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MARIO J. TORRES
The Price of the chosen
ones
Part 1
Leaving one's country for good may seem like a simple thing in theory, like
moving to another house or visiting a friend but there is nothing more
distant from the truth than this belief because it implies for good or bad,
a total and sudden modification of all lifestyles represented materially
with brusque changes in:
Weather:
Mostly for the ones forced to travel north of Miami, cold weather and snow
are bad and disappointing companions for people who come from a very hot and
tropical country in which there is practically no winter and many never get
used to cold temperatures. In these cases, and also influenced by other
factors, a second desire of migration appears: that of moving to Miami to
look for a warmer climate. Many families succeed in this adventure but some
others have had to return to where they left because they have either found
higher rents or no jobs in Miami. This cold weather also contributes to the
beginning of a feeling of isolation and depression which is strengthened by
other factors.
Language:
Not everyone is able to learn English accurately and lack of proper
communication becomes a great barrier for an adequate adaptation and
settling. Many good jobs are lost for not knowing the language and many
confusions have arisen in reading bills, making decisions, buying a house or
a car, buying grocery, reading signs, getting directions, talking on the
phone, going to the doctor, communicating with co-workers, with their
children's school teachers, following work instructions for a better job
accomplishment and in every single act of human activity. These language
issues are sometimes decisive in the progress or failure of a family in the
new country and also on its adaptation into the new society.
Food:
Cuban food, unlike Mexican, is far from resembling American food, so in
cities other than Miami, even though immigrants are well fed and nurtured,
they long for types of food, spices and drinks including beer, rum and
coffee that do not exist in those latitudes or have a totally different
taste. In these cases immigrants feel that their goal in looking for what
they lost in Cuba is only partly achieved and there are Cubans workers in
the US that have sometimes preferred to fast than to eat foods with strange
tastes for them
Traditions and holidays:
Holidays, apart from also affecting newcomers, confuse them and get them
lost in their new world. Some of them like Thanksgiving do not exist in
their country but others like Easter and Christmas are celebrated
differently in each country. Easter, called Holy Week in the very religious
and catholic Spanish culture is a reason for mourning, prayer and grief for
the death of Jesus Christ and although this change only arises confusion and
nothing else, Hispanics do not have the bunny or egg-hunt tradition nor that
of gifts for Easter and some do not understand why it is celebrated in this
way.
Christmas, for example is celebrated on its eve in Spanish countries and in
Cuba roast pork spun in a rod in the open is the tradition. Live pigs are
not easy to get in northern states, the meat is different due to a different
feeding system and what it worse, cold weather does not allow the meat to
properly roast. In supermarkets pork is either smoked or prepared for ham.
Many Cubans who dreamed of celebrating Christmas again the way they did it
before Castro can't do it here either. Spanish people have many celebrations
on the street like carnivals where people dance, sing, drink and eat in open
areas and sadly most of these traditions are lost due to lack of conditions
or opposite traditions in the new land.
Something else banned by Castro and that Cubans thought they would encounter
in the US but they did not is the The Three Wise Men or Magic Kings Day for
children equivalent to the American Santa but in the Spanish culture this
day devoted to give children gifts is celebrated on January 6th and in the
US it is together with Christmas so it is hard in another land to
reconstruct or find things people longed for and all this brings about great
frustrations.
Religion:
Spanish religion is mostly catholic and Cuban trends are mostly voodoo-like
with a basis on African saints. There are some people who have even got used
to curing themselves from diseases by going to see voodoo psychics who
either prescribe herbal medicine, heal them with water and signs of the
cross, tell them what saint to conjure to scare evil or bad spirits, or
foretell their future . This trend has been even more stimulated by the
scarcity of medication due to Castro's rule. In the US, on the contrary,
none of this is going to be found and believers will have to either forget
about their beliefs or consult with their psychics in the island. Catholic
believers will also have a tough time in finding a catholic church among so
many baptist ones and what is more difficult, find service in Spanish. For
these reasons, many believers have get used to the habit of worshipping God
from their homes.
Behavior due to Culture and Idiosyncrasy:
Cuban people are happy, easy-going, talkative and noisy people with a great
sense of humor who easily break social ice or distance in making friends
quickly; going beyond the limit of confidence and warmth when they meet
someone. Although they are polite, social relations, ways of introducing
people, manners, values, the very sense of humor, and even gestures and
facial expressions that convey meaning are in many ways completely different
from the American style and sometimes they can be the opposite. A joke that
could make an American laugh may not work with a Cuban or vice versa
Hand gestures that convey phrases like COME HERE, DRINK, GO AWAY etc can be
expressed in different ways in the two cultures. Topics of preferences will
not always be the same either.
Other general lifestyle habits are broken, changed or completely new ones
need to be incorporated like: mowing your lawn regularly, strict garbage
disposal in bags on given days, no pets outdoors and their sanitation,
license and doctor exams, no drinking outdoors, using vacuum cleaners, use
of the mail to pay bills, the sorting out of ads from bills and important
documents in the mail and many others.
Youngsters who brought behavior features associated with their native
language and culture, in many cases develop mixed values from both
environments which in many cases can be considered as stray or artificial
where they can switch to ways of conduct, reactions or body language from
one culture to the other with no defined identity. Even, their conversations
may be characterized by changing from one language to the other and
sometimes it could be said they have two homelands or that they have none.
Sports:
Cubans love baseball and also boxing and the former can be a topic of
conversation in any family reunion, mostly among men. In sports, two things
usually happen. The first one is that in the US, football and basketball are
more widespread and popular than baseball and the other is that MLB,
although with a high quality, will be almost meaningless or with no names or
"flags" known to a Cuban fan used to familiar players or teams . MLB
sometimes will not replace the baseball Cubans watched in the island and
adaptation will have to play an important role here.
Technology:
Maybe this can be the most striking and different factor in this group. The
numbers of technologically advanced things, of all kinds, that Cubans need
to learn when they arrive in the US in undoubtedly amazing. An ATM can be a
frightening and intriguing machine when it is seen for the first time, as
well as driving an automatic car, getting familiar with handling a computer
and with computerized systems everywhere, with the phone, its answering
machines, caller IDs and computer responses, the swiping of credit and debit
cards, camcorders, VCRs, DVDs, remote controls, e-mails, all the "on-line"
things, cell phones and other modern devices that Americans had time to get
used to but in Cubans' case it all came all of a sudden just with flying 90
miles north.
The use of banks and its necessary bank accounts, employers' pay via
paychecks to be cashed or deposited in banks, the control of bills paid, the
payments with checks and budget balance to avoid overdrafts are new things
not practiced in Cuba.
( to be continued)
MARIO J TORRES
FEBRUARY 2004
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