Interpretations of a Bilingual Life

My bebita had her first taste of travel! More importantly, she had her first semi-immersion into another culture: Miami. I think she fit right in, too. When we arrived to Cuba Nostalgia, a annual event to celebrate Cuban culture in Miami, she fell asleep. I thought for sure all of the loud music would wake her up. There were several genres of music playing that I couldn’t even repeat the names of because I already forgot them. There were a lot of people speaking Spanish and a mix of English and Spanish left and right.

When my bebita awoke she instantly looked around and smiled when she heard the music and saw all the colorful people (at least that’s how I interpreted her expressions). At one point, a booth was giving away maracas and people rushed to grab some so that they could play along with the salsa music. It was loud (no exaggeration there)! Sabrina LOVED it. My mom gave her a maraca and she held on to it and rattled it like everyone else! Her papa was dancing with her and her abuelita was dancing in circles around them. It was beautiful!

I think what my mom said about Sabrina’s experience at Cuba Nostalgia pretty much sums up her immersion to Latino culture, “It was like she knew exactly what her mama & papa like (everything and anything Latino),” which is who she is becoming, a little Latina,  “and went right along with their celebration!”