing the National Anthem and enjoying fireworks with more pride than I have in years past. 

Because more so this year, I am proud to be a Cuban-American.

dan•ger•ous (adj) - able to inflict injury or harm.

Okay, so now I know just enough to be dangerous.

I've been taking some online classes. Specifically, I'm learning how to scrapbook digitally using Photoshop Elements 6. I'm still just doing the assignments from class, but I'm all proud of myself and I wanted to share....

The journaling is from a blog post I did about a year ago. (journaling my thoughts for later scrapbooking was the reason I started blogging in the first place, but that's not important right now.)

How cool is this?
I'm all stoked and happy now that I know how to create layers so I can pull color out of a picture and I'm going a little loony stamping with those swirly brushes. Seriously, I'm having a blast.

Heck, I'm getting so good at this....
I could Photoshop the bearded dictator into some fun and humiliating poses!

Or...not.

My life and my time are way too valuable.  ;-)