The first thing I remember about the apartment was the elevator. As you would go in the front door of the apartment house there was an old fashioned elevator. It looked like a cage and had buttons that you could press to go to the floor you needed to go to. You could see right through the doors. The stairs would go around the elevator shaft. You could always see the elevator, no matter what floor you were on. The one pictured is somewhat fancier than the one I remember but it was essentially the same style. We were not allowed to operate the elevator. You had to be at least 15 years old to operate it. Carlos and I got caught once operating it and the guy was very angry. He actually took us back to the apartment and scolded us. My dad pretended to be upset although I know he really was not. Actually I think he was kind of proud
of us. I vaguely remember my grandfather scolding us too. He may have been more upset, or a better actor.The apartment was fairly large. To the left of the entrance was the dining room. To the right was a kitchen and there was a phone on the wall. There was another room which we essentially used as a family room. The most intriguing thing about the apartment (which I believe was on the fifth floor) was the bunk bed. We had never really seen one before. Mom and Dad and abuela and abuelo had their own rooms. Mom and dad shared their room with the youngest siblings. The kitchen was large, a lot larger than the ones I was used to. They had large sinks. I think it doubled as a laundry room of some type. I also found it interesting that you could drink water from the faucet. It was already cold. I do not know why.
We must have been close to the center of town since when we walked around the neighborhood there were stores around us. We would look around and see all of the new things we had never seen before. I remember getting out the door of the apartment house and turning left and th
ere was a sign of a store which said Renault. I knew we were home when I saw that sign on the wall. I kept thinking, what a funny word. Renault. Carlos and I would talk about how it was pronounced. Every time I hear an ad for the Renault automobile company I remember the exit to our apartment. Amazingly on my honeymoon I stayed next to a place with essentially the same sign on the left. Where we stayed was also very tourist oriented. All around us there were stores which sold things tourists would buy. I would always look at some the items and was dying to buy them. Whenever I go to Epcot center I see some the things I would also see then. These included mini sword kits and shields. Most of them were actually letter openers but I did not know that then.In Spain we had to get used to a few things. For one thing we had different types of food. Actually we had food. Lunch time was amazing. Abuela Maximina and I presume mom would make steaks for lunch. I remember sitting at the table just waiting for them to say we could start eating. The steaks were placed on a large plate in the middle of the table. They would say we could begin and Bammm. The steaks were great. You can imagine after a few years of “potaje” every day. You had to be fast though. And I was fast. Turi was a little slow. I think they were loaded with “naranja agria”. I can still savor these steaks. They tasted like “vaca frita”. Since mom and dad did not have jobs we had to somehow obtain clothes. They did, I believe, from local charities. They might have had some kind of Cuban refugee program arrangement over in Spain. Cuban immigrants were stopping there to go to Miami all the time. We would wait and they would try to fit us with clothes. I was kind of a hard fit so I always hated going to get the clothes. We never did lack anything.
When abuelo and dad left the airport in Cuba the milicianos took their watches. At that time watches were very expensive. If you bought a cheap watch you could pretty much guarantee that it would tell the correct time only twice a day. So we discovered that there was a number you could call in Madrid and they would tell you the time. It was a three digit number but I have since forgotten what the number was. So every day, whenever we would be curious about the time we would dial the time number. It was the only way to tell time in the house. Until…the phone bill came in…. Apparently there was a charge for this service. We did not know this. We had the most expensive phone bill…... Abuelo was really upset. At least that is what I was told. He never seemed that upset to me. The next day Abuelo bought a watch.
At first we were really bored in Spain so dad rented a black and white Televi
sion set. It is not that Spain was bad but we were used to wandering all around the neighborhood in Cuba. We knew all the neighbors. There was not traffic outside. Sort of like it is at home right now. In Spain the apartment house emptied into a major thoroughfare and we had to walk down five floors so we really could not go out by ourselves. With the TV set we were able to watch great shows like “El show de Dick Van Dyke” and “Lucy” and “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “ La Familia Munster”. These were all dubbed in Spanish. These were a lot better than the only show we could watch in Cuba “Cachucha y Ramon” I was surprised that they had different episodes of these shows. We seemed to always catch the same episode of “Cachucha y Ramon”.
We also watched tennis. “La copa Davis” was being played and the Americans were coming to town. We all watched the matches. Dad said that los Americanos were going to win. They all had really short haircuts. They looked like Marines. We were all rooting for them. We fully expected them to win. Actually, the Spaniards won. They had a guy named Manolo Santana who beat them all and later won the Wimbledon Championship. He became a national hero. We were really disappointed. Manolo Santana is pictured.We spent a lot of the afternoons watching the bullfights. We actually grew to appreciate it although I am now thankful the tv set was in black and white. I do not think I would have appreciated it if I had seen how bloody it was. When watching a “corrida” Carlos and I could actually predict when the “rejoneadores” (horse mounted bullfighters) were coming in or when the “picadors” would put in the “banderillas” to weaken the bulls. We could even predict when the “matador” would hide the “espada” behind the capote before coming in for the kill. Now it just seems gross.
Mom talked to me about this type of play that abuela and her family would like to watch. It was called opera. I kept trying to watch it. It was horrible. I could not bear it. I would keep changing channels and the same horrible people singing horrid music was still on. Mom kept saying that it
was hard to appreciate it. I agreed.We spent a lot of time with mom and dad. They were very concerned about us and our education so they divided their labors. Mom concentrated on math and dad concentrated on English lessons. Mom would make us do the times tables and would show us how to multiply and divide. It was a hassle but Carlos and I became rather good at it. Carlos and I never went to school in Cuba. Once you were in the school system you were indoctrinated into the Revolutionary way of life. They would constantly say how great Castro was and belittle religion. They would try to spy o the parents by listening to what the children would be saying. At the age of 12 you had to go to military service. For these reasons we had a tutor who would come in once or twice a week for one hour and would teach us. We learned about Los Indios Taino y Los Indios Siboney. We learned some geography and mathematics. We also learned about this lady’s headaches. The first 15 minutes were spent on small talk which would then give me a headache. I did not mind since the more time they spent speaking to this lady, the less time she had to teach us. I did learn the meaning of migraine (migrana). Dad’s English lessons also proved very useful. He had an English book which was for children, (I can just picture him buying it somewhere) He lay down in bed and Carlos and I were on each side. I think turi was left out of it but I really am not sure. He was younger and I do not think he could read. We were in the bottom bunk of the bunk bed. He taught us a few sentences. The only thing I remember is the word “have” (it was on the first page). It means “tener”. I have a book – yo tengo un libro. I have a shirt – yo tengo una camisa. I was thinking “ya soy Americano”. These lessons became invaluable. When we arrived in the United States me and Carlos were placed in the same class. Carlos was in the fourth grade and I was in the third grade. Mrs. Lecours gave us an assignment. The assignment was to write ten sentences (in English) and the class could not leave until these were done. I did not know what a sentence was; let alone one in English. Class was dismissed at 3:00 pm. It was four pm and only Carlos and I were left. I asked Carlos in Spanish “Cuantas oraciones tienes tu?” He said “2”. My first one was I have a book. So was his. My second one was something similar. I forgot what his was. I knew another noun. It was tree. I did not think I could use the sentence “I have a tree.” I do not know how we actually got home that day. When we did get home mom asked me if I had any homework. I did. I realized how worried mom was when at first she thought I did not understand it. I think I finally did. I will always treasure how both mom and dad tried to teach us so we would not be behind in school. The next day Carlos was transferred to Citrus Grove elementary because he qualified for an intensive English program. I was left at Coral Way elementary with Mrs Lecours because I was too young to benefit for the program. I was really upset we were separated. In hindsight it was probably good for us since it forced us to talk to other children. I really was upset though.
Very often dad would take us to the movies. I was kind of disoriented since we entered the movie theater from the front right beside the screen. I looked at a crowd all looking at something behind me. Then I turned around and I saw the projection. I had never gone to the movies before and kept looking back at the projector and the little dust particles that form in front of the projecting lens. Dad kept remembering Robert and Teresa who all of us were looking forward to see. He would actually rent a space in the theater in Cuba to place a bed for Robert to lie on while watching the movie, since he was in a full body cast. He would tell us about it, and how he would enjoy certain movies. The first movie we saw was a picture called “Un marciano en California” with Jerry Lewis. (you have to pronounce it “Jerry Laywis) We thought he was the greatest. Dad explained to us that Jerry Laywis” had a partner named Dean Martin who was not as funny but together they were very funny. They had recently had a fight however and split up. We kept going to the movies to watch Jerry Laywis movies all the time. These were all dubbed in Spanish. We also watched a lot of Viking type movies. I do not think dad liked these. He just wanted to get us out of the house. He felt guilty that we were stuck in
the apartment all day. We watched a lot of double features. We watched Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein. We had a great time. We watched all of these in English later on and we thought the Spanish versions were better.I think Mom would take care of the smaller children. Sometimes we would go to a plaza where across the street was a restaurant we would go to sometimes. We would go to this restaurant and order a steak with patatas (French fries (papas fritas)). I could not believe how much they would give you to eat. Right now it kind of reminds me of Lila’s. My other favorite food was grapes. I did not like the peel so mom would peel them for me. I did not like the seeds so mom would seed them for me. What I had was “uvas manuseadas” but they tasted great. I cannot believe mom had the patience to do this. When my own kids were little and was doing some menial chore I would always remember this.
One time we were in the park and there were boats in a lagoon. I said to dad can we ride one? I was sure we would not be able to. He said sure. I could not believe it. My heart just jumped. I had never been on a boat before but I really wanted to go. We got the boat and we actually got on. Rosa, was scared to go on. I was so upset. I was disappointed. I said just leave her on the side. (kidding) We went back home after that. We never rode the boat.
Mom would also spend a lot of time doing the wash. I kept wondering how come she did not have to do this before. I forgot; we had maids. I would see all the clothes floating on a big bin and me thinking we are never going to finish. I felt badly for her. She never complained. When she was about to complain or realized I was not doing much she would just send me to practice my times tables. I tried to keep out of her way. I did not particularly like doing times tables.
One day we got back home and there was great commotion in the household. I did not witness this but apparently one of the Lopez siblings was playing with matches (he shall remain nameless but does presently reside in Alexandra, Virginia, close to Washington DC married to Noemi). This nameless family member apparently put out the match ineffectively and threw it on the bunk bed mattress and the whole thing went up in flames. Mom put out the fire. I do not know if the firemen were called in. I guess mom learned how to put out fires to get ready for the antics for another family member who shall also remain nameless and currently resides in West Miami, Florida.
Carlos ‘s birthday came on July 19. Dad went with Carlos and me to get a present. Carlos chose a kind of game I have not seen before or since. It consisted on three planes spinning on a spindle and a little cannon which shot metal spheres to try and knock down the planes. You had to time it just right and could shoot all the planes down. We had a lot of fun with that toy. It was probably the first toy our parents had bought specifically for us. We had a lot of toys in Cuba, but none were bought for us. We sort of inherited them as they cousins left and wanted to avoid the inventario. Unfortunately we had to leave it behind because it did not fit in the suitcases.
When my birthday came along I chose a remote controlled car. It was kind of remote control. It had this big ugly cord connecting the car to the controller. I really wanted it. Dad advised against it. He thought it would break quickly. It didn’t while we were in the store. At home it barely worked for a day. I did not dare tell dad. He was right.
In Spain we all obtained our residences for the United States. They gave us this green card and everyone kept telling us how important it was that we keep it in a safe place. Only now do I realize how important it really was.
In Spain we got the smallpox vaccine. I really did not want to get these. It was the one which usually reacted with your skin and it really looked horrible. I remember pretending to be asleep. I did my best to keep my eyes closed so my parents would not take me to have the smallpox shots. It looked like a quarter permanently stuck to your leg or your upper arm. It almost seemed that you were being branded as “Cuban”. This was also known later as the Cuban curse (actually the other Cuban curse). All my cousins who went to the US had these brands on their legs. Mario Sanchez Solis who was a doctor and my uncle told us that in order for the branding not to take effect we had to rub it with lemon juice. It was funny. We would go in one by one and in the car was waiting mom and abuela Maximina rubbing a huge lemon on our arms. We unfortunately ran out of lemon when Carlos’s turn came up. He got some but not as much as the others. He ended up with a small (less than penny size) brand on his arm.I went through a strange time in Spain. I remember watching a lot of cartoons and playing a lot of board games. We played “batalla marina” for the first time. It was harder there since it only took one torpedo to sink a submarine. I saw Tom and Jerry cartoons as Jerry would use a pin and prick Tom and it was really funny. I did the same thing to Carlos. I do not know why, but I did. He got really upset and I got really in trouble. I did not know why he got so upset. I also for unexplained reasons knocked Rosa off the bunk bed. In the states now they would probably say that I was acting out. I was probably comiendo… I still do not know why I did that. Maybe it was that boat thing. Maybe that is how Rosa threw out her back…..
Looking back Spain was a lot of fun. At the time we may not have appreciated it as much as we should have. We all wanted to go to Miami and see Robert and Teresa and the rest of our family. Mom and Dad did not work outside the house for that time. Abuelo thought he had money saved up. He had not realized that most of that was already gone. I think that was the last time dad was able to relax for extended periods of time. Life would sure change once we got to Miami.
