My Ancestor Scrapbook of Cuba

Interview with my father, Adolfo Gonzalez Where were you born? In Havana, Cuba

How old were you when you first left Cuba? I left when I was a baby and we went to live in Venezuela for 2 years. Then we returned to Cuba around 1950.

When did you leave Cuba for the U.S.? In 1960 we came to New York City to live in the Bronx. Then a year later we all went back to Cuba because my mother was very sick. In 1962 they sent me to live in Miami to live with a friend of my mother’s. The permission to leave the country was sent via telegram.

Why did you leave alone? They did not allow the whole family to leave at once.

Did you start school right away? No, I had to wait for my parents to arrive to enroll. I went to Miami High School for one year.

At the Freedom Tower (Processing center for refugees) they gave me clothes, a dental exam and a one-way trip to New York City.

A few months later, my parents arrived and we lived in Miami for about six months.

A year later in 1963, around the time that JFK was assassinated we left Miami to go live in New York City.

Where did you live in NYC? We lived in Jackson Heights, NY. I went to Newtown High School.

Some more background information

on my grandfather What did your father do for a living? He was an export manager in Manhattan for a

company called Marc J. Fischer. He found this job in the classified section of the New

York Times.

Did he learn to speak English? He actually learned how to speak English in Cuba

because he worked for Marcal paper products as a merchant commissioner.

Map of Cuba The nation of Cuba comprises

the main island of Cuba, the Isla

de la Juventud and several

archipelagos. Havana is the

capital of Cuba and its largest

city. The second-largest city is

Santiago de Cuba. To the north

of Cuba lies the United States

(150 km (93 mi) away), the

Bahamas and the Turks and

Caicos Islands are to the

northeast, Mexico is to the west (210 km (130 mi) away), the

Cayman Islands and Jamaica

are to the south and Haiti and

the Dominican Republic are to

the southeast.

Cuba’s Coat of Arms

The Cuban Coat of Arms is the official heraldic symbol of Cuba.

It consists of a shield, in front of a Fasces crowned by the Phrygian

Cap, all supported by an oak branch on one side and a laurel

wreath on the other. The coat of arms was created by Miguel

Teurbe Tolón[1] and was adopted on April 24, 1906.

The shield is divided into three parts:

In the chief, a key charging a blue sea between two rocks,

symbolizing Cuba’s geographical position between Florida and the

Yucatán Peninsula. A bright rising sun in the background symbolizes

the rising of the new republic. A key is a symbol of Cuba as Cuba is

the key to the Americas.

On the left are the stripes of the flag of Cuba but turned so as they

are bendwise.

On the right is a common Cuban landscape, Royal Palm tree, a

symbol of Cuba with mountains in the background.

Traditional Cuban Dishes

Lechon asado en

Caja China

Ropa Vieja con arroz

moro y platanitos maduros

Vaca Frita con arroz y

frijoles

Tamales en hoja

estilo Cubano

Traditional Recipe of Arroz con Pollo

El arroz con pollo es un plato típico

en la comida cubana y esta

receta no falta en ningún hogar

donde haya un cubano. Las

recetas de este delicioso plato

pasan de generación en

generación sin perder la sazón de

nuestros abuelos. En los

restaurantes cubanos es fácil

encontrar esta receta siempre

deliciosa pero nunca como

cuando se prepara en casa. Aquí

les dejo la receta del arroz con

pollo con sabor cubano.

Ingredients and instructions: 1.Pechugas o muslos de pollo.

2.1 cucharadita de orégano seco.

3.1 cucharadita de comino molido

4.1/2 cucharadita de pimienta blanca recién molida

5.1 cucharada de vinagre de vino tinto

6.2 cucharadas de aceite de aceite de oliva.

7.1 cebolla pequeña, finamente picada

8.1 pimiento rojo pequeño, sin corazón, sin semillas y finamente picado.

9.3 dientes de ajo, picados.

10.1 tomate pequeño, sin semillas y cortado.

11.3 tazas de agua.

12.1 taza de vino blanco seco.

13.1-1/2 tazas de cerveza.

14.1/2 cucharadita de achiote, semillas o 1/4 cucharadita de hebras de azafrán.

15.1 cucharada de puré de tomate.

16.Sal y pimienta recién molida negro.

Lo primero que hay que hacer es lavar el pollo, mezclarlo con el orégano, el comino, la pimienta blanca y el vinagre en un tazón grande de vidrio. Agregar el pollo, girando las piezas para cubrir con la mezcla dejándolo reposar por lo menos 15 minutos. Calentar el aceite en una cazuela grande resistente al calor, dorar los trozos de pollo por unos 2 minutos por cada lado. Pase el pollo a un plato y verter todos menos 2 cucharadas de la grasa.

Agregue la cebolla, el pimiento y el ajo con el aceite en la cazuela, cocine a fuego medio hasta que esté suave calor pero

Cuban Dance

Traditional Clothing of Cuba

Interesting facts about Cuba• The US attempted to invade Cuba several times. In 1848, they decided to give up and offered Spain

$100 million dollars for Cuba, but the offer was rejected.

• The US ship “Maine” was blown up in the Havana Harbor in 1898. The cause of the explosion is still

unknown, but the event, which killed over 250 men, sparked the beginning of the Spanish-American War.

• The 1990s in Cuba are known as the “Special Period” due to the extreme economic struggles. There were several major shortages, such as fuel, paper, and even food. Electricity used was limited to 4 hours per day.

• Up until 1993, Cubans were not allowed to own or use US dollars.

• Cuba’s first war of independence was led by Carlos Manuel de Déspedes in 1868. The war lasted for 10 years, giving it the appropriate name of “The 10 Years War.”

• The slave uprising of 1791 in Haiti greatly impacted Cuba. More than 300,000 French settlers fled Haiti and many of them ended up in Cuba. The French brought their sugarcane production expertise to the island, and to this day, Cuba is one of the largest producers of sugarcane in the world.

• Jose Martí planned a revolution for a Free Cuba while in exile in the US during the 1890s. Although he was very focused on not repeating the mistakes of the recent 10 Years War, Martí was one of the first to die in the battles of 1896. Many blame this on his use of an easy-to-spot white horse. Martí is still recognized as a beloved martyr throughout Cuba today.

• Between 1899 and 1902, Cuba was controlled by an American military government. During this time, the US forced a constitutional amendment, called the Platt Amendment onto Cuba. The amendment granted the US power to intervene in Cuban affairs whenever they believed it necessary. It also granted the US permission to use Guatanamo Bay as a naval base.

Celia Cruz Gloria Estefan

A Cuban American

singer, songwriter,

actress, and

entrepreneur. She is one

of the world's best-

selling music artists of all

time, with an estimated

100 million records sold

worldwide, including

31.5 million of those in

the United States alone.

She has won seven

Grammy Awards and is

the most successful

crossover performer in

Latin music to date.

(October 21, 1925 – July 16, 2003) was a

Cuban-American salsa singer/performer. One

of the most popular salsa artists of the 20th

century, she earned twenty-three gold albums

and was a recipient of the National Medal of

Arts. She was renowned internationally as the

"Queen of Salsa", "La Guarachera de Cuba", as

well as The Queen of Latin Music.