Cuban 101

• I grew up in a household where coffee, milk and sugar were part of a balanced breakfast.
• I grew up in a household where my ADD and ADHD was treated with ‘en cuanto te coja te voy a dar una paliza’ instead of Ritalin.*
• I grew up in a household where all it took was just ONE look.
• I grew up in a household where we loved white rice and fried eggs.
• I grew up in a household where lentil soup was considered ‘comida de preso’
• I grew up in a household where Spanish was my primary language.
• I grew up in a household where Spanish was my only language…

• I grew up in household where I had to go to my school open house to translate for my parents.
• I grew up in a household where my brother and I shared a room until I was fifteen.
• I grew up in a household where music or TV was never played on Good Friday.
• I grew up in a household where we ate ‘bacalao’ on Good Friday because all other fish was too expensive.
• I grew up in household where we ate ‘lechon’ at Thanksgiving.
• I grew up in a household where we ate ‘lechon’ at Nochebuena.
• I grew up in a household where we ate ‘lechon’ at birthday parties. Come to think of it, I grew up in a household where we ate ‘lechon’ at Every social function.
• I grew up in a household where Tilo and Manzanilla were the remedies to end all ailments.
• I grew up in a household where I cou ld have cafe con leche for breakfast but I was too young for a buchito de cafe.
• I grew up in a household where we watched la novela while we were having dinner.
• I grew up in a household where I was not allowed to sleepover at anybody’s house but they could all come over to our house.
• I grew up i n a household where we didn’t need El Cable because we only watched El Canal 23 (Spanish TV Miami).
• I grew up in a household where the carpool was ‘el ride’, ‘el carrito’ was the lunchman y ‘la lonchera’ was the lunch box.
• I grew up in a household where ‘la carne’ was from ‘la carniceria’ and the groceries were from ‘la bodega’.
• I grew up in a household where meat and potatoes were literally ‘carne con papas.’
• I grew up in a household where oxtail stew had the colorful name of ‘rabo encendido’ or a fiery tail.
• I grew up in a household where people were either ‘blanco, Negro, indio o chino.’
• I grew up in a household where we drank Bustelo because El Pico was for Puerto Ricans.
• I grew up in a household where we ate ‘frijoles negros y colorados ‘, many times burned to a crisp by and exploding in la ‘olla de Presion’!
• I grew up in a household where the oven was used exclusively to store ‘Las cazuelas’ and the oil.
• I grew up in a household where ‘Los perros’ was the dog track, ‘Las Maquinitas’ were slot machines and ‘el juego’ was anything related to Gambling.
• I grew up in a household ran by Cubans.
• I survived in that household ran by Cubans.
• And I’m proud of it!!!
• Darn, it’s great to be CUBAN!