Marta here: Most Cubans are familiar with Santayana Jewelers. They are a mainstay of the Cuban exile community in Miami. I'm delighted that Elena Santayana has graciously agreed to share her family's stories. Her memories of growing up Santayana are both hilarious and poignant. (Translations to her Cubanisms are marked with a red * and are at the ...
Cuando Sali de Cuba
Habana Brand Clothing – The Winners!
I hope you've been enjoying all the "Cuando Sali de Cuba" stories from the various contributors. I know I certainly have. I always tell people that there are as many amazing escape-from-the-island stories as there are Cubans in the U.S. Thanks for proving my point. I'll be sharing more stories in this space in the coming ...
Cuando Sali de Cuba – Roland’s Story
Marta here: This story is really about Roland's mother. I love how totally genious she was in preparing her young son to leave Cuba at any given moment. as told to Lucy Vega In 1966, little Roly Vega was just 4 years old, born in Habana and living in Camajuani, Las Villas in Cuba. Castro had been in control of Cuba for over 5 years and his ...
Cuando Sali de Cuba – Estrella’s Story
Marta here: Estrella was 10 years old and part of the historic Mariel Boatlift which happened 32 years ago and brought more than 125,000 (!) Cubans to America's shore and to freedom.Mariel: Remembering the Boatlift By Estrella Diaz-Quibus My parents and I were part of the Mariel boatlift, where hundreds of thousands of Cubans ...
Cuando Sali de Cuba – Carmen’s Story
Marta here: Carmen tells a beautiful story about her family's many and painful losses after the Cuban Revolution and about their personal triumphs here in America. (Get tissues.)by Carmen McPherson I was born on July 23, 1960 in Santiago, on the beautiful island of Cuba. My parents were born and raised in Cuba. My father had attended ...
Cuando Sali de Cuba – Henry’s Story
Marta here: Today's entry in my continuing series of "coming to America" stories contributed by readers, Henry tells about his family, who are proud Americans with Cuban roots and his memories of growing up Cuban in Little Havana in the 70's.by Henry J. CelorioI was born in Miami, but my family was from Cuba. My mom and ...
Cuando Sali de Cuba – “El Gallito” – Theresa’s story
Marta here: I'm celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: Cuban-Style with a series of stories about Cuban American families: Cuando Sali de Cuba, stories of courage and hope. This is a short story by Theresa Cecilia Garcia Trilla (Theresa C. Newbill) submitted by Isabelle Ann Newbill. El Gallito (The Rooster)"El Gallito" is a ...
Cuando Sali de Cuba – stories of Courage and Hope
Every year around this time, I start to get requests for a story or a recipe to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. It struck me that it would be fitting during this month of heritage celebration to tell the stories of Cubans who had to flee their island home to make a new life here in the U.S. So, I put out the request to my readers and you have ...
The Best of MBFCF in 2011
It's that time of year when I look back and see what has transpired in my life this past year. And it's moments like this when I realize how grateful I am that I started blogging. Here's a time capsule look back at 2011 - MBFCF style. I also did this for 2010 and 2009 and I'm so glad I did. It's quite a compilation of ...
Cuando Sali de Cuba – Luis Felipe’s Story
Marta here. I started this series, Cuando Sali de Cuba, Stories of Courage and Hope in order to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month: Cuban-Style. I asked my readers to send me their stories about how their families left Cuba and how they ended up here in the U.S. As the stories began pouring in, I realized that this needed to be an ongoing series. ...
