Working on that Christmas video and sorting through my pictures gives me a total "Now and Then" perspective. Because I'm a scrapbooker, I write my journaling stories more about relationships, than I do events. Although, I'm all about chronicling events, too. I love seeing relationships evolve in my photos. I love documenting ...
Cuban-American Life
I hope you enjoy my posts about my crazy and wonderful Cuban-American life.
Y 2 Que?
In 1979, after President Jimmy Carter opened up travel between the U.S. & Cuba, I had a cousin go to Cuba to visit family.She brought back the most amazing treasure for us: A suitcase full of our family pictures. This is going to sound odd to some, but I was 24 years old and had never, before that moment, seen baby pictures of myself. ...
Cuban Christmas Math – 12 days plus 3 Kings?
It is the day after Thanksgiving. I know there is a frenzy of activity in many homes already decorating for Christmas. Ours is not one of those. Growing up Cuban means we celebrate Christmas Eve - Noche Buena. In our home, we always waited to put up our tree until December 24th. That was always part of the celebration. We ...
Japi Sanguibin (Happy Thanksgiving)
Happy Thanksgiving. My tables are set and awaiting the family tomorrow. We only have 26 because not everyone can come. I realize a beat too late when I tell people this that they think I am joking. Only 26 - ha! Being Cuban Americans, we appreciate that Thanksgiving is a holiday unique to this country. When we first started joining in ...
Bet you didn’t know…
I've got my mom with me this weekend. That means, of course, that I'm cooking Cuban. Preparing for Thanksgiving next week and looking forward to Noche Buena next month got me thinking of pork. (That last statement totally makes sense to Cuban Americans.) So I've got pork chops in the crock-pot slow cooking in mojo. As they cook, ...
Pretty Fly for a White Guy
He took the salsa lessons because he knows how much I love to dance - it was his idea. Not only did he take the lessons, he took me to dinner (Cuban food, what else?) and then dancing. Like a real "old school" date. This particular Cuban restaurant is in Huntington Beach. It's called Habana Cabana. On Fridays & Saturdays ...
Keep away from Runaround Sue…
Adam is looking for the guitar tabs for a song he heard earlier. So, he asks this question: "Mom, have you ever heard this song?" Usually it's an older rock and roll song. I refrain from saying what I'm thinking out loud, which is, "Adam, I'm a card-carrying Baby Boomer. If it's from the last 50 years, it's part of the soundtrack of ...
ABC…easy as…1,2,3….
Cubans are superstitious people. This must be more of a cultural phenomenon. Because my mom is a devout Christian. Until something comes up involving numbers. I'm willing to bet most Cuban-Americans know this in some form or other. I don't think I dwell too much on it. But every now and then I have a conversation with my mom who pulls out a ...
Must. Have. Cuban. Food.
There are 3 Cuban restaurants in Orange County.THREE.I might have mentioned this before. This is one of the reasons we cook Cuban so much. Mission Viejo is so NOT Miami. But we have adapted. Travel time to each one is at least 45 minutes to an hour for us, not counting traffic. And there is always traffic. I know. That sounded a little whiny. Our ...
Language Barrier
I am "dug in" in so many ways. I like things just a certain way. I know my preferences. I know what I want to do and for the most part, I do things my way. But today I encountered a language barrier. It didn't start that way. I was just trying to be efficient and then sort of hit a wall. When I was growing up and learning to read and ...
