It had been a
long time since I had a family (of sorts) dinner reunion…
-“When
we get to Miami, we will get together with the new In-Law branch… they really want
to meet you…” said my wife, as we were getting into the car, ready for a 12
hour drive.
There
are cultural differences among all our societies, including groups which come
from the, supposedly, same background. It has been said that Latin America is a
compendium of countries divided by a common language; it happens to be (with the exception of Brasil) the same
language for all… Spanish. Each country -and often parts of each country- has its own inflections,
pronunciations, accents, sayings, words of popular misuse… all in all, we
barely get to understand each other.
I
have been away from my country of birth for half a century, time which has been
spent mainly in this US of A, where its mores, customs and culture have been mostly
assimilated by yours truly, putting what was left of my own childhood
background well into the back of my mind and persona … Please understand… I
love my country of birth, Cuba, and its culture… just that after so many years
of being away from this mélange, whenever I find myself submerged in it, it all
tends to be a little overwhelming at times.
We
gesture, we yell, we scream, we embrace, we kiss, we insult each other… we
waive our arms like windmills and this is all while we are simply saying hello…
What comes after is a true tour de force in how to hold 6 conversations at the
same time, on 6 different subjects and every one involved is speaking louder
than the next person… what tends to be troublesome in this scenario, is that
everyone understands the other five people and actually keeps up with whatever
that particular individual is saying…
It’s
actually scary, no???
As
Saturday night wore on, some of the children went into their own version of
screaming … one because the other had something he/she wanted and the other one
because he/she had something the other wanted. And they are both afraid that if
he/she doesn’t scream just a little louder, then the “other” will win out. Confusing? No, not really… I think…
Just
early life training for budding vocal chords…
Our
Caribbean culture is such that we do not stay still, nor do we go gently and
quietly into the night. We are indeed boisterous and loud… yet we can be very
gentle and very loving as well… We can yell into your face… I WILL KILL YOU
UNTII YOU DIE!!!… then cry with you if someone close is hurt… Paradoxes and
contradictions; redundancies, complexities and simplicities, all rolled into
one package.
As
I lived through the night’s get together of these three generations (mine being the oldest… and not necessarily
the quietest!!) mostly enjoying the noise, the decidedly Cuban meal, the
children running upstairs and downstairs, the folks in one room talking (rather
loudly) with folks walking around or in the other room… didn’t make any
difference the receiving party was not there, in front of the talking party… the old time music courtesy of You Tube which
brought on a bit of dancing (no self
respecting Cuban will have his partner at hand and let a good piece of music go
by unattended)… it then came to me that this is really what gave me the
base to become whatever I am today.
Of
course, added to this was a heavy dose of family upbringing… as most of us have
had.
It
comes to me that I don’t really want to be someone else; it is “I” who sits
here and writes these entries. They would not be possible if it was someone
else sitting here at the computer and banging these very keys… different lives,
different experiences, different pains and joys… a different result altogether.
Each
one of us is real and is kind of unique; it is not an issue of better or worse,
just of being different. Learn to enjoy those differences that make you into
who you are… and allow the differences of those around you to enhance your everyday
experiences.
It
is life’s gift to each of us.
Be
Well … Be Back!!!
Final Notes:
- Pray for those who are fighting an illness which
may take them away from their loved ones… Every request is heard, and
counts!!
- Follow us on Twitter … @RJAsPandora
- Any comments please send to otherboxp@yahoo.com
- “La
Otra Caja de Pandora”… The
Spanish language Blog… “otracaja.blogspot.com”
… Bienvenidos!!!
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