Authors: Isadora Tattlin
The U.S. embargo, though softened, continues. The United States has approved Cuban purchases of medicine and food from the United States, but Cuba is still denied access to the loans necessary to buy them. A recent shipment of corn from the United States to Cubaâthe first since the beginning of
the U.S. embargoâwas paid for by Cuba in cash. Though there has been a clampdown by the United States on its citizens' making unauthorized trips to Cuba, there has been, at the same time, a broader definition of authorized trips and greater facilitation of travel to Cuba. The hurdles set before Cubans wishing to travel outside of their country remain very high.
Cuban history, like the history of most states, is a time line riddled with brackets: brackets within brackets, and brackets that overlap. Simply stated, the brackets mark times in which unexpected things happen. What makes Cuban history different even from the history of other Latin American countries is the extent to which magical realism is allowed to become part of its timeline, both within and outside its brackets of unexpectedness.
Without a doubt, the most distinct bracket of time since we left Cuba has been the Elián González period, when Cubans on both sides of the Straits of Florida fought over the fate of one little boy. The case might have been concluded quickly had it not been for the seemingly miraculous circumstances of the boy's survival. Elián came to be equated with La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre herself, with Moses, with Elegguá, the opener of roads (who is often portrayed as a child), and with the child-savior of Ifa (one of the five branches of Santeria) oracles, who, it was predicted, would arrive by sea. As if that were not enough, Elián was also found on Thanksgiving Day. And so the figure of Elián manages to be syncretic not only in an Afro-Cuban sense but also in an
Afro-Cuban-yanqui
sense, hitherto unheard of.
Since Cuba has repossessed Elián, the leadership of the Cuban-American National Foundation has been replaced by a more moderate, younger generation. And on September 12, 2001, Raúl Castro presided over a rally of “solidarity with the American people over the tragedy they are living through.” Manipulations aside, the fact is that Elián is growing up with his one remaining parent in his native land. His future there becomes harder to imagine every day. Still, one cannot have lived in Cuba without being affected by magical realism oneself, without believing it a distinct possibility that Elián, growing up, will experience more miracles. And maybe they won't even have to be miracles.
February 2002
agua mala:
“bad water,” microorganisms in the sea that cause raised welts on the skin of sea bathers
agro, agropecuario:
fruit, vegetable, lamb, and pork market
apagón:
blackout
babalao:
Santeria priest
balsa:
raft
balsero:
rafter
barrio:
neighborhood
blumes:
underpants
bodega: neighborhood food store where Cubans shop, using ration cards
bohio:
hut
boniato:
sweet potato
El Caballo: the Horse, another name for Fidel Castro
caoba: Cuban mahogany
cáscara de toronja:
grapefruit rind that has been boiled, then pressed under a weight, in syrup
CDR: Committee for the Defense of the Revolution
chica, chico:
girl, boy
chicharrones:
pork cracklings
La China: the Chinese Woman, another name for Raúl Castro
chino:
“Chink,” “Chinaman”
Cohiba: the best brand of cigars
compañero:
comrade
conseguir:
to achieve, obtain, get
coprocultivo:
bacterial culture grown from a stool sample
Cubalse: state-run monopoly for construction, the distribution of construction and household materials, and the providing of employees to foreign entities, among other activities
cucurucho:
sweet made of coconut, sugar, and almonds
cuentapropista:
self-employed worker
Diplo, Diplomercado: Diplomarket, the largest and most well supplied dollars-only supermarket in Havana
dulce de coco:
coconut sweet
duro:
hard-line
un duro:
a hard-liner
El: Him, another name for Fidel Castro
Elegguá: a Santeria saint who is “an opener of roads”
ensalada de espan:
SPAM salad
escabeche:
fillets of
serrucho
, a type of fish, breaded and fried with onions, then pressed under a weight, in vinegar, for a week
fula:
dollar
gallego:
Galician, from the province of Galicia in Spain
guajira, guajiro:
farmer or country person
hijos de puta:
sons of a whore
jamon biki:
a salami-shaped ham made of many parts of the pig
jine:
short for
jinetera;
also, of or pertaining to a
jinetera
, as in
jinewear jinetera, jinetero:
semiprofessional female or male prostitute
judias:
literally “Jews;” white beans
loca, loco:
crazy
majá:
small boa constrictor native to Cuba
malanga: an edible tuber
maricón:
“faggot”
mariquitas:
green bananas sliced thin, then fried like potato chips; also, “little faggots”
mojito:
cocktail consisting of light rum, dark rum, lime juice, sugar, and crushed mint
mojo:
garlic sauce
mulata, mulato:
mulatta, mulatto
muestra:
stool sample
un negro:
a black person, a negro, a “nigger”
un negrito:
a little black person, a little negro, a little “nigger”
El Niño:
the Child or the Kid, another name for Fidel Castro
nomenklatura:
the Communist leadership
oriental, orientales:
oriental, orientals, meaning Cubans originating from anywhere east of Camagüey; also known as
palestinos
panatela de Boston crema:
Boston cream pie
panqué:
pancake
paredón:
a wall against which people were executed
periodo especial:
special period, short for “special period in time of peace,” the time in Cuban history following the withdrawal of aid from the Soviet Union, in which Cubans were asked to endure shortages and inconveniences for the sake of the survival of the socialist revolution while the government adjusted to new realities
perros calientes:
hot dogs
permutar:
to exchange houses or apartments
picua:
a fish that is often toxic
la pincha; pinchar:
work; to work
plátano:
banana
plátanos verdes:
green (nonsweet) bananas
P.P.G.: pronounced
pe pe hay
, an anti-impotence drug
puros:
cigars
quedarse:
to stay, meaning in Cuba “to go to another country and stay there;”
se quedó en el exterior
means “he stayed abroad”
resolver:
to resolve (a problem), also meaning in Cuba to find goods and take possession of them, to settle an issue with the bureaucracy
ron:
rum
ron añejo:
rum aged more than seven years
rumbera:
female rumba dancer; also, a folklorically dressed Cuban woman, in long, flounced skirt, white cotton or lace puffy-sleeved off-the-shoulder blouse, and head kerchief, sometimes seen smoking a cigar
El Señor: the Mister, the Sir, or the Lord, another name for Fidel Castro
serrucho:
a fish
tostones:
green bananas that are fried, then flattened
el triunfo:
short for “the triumph of the revolution”
vieja, viejo:
old
yucas rellenas:
mashed yuccas stuffed with meat, rolled in bread crumbs, and deep-fried
La Yuma:
the United States
yuca:
an edible tuber
The Tattlin Family
Isadora, the narrator
Nick, her husband
Thea, their daughter
Jimmie, their son
Sam, Isadora's brother
The Help
Concha, the downstairs maid
Danila, the upstairs maid
Estrella, the laundress
José, the driver
Lorena, the cook
Manuel, the butler
Miguel, the gardener
Roberto, the driver for guests and errand boy
The Nannies
Juana, the Cuban nanny, who joined the family later and left with them
Muna, the Bangladeshi nanny, who came with the family but left for home early
Instructors
Carlita, the swimming instructor
Gonzalo, who replaced Carlita as the swimming instructor
Lety, the gymnastics instructor
Mrs. Fleites, a teacher at the children's school
Olga, the Spanish instructor
Doctors
Millares Cao, the specialist in skin diseases
Maria del Carmen, the psychologist
Yamila Lawton, the allergist
Silvia, the pediatrician
Cuban Officials
(some no longer in office at the time of this writing)
Fidel Castro, president
Raúl Castro, his brother, vice president, and head of the armed forces
Alfredo Guevara (no relation to Che), head of the Instituto Cubano del Arte y de la Industria Cinematográfica (ICAIC), or Cuban Film Institute
Eusebio Leal, historian of the city of Havana and founder and president of Habaguanex, a corporation dedicated to the restoration of Old Havana
Maida, a Bienes Culturales employee
Nestor, a Customs agent
Orestes, a plainclothesman in Havana
Piñeiro, aka Barbaroja (Redbeard), former head of Cuban intelligence
Rigoberto, head of the Consejo Popular in Pinar del RÃo
Cuban Artists, Writers, Musicians, and Intelligentsia
(see also
Survivors
)
Natalia Bolivar Arostegui, a former teenage revolutionary, now an anthropologist, writer, and expert on Santeria
Saidel Brito, an artist Alexis Esquivel, an artist
Reynaldo González, a writer and director of Cineteca, or the Cuban Film Archives
Kcho, an artist
Dulce MarÃa Loynaz, Cuba's greatest living lyric poet
Meira, Ãngel Toirac's wife, a writer and poetess
Antonio Nuñez, an artist
Oliva, an artist in Pinar del RÃo
YeYe Perez, a professional blackface actor
Zenaida Castro Romeu, the conductor of Camerata Romeu
Lázaro Saavedra, an artist
Esterio Segura, an artist
Ãngel Toirac, an artist
Other Cuban Friends and Acquaintances
(see also
Survivors
)
Alfonse, aka El Ingles
Aurora, a book dealer
Báez, an official Cuban journalist
Barbara, aka our Elegguá, an unofficial guide who also works at Nick's firm
Lilian and Saida Carrera, two very old sisters living in the Vedado area
Eddie, Reynaldo Gonzalez's boyfriend
El Viejo Loco, an antique dealer
Nelson Figueroa, an architect living in Baracoa
Flora, Ladisel's wife
Gloria, an artisan living in Baracoa
Ivan, an employee at Nick's firm
Jaime, a gay friend
Ladisel, a tour guide in Cienfuegos and Varadero
Lola, an enterprising, voluble friend
Reny, a cultural liaison
Davide, an architect, uncle of Carlita
Naty Revuelta, Fidel's ex-lover and the mother of his only daughter, Alina
Bibi Sebaya, an original resident of the Country Club area
Sergio, an Argentinean tour guide in Pinar del RÃo
Tomás, a lawyer living in Baracoa
Usnavy, a friend of Aurora's
Arquitecto Vasquez, an architect who runs a gallery-cum-
paladar
Foreign Friends and Acquaintances
Alex, a diplomat
Bernard, Nick's second assistant
Carey, the Italian ambassador's American wife
Fritz, Nick's first assistant
Ana MarÃa Guevara, Che's stepmother
Mike Kozak, principal officer of the U.S. Special Interests Section, the de facto U.S. ambassador; Sullivan was his predecessor
Lorna, an American, the ex-wife of Piñeiro (see
Cuban Officials
)
Marianne, a Canadian friend
Mark, an American anchorman who comes to Cuba on two occasions, the second time to cover the pope's visit
Nicoletta, half-Xââian, half-Cuban, sent to Cuba by a Swedish firm
Querido Vecino!, the Tattlins' neighbor Rolf, Danish cultural attaché