Although we really had a very enjoyable time in Spain, we really did not appreciate it that much at the time. The overriding concern my parents had was reuniting us with RobertyTeresa. That is how it was always said one word, RobertyTeresa. Robert y Teresa were sent to Miami with my uncle and aunt, Tio Lulo y Tia China. We were the last of the clan to stay in Cuba apparently for two reasons; to take care of Abuelo Arturo and Abuela Maximina and I suspect another reason was that there were so many of us (hijos de Roberto y Rosa) that it would have been difficult to start all over in Miami with seven kids and no jobs. Robert was also getting to be an age where it would be more difficult to get out of Cuba since military service began at the age of 12 (los pioneros). They came over in 1961 with my aunt and uncle. I think were were supposed to come to the states earlier than we did, it just became more difficult. I am sure Mom and Dad felt guilty about having to be separated from them Mom and dad were very worried about Robert y Teresa. They were particularly worried about Robert. He had been diagnosed with a disease called Pertes disease. This is a rare disease where the hip joints get worn out as the child grows. This leads to a very unusual way of walking were the child will bob from side to side as he or she walks. I do not know at what age Robert was diagnosed with it but I know he was in a full body cast for one year and half casts for some time after that. Mom and dad were looking forward to being with them again. Hence the whole family was, even though I suspect only Carlos and I specifically remembered them, it was with much anticipation that we boarded the plane from Madrid to New York City because we were going to be reunited with Robert y Teresa.
I do not remember as much about the trip from Madrid, Spain to the United States. I know the airplane was a four engine Jet Plane. The company was Alitalia. It traveled from Spain to New York City. The trip was only seven hours; it seemed longer though. We would then catch another plane to go to Miami. It was the type of jet plane that had its engines on the wings. I was surprised that the airplane did not seem to go any faster than the four propeller plane. When you are on the inside you really cannot tell how fast you are going. I remember a few things about the plane ride. What I remember the most was the food. They served these little pasta squares which on the inside was filled with meat and cheese. I later found out these were called Ravioli. We were also served some type of steak for dinner. It had some type of white sauce on it which seemed to taste alright, although it was different. I particularly remember the Ravioli because later I would throw up(once I got to our new home) and it was the last thing I had eaten. For many years I could not even stand the aroma of Ravioli being made in the kitchen. We hit some turbulence and the plane seemed to shake a lot. There was a child on the plane which kept screaming that we were going to die or something similar. I was not worried since the Captain kept saying that everything was alright; this type of thing happens all the time and there was nothing to worry about. I bought the Captain’s explanation and did not understand why some people were so worried. Having now seen all these movies were the airplane runs into major problems and the captain is never worried, I probably should have been quite nervous.
There were some problems while landing. Actually there was one problem. It could not. I saw New York City early on and for what seemed to be an eternity. I was told that we were circling because there were some problems with the runway. I kept worrying what would happen if we ran out of gas while up there? Would we gradually lose altitude or would we just take a dive. I was just so tired. I kept having a headache because I would see what I know now is Manhattan and then we would turn around and circle again. We finally landed. I was surprised when we got off the airplane that we did not walk through the tarmac. We were in some type of tube which led us right to the terminal. At the time I did not realize it. I just wondered how we got from the airplane into the terminal. I later figured out what it was.
I do not know if it was by design or if it happened due to the delays, but we landed in one airport (I think it was Kennedy or LaGuardia) and then the plane taking us to Miami was taking off from another one. We had to move fast and get to the other airport. The whole family took what I believe was taxis or it could have been an airport transport, in order to get there. It was fairly cold out but not freezing outside. We finally got to the airport and the airplane took off for Miami. It was an Eastern Airlines four engine Jet plane. We were in Miami very fast (less than two hours). There the whole family was waiting for us. I remember very little about this except that there were a lot of people there. People I vaguely remembered and some I did not remember at all. Most of them had left Cuba years ago. We were so jet lagged and lost we just wanted to go home and go to sleep. I remember Heriber who took me and Carlos to get the plastic dinosaur from the machine. I remember Lulito saying hello; tio Lulo calling us berraco; I know we looked for Robert and Teresa, but I do not remember seeing them there. Perhaps they were spending time with Mom and Dad. I know I kept looking for them They must have been feeling odd since they all of a sudden where joined by five family members, one of which they had named (Juan Pablo) but not met. Another which they had not really met. In any case we had all changed so much it was like meeting each other for the first time.
Both Teresa and Robert looked really different. The last time I had seen them was when I was three going on four. Teresa was 7 going on 8. Robert was 9 going on 10. I do not really remember when they left Cuba, I presume because we were not really told. I just remember they were not there. I also remember Mom and Dad being very sad I. I posted a few pictures which
show what they looked like when we last we saw them in Cuba and what they looked like when we saw them again in Miami. In this picture is Robert, I believe carrying Rosa. This was in 1961 so Rosa must be months old. In the other picture is Teresa with Carlos. Carlos must have been four years old. I was even younger. Now Teresa looked a lot thinner than I had remembered. She was in the sixth grade already so she must have been 11 going on 12 years old. The last time I remembered seeing her she was 7 years old and was about to go to the bathroom and she was telling me to leave . I was playing hide and seek ( a los escondidos) and the bathroom communicated between two rooms and was the perfect place to hide. I did not understand why she wanted me to leave. ( a psychiatrist would have a field day with this). Robert looked even more different. The last time I saw him he was walking across the hall in the house in Cuba. The Cuban sillon was in the way and he skipped over the wood that extends behind the sillon. That is the only firm recollection I had. I did not remember any other incident. Carlos probably 
remembers more. I sometimes forget how young we were when the separation took place. While in Cuba I felt like I knew both of them very well. Now in Miami I felt that I did not know them. They also acted different. They seemed a lot quieter than we were. I think they were kind of in shock. All of a sudden they had this huge family and all the rules had been changed around them We would have all these expressions which they did not understand. The picture of the whole family was taken a few days after our arrival in front of our house on 12th avenue. Finally the family was together again. We just had to get to know each other one more time.
I do not remember as much about the trip from Madrid, Spain to the United States. I know the airplane was a four engine Jet Plane. The company was Alitalia. It traveled from Spain to New York City. The trip was only seven hours; it seemed longer though. We would then catch another plane to go to Miami. It was the type of jet plane that had its engines on the wings. I was surprised that the airplane did not seem to go any faster than the four propeller plane. When you are on the inside you really cannot tell how fast you are going. I remember a few things about the plane ride. What I remember the most was the food. They served these little pasta squares which on the inside was filled with meat and cheese. I later found out these were called Ravioli. We were also served some type of steak for dinner. It had some type of white sauce on it which seemed to taste alright, although it was different. I particularly remember the Ravioli because later I would throw up(once I got to our new home) and it was the last thing I had eaten. For many years I could not even stand the aroma of Ravioli being made in the kitchen. We hit some turbulence and the plane seemed to shake a lot. There was a child on the plane which kept screaming that we were going to die or something similar. I was not worried since the Captain kept saying that everything was alright; this type of thing happens all the time and there was nothing to worry about. I bought the Captain’s explanation and did not understand why some people were so worried. Having now seen all these movies were the airplane runs into major problems and the captain is never worried, I probably should have been quite nervous.
There were some problems while landing. Actually there was one problem. It could not. I saw New York City early on and for what seemed to be an eternity. I was told that we were circling because there were some problems with the runway. I kept worrying what would happen if we ran out of gas while up there? Would we gradually lose altitude or would we just take a dive. I was just so tired. I kept having a headache because I would see what I know now is Manhattan and then we would turn around and circle again. We finally landed. I was surprised when we got off the airplane that we did not walk through the tarmac. We were in some type of tube which led us right to the terminal. At the time I did not realize it. I just wondered how we got from the airplane into the terminal. I later figured out what it was.
I do not know if it was by design or if it happened due to the delays, but we landed in one airport (I think it was Kennedy or LaGuardia) and then the plane taking us to Miami was taking off from another one. We had to move fast and get to the other airport. The whole family took what I believe was taxis or it could have been an airport transport, in order to get there. It was fairly cold out but not freezing outside. We finally got to the airport and the airplane took off for Miami. It was an Eastern Airlines four engine Jet plane. We were in Miami very fast (less than two hours). There the whole family was waiting for us. I remember very little about this except that there were a lot of people there. People I vaguely remembered and some I did not remember at all. Most of them had left Cuba years ago. We were so jet lagged and lost we just wanted to go home and go to sleep. I remember Heriber who took me and Carlos to get the plastic dinosaur from the machine. I remember Lulito saying hello; tio Lulo calling us berraco; I know we looked for Robert and Teresa, but I do not remember seeing them there. Perhaps they were spending time with Mom and Dad. I know I kept looking for them They must have been feeling odd since they all of a sudden where joined by five family members, one of which they had named (Juan Pablo) but not met. Another which they had not really met. In any case we had all changed so much it was like meeting each other for the first time.
Both Teresa and Robert looked really different. The last time I had seen them was when I was three going on four. Teresa was 7 going on 8. Robert was 9 going on 10. I do not really remember when they left Cuba, I presume because we were not really told. I just remember they were not there. I also remember Mom and Dad being very sad I. I posted a few pictures which
show what they looked like when we last we saw them in Cuba and what they looked like when we saw them again in Miami. In this picture is Robert, I believe carrying Rosa. This was in 1961 so Rosa must be months old. In the other picture is Teresa with Carlos. Carlos must have been four years old. I was even younger. Now Teresa looked a lot thinner than I had remembered. She was in the sixth grade already so she must have been 11 going on 12 years old. The last time I remembered seeing her she was 7 years old and was about to go to the bathroom and she was telling me to leave . I was playing hide and seek ( a los escondidos) and the bathroom communicated between two rooms and was the perfect place to hide. I did not understand why she wanted me to leave. ( a psychiatrist would have a field day with this). Robert looked even more different. The last time I saw him he was walking across the hall in the house in Cuba. The Cuban sillon was in the way and he skipped over the wood that extends behind the sillon. That is the only firm recollection I had. I did not remember any other incident. Carlos probably 
remembers more. I sometimes forget how young we were when the separation took place. While in Cuba I felt like I knew both of them very well. Now in Miami I felt that I did not know them. They also acted different. They seemed a lot quieter than we were. I think they were kind of in shock. All of a sudden they had this huge family and all the rules had been changed around them We would have all these expressions which they did not understand. The picture of the whole family was taken a few days after our arrival in front of our house on 12th avenue. Finally the family was together again. We just had to get to know each other one more time. Rosa found a really good picture of the family when Robert y Teresa left Cuba. The picture I chose of Carlos and Teresa was aparently taken a little bit earlier. Thanks Rosa.
Back row; Dad, Ramon (4), Rosa (1 month?), Mom. Front row: Teresa (8), Arturo (2), Carlos (5), Robert (9). I do not know the exact date although Rosa cannot be more than a couple of months old. That would make it November or December of 1961.
From left to right (back row) Carlos, 10, Teresa, 12, Robert, 14, (front row) Rosa (4), Juan Pablo (2), Arturo (6), Ramon (8). The ages are approximate since I do not really know the date the picture was taken. I believe it was around November of 1965. I know it was after Halloween, I do not know if it was before or after Thanksgiving.
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