Dos cubanas muy especiales

 Today I printed my photos from Cuba Nostalgia so I could start my Cuba Nostalgia scrapbook and I began to think, for about the 10th time this week, how lucky I was to have been able to go to Miami last week and to meet people who I had never met before but who treated me as if I had. I almost feel like posting a daily "Special Cuban" feature but that would be a full-time job to feature everyone.

So, I'll talk about two for now, at the risk of embarrassing them (lo siento!) because they have been in my thoughts all week. I already posted last week about meeting Maggie, the sweet and adorable wife of Val Prieto of Babalublog and how she greeted me and took me by the arm as if we were old friends. She introduced me to everyone she stopped to talk to and told them who I was ("This is Claudia, she writes for Babalú.") Maggie gave me a very special gift to remember her by. How I lived without these for all these years I do not know, but they are indispensable. When I got back to my hotel at about 11:30, she texted me to see if I had made it back ok.  When I didn't go to Nostalgia the next day she called to see if I was alright, because I said I was going to be there.  This was a woman who had met me not even 24 hours earlier.  I was touched.

The other amazing Cubana I met for the first time was Marta Darby, whose blog, www.mybigfatcubanfamily.com is one of my favorites. Although I had been emailing with Marta since last year once we realized that we were both scrapbookers, I was unprepared for a tearful first meeting. (I'm such a girl). It was a fun, educational, entertaining and slightly mischievious seven hours I spent with her.

Marta supervised my dinner order, introduced me to Masa Real de guava and helped me order coffee. Sounds simple, I know, but I have never ordered Cuban coffee, in Spanish especially, and except for the occasional 4 successive cups of Cuban coffee in a row I drink at home, I don't ever order coffee of any kind when I'm out, in English or Spanish. So, I ordered it by taking the easy way out in spite of Marta's help, by saying "Quisiera exactamente lo que tiene ella," ("I'd like exactly what she has,") referring to her daughter's coffee which I seemed to have a problem figuring the proper term for- cortadito, bonbon, café cubano, café con leche, colada, quééé??? One of the ladies behind the counter asked me what part of Cuba I was from. ¿?¿? Ummm, the Philadelphia part? Then, because I'm a little slow, it ocurred to me that HELLO, this question was perfectly logical, because why else would I be at Cuba Nostalgia wearing a "Got Cuba?" shirt, drinking café and speaking Spanish?  

But back to Marta, she not only supervised my culinary adventure, but she explained things to me like the number "22,"made me a "cubanita de corazón" t-shirt, and shed some tears with me while we watched the viejitos dance. When I bombarded her with cubanía questions, she happily provided me answers. I also somehow got embroiled in accosting a Univisión show host with her when her celebrity radar started beeping. (Read Marta's account HERE.)

I am very lucky to have met these two special ladies who treated me so well.  Gracias, chicas, from the cubanita de corazón.

Comments

[Marta]

Wow, Claudia.

Me dejaste sin palabras. I am starting to sound like a broken record, but I feel like I've known you forever. And hanging with you at Cuba Nostalgia was a blast!
I think our next adventure should be a CKU together - what do you think??

Muchos Besotes,
Marta

(P.S. I love Maggie, too. =D)

[Claudia]

Marta! I never even THOUGHT about CKU. How much fun would that be? I went to one a few years ago, but not since.. Just name the place!