Day 4 Wed - last day and return to the USA
again woke up with the roosters in the morning (i need to remember to bring ear plugs next time) but i enjoyed getting up early and soaking every last bit of my homeland with me before going back to my NEW homeland.
when we arrived in the USA back in 1961 (after the fiasco called the Bay of Pigs) we were sent by two's to friends houses. I was sent with my brother and mentor and hero Xavier (the oldest of the bottom 6)...Charlie and Mel were sent to someone else, Fred stayed with Mom and Maria being a girl went with another family (you know in 50 years i have never asked her how it felt to be alone?? i always had my BIG bro Xavier)
we had nothing except the shirts on our backs...my dad was able to get a job in the DC area working with Catholic University and we got a 2 bedroom apartment with 5 bros in one room, 3 sisters in another and my parents living in the living room.
we were lucky to have good friends help pay for our tuitions...my first school St John was probably free...St Anselms Abbey gave our family 2 scholarships used by X and Charlie 1962-1968 then given to Mel and Manny after that. We ruled the basketball world at the small private school level. X & Charlie winning the tourney in 1968 (Charlie being MVP), Mel winning in 1970 and Manny (me) winning twice in 1972 and 1974 (best defensive player in 72 and MVP in 74)
we won a Pepsi Cola contest and earn $11,000 in 15 minutes of shopping which allow us to but the American dream...a house in McLean, Va...most of my memories are from this house and St Lukes Parish...i wrote about it in my first book "Two Second to Go." My son Brandon is publishing it on a blog soon.
a book i recommend is Waiting to Snow in Havana...it describes the life of a 11 year old boy from a rich family...except his life in the USA was much harder...he was a Peter Pan boy and grew up in foster homes without his parents. (My cousin and good friend and mentor Jaime Suarez of Miami lived that same life....plus Jaime's dad died while in Castro's Cuba)
so i woke up at 5:30 with the roosters and looked out the door to see if Celia was awake...she eventually saw my light and make some Cuban coffee which i mix with leche for Steve Kitchens NEW favorite drink Cafe con Leche. it turns out that today is teachers day and the students give their teachers a present...CnF is busy wrapping those gifts and trying to get the little boy up and ready for school. he comes our of the room proudly wearing his Leotard, but his mom says he must put it back...i assume school clothes during the day and LT afternoons...we spend this last few minutes playing with the graphing calculator...i am sure his mom or dad have told him to learn as much as possible on this last morning of our visit.
can you imagine 33 years of teaching and i am trying my best to teach an 11 year how to use this new machine of the 21st century the graphing calculator which has become a REQUIRED tool in all high school math classroom...more powerful than the computers that were used to land a man on the moon in 1969!! Thank goodness that this boy is on the math team and is eager to learn...i wish i could teach his teacher and that way teach a whole new generation of kids this age. I still plan to return to my first homeland when i retire and help teach as long as i can...maybe giving graphing calculator workshops...like the ones i brought to Berkeley back in the 1980's when they first came out.
Good friends of mine the Newman Cigar Family have already started a middle school and high school in the Dominican Republic...we have an exchange program going there and our students visit every year...we have sent over 100 graphing calculator down there...wonder if they are using them at all..it is all on the internet at TI.com (Texas Instrument)
(Sidebar: i worked for my cousin Jaime Suarez at a hospital in Miami during the summer as an accountant....the bookkeepers there were trying to find 95% of the bill to bill medicare...they had those old adding machines with the handle (this was 1979)...they would put down the amount of the bill 9 times and crank each time and then take away on number and crank 5 times...and that would be the 95%
so i explain to them that if you had a jar of 100 marbles and we knew that the balls were all either red or white....and that there just a FEW red balls and mostly white...and someone asked you how many WHITE balls (by this time all the ladies are laughing)...are there in the jar?? do you count the white balls or the red balls?? of course they did not understand...so i explain to count the FEW red balls and subtract from 100!!
so all they needed to do was crank the bill total 5 times!! and subtract from the total original amount (by the way the decimal does bother them at all because they know where the number should be...they do this better than kids in school...it is called "real world" math...any merchant on the street can figure out taxes and final bills quicker than i can with a calculator)...so they tried it and they loved it...saving having to crank that stupid machine 9 times each time...and saving the muscles in their poor hands
i came back the next summer and they were back to cranking the machine 9 times and then 5 times...dam shame
i was already planning for the future and thinking about bringing some of my sports doctor friends for a clinic on sports medicine with my new friends the dentist and surgeon of the national basketball team and the coach of the university team whose son was now exchanging emails with Brandon, my son.
(I will return have to drop off Brandon at the airport...he goes back to Boston and MIT to work and study...he is living the American dream to its fullest...we had a wonderful trip together to Cuba...cried a few times...laughed a lot more...and discussed all issues of religion, country and family....like Jimmy V said we laughed, cried, and thought every day....i will miss him once again when his plane departs this morning and YES, he has to the 2 boxes of cigars and several emails of people back in Cuba...he plans on sending the little boy some legos and our driver MrT the box set of Transporter...and the sugar mill some basketballs...if my dream team of sports doctors come true... i will invite my two sons to go along to be demonstrators....this is always HOPE)
it is WEd morning on our last day...i wake up Brandon because he likes to spend some one on one time with me...and he is used to the 5 or 6 hr of sleep at night...playing basketball and going to MIT teaches you that...
Brandon starts to do wooden puzzle with the little angel while i teach CnF some more things about the calculator (polar coordinates of the engineers on this list)
the boy walks us out at 7 am...and his biological dad is waiting by the gate to take him to school....this dad is a Communist and works for the Party...Brandon and I start to cry as we see the 11 year old boy hug his dad...and tell him he is to school with Mom because today is teacher day and they have a bunch of presents to take to school...
we walk to the Malecon one LAST time....Brandon takes a great picture of me looking towards Havana...my city of birth
i swear i could make that 90 mile trip to the USA in sail boat or even a row boat
(I am later told that the Cuban patrol that side of the island constantly...there is Cuban radar and even Russian radar...and supposedly the USA radar too...any one leaving gets spotted right away...if you get caught trying to escape, it is 25 years in prison...and 10 years for anyone who helped you escape..including family members...they can torture you to tell them who sold you the boat and the supplies....and they all go to prison...and sometimes even your neighbors go to prison for not reporting your activities...that is why they were happy to empty their prisons in the 1980 flotilla to Miami)
we also check out the soccer stadium build for the Pan Am games and now abandoned with the lights gutted out...and graffiti all over the stands... the field full of crab grass...and some old people doing their morning runs or walks
as we head back to the "hotel" we are approached by a man with wild shirt and blue jeans....he speaks perfect English and tells us the history of the monuments in the middle of the road "El Presidente"....the El Presidente Hotel is also that road and La CAs de las Tias is also there...we hear the raising of the Cuban flag and the kids singing the national anthem on LAST time
this man tells us he is a "producer" and there is a big Jazz festival that night...he walks us to the house...where the entire gardens are set up for a band... the inside has been renovated with beautiful stairs going up...
this man then wants to show us how bad the grocery store looks...and then he wants to come back to El PResidente Hotel with us, so he can enter the lobby and promote the hotel even more...he ask us to buy a hotel t-shirt because he wants to wear it and attract the guest of that hotel...we say NO and goodbye...
back at our "hotel" we find Austin and Steve having their cafe con leche and pun...the Cuban honey taste so good...we start to pack and everyone is giving CnF their t-shirts and basketball pants....we also put all our soaps and shampoos on the table...lotions and even toothbrushes
we then present CnF with 4 bags that Bradley (Steve's Wife) had made for us with soaps and lotions and pills for bad stomach and ponchos and even flashlights...Steve shows the man how to work the flashlights...a tear comes to CnF as they realize we are leaving them...we settle the account and give a $100 tip...CnF give me a beautiful little picture frame with saints on them to give to Bradley (Steve's wife for the soaps and lotions etc)
MrT shows up and he is waring the BERKELEY t-shirt...with a BIG grin...our new hermano fuerte
i forgot to mention i left CnF a USF basketball t-shirt, UCF basketball, Berkeley basketball, MIT basketball...amazing i had one of each
we also left 2 pillows that Austin had brought...and 3 suitcases we no longer needed...not too sure what other things the 3 other guys left behind...things were coming fast and furiously...we did keep our underwears and the clothes on our backs
our suitcases now filled with souvenirs and rum and cigars....lol
so we loaded up MrT's car...easy to do with very few luggage but plenty of souvenirs
the ride to the airport was very quiet...all in the car were trying to soak in the last scenes along the road
we looked at each other proud of our 4 days together in this little car...MrT asked for a little more money to fill the tank up before returning it to the American Interest section...he explains they will charge him for what is needed to fill up (just like the good old USA)
we drive up the airport and it seems like we never left...but just made a roundtrip ride around the airport...where did those 4 days go...can we do it again?
we unload the bags and say our goodbyes to our new hermano fuert....MR. T!!...steve kitchens pays him $30 a day for 120...he says only 90 because it was 3 days...1/2 the first and 1/2 the second...but steve still gives him 120...he takes it reluctantly...
i sleep him a $100 and we hug...i wish he could come with us back to the USA, back to Freedom
not too sure why i want him to leave...he seems to be very happy with his wife and driving people around...making 30 a day
he is well dressed and seems to enjoy his meals...fit like an ox...he was our protecion...our friend...our brother
if...make that when i return i will request MrT and if he is busy...i will visit with him for at least one Cuba Libra
so we walk into the terminal and the departing section is completely different than what we encounter coming in...people are super friendly...several souvenir shops...we are told we cannot enter the processing area until 12 noon...so we wait in the lobby...buying every little trinket we can...
Steve and Austin running outside every time we see a 1958 or 1956 chevy drive up...Steve's grandfather sold chevy in Bartow Fl and steve lived with his grandfather during his high school years...he worked at the dealership and got to know those old chevy's...maybe not 1958 chevy's but there were pictures all over that dealership in Bartow back in the early 1970's
steve liked the cafe conleche so much that we bought him a cup and saucer that read CUBA and cafe on it...Steve dropped the saucer...and a BIG BANG!!! everyone duck like a gun or a bomb had gone off...several workers came over to investigate
then they announce it over the speaker...plane to Miami...etc...
Austin is buying bottles of rum...and i am buying more trinkets for co-workers...trying to use up all my CUC's
while waiting in the processing area...a young man behind me says that if we declare NO $$ on the US Customs paper, they will not search our bags...etc...
Steve handles the tickets again...thank God for Steve
we then go to a passport area again...i got behind Austin and Brandon got with Steve...
the 19 year old that took care of Austin is turning red as Austin smiles at her and they make small talk....then it is my turn...
the take another camera picture of my face..but i have to crutch down...it hurts my knees which are soar from all the walking around old havana the night before...she finally smiles and i grab my 4 bags of souvenir including several bottles of Cuban Rum that make a loud sound everytime it hits the floor...
once inside the waiting area for departing planes...everything is very calm...we buy 4 Cuban sandwiches which are delicious....steve has his last cafe con leche...(he is hooked!!)
we see planes landing from all over the world, but they go to the main terminal (which we never saw) Jose Marti international
finally the plane from Miami lands...and we gather up all our stuff and head to the plane...I am almost there...almost FREE again....we walk up the steps and i take one LAST look at my homeland...i will be back...i must help my people...there has to be HOPE
this country has so much fertile land...it should be exporting fruits and sugar...NOT importing them...there should 1,000 heads of cattle roaming the fields...all those engineers and doctors should be practicing their trade....not driving cars and running a hotel to make ends meet...
doesn't the government know about the Atheneans? about PhD's at Harvard and Stanford and yes, MIT? who do not teach, but think all day....the great minds need free time to think and explore...and not worry about food and shelter
so we are greeted by American stewardess (called flight attendants these days for PC people)....and they sure look good and when they speak in perfect English, they sound good too
yes, i am an American
many times i have wondered what would it have been like if Castro had not turned to Russia and instead serve his few years as President and then turn over power at another election like they do in most countries of the world now...
what would have become of the 14 brothers and sisters of the Suarez-Gaston family?
what would i be doing? would i have played in the 1976 olympics with the MJ of Cuba man i just met?
would i be a teacher and coach like i am today, or just an accountant...
would Xavier be Mayor of Havana?
my family would have never met the Irish Mooneys or the Irish Hamms...or in my case the german Wentz
would my kids still be 6'5" and 6'6"? would my oldest gone to MIT and become an aerospace engineer?
would Austin play for the 2012 Cuban Olympic team in GOLF? (by the way he did shoot a 73 on one of the most beautiful and most challenging courses in Florida...the golf course capital of the WORLD)...no doubt he would be in the Olympics for basketball and bowling...
well Castor did not give up power...in fact he betrayed the REVOLUTION and became a communist and a Dictator!!
and because the macho Kennedy's lost Cuba 90 miles off shore, they got us involved in a war 5,000 miles away in Vietnam...the only war the US military has ever lost...
it is amazing how much goes through one head as the climb the stairs of the airplane
"would you and your party like to sit in the EXIT seats? they are very comfortable"
oh that sweet voice...speaking English again..."I wish they all could be California girls"
we spread out since there are only about 50 people on a plane for 300 or so...i am told the money is in the cargo trasporting, we are just icing on the cake...(my goal was to live to the year 2000....these past 10 years...oops make that 11, are icing on the cake...watching my boys play high school basketball and then college...winning 6 district titles in the past 7 years 2002 -2009...now my new goal is 2020...oh i mean 2014 in Havana for the Gaston reunion)
Steve Kitchens seats down to read his Bible...Brandon to continue writing in his journal...and Austin and I playing Spades the American version of Bridge
as we fly away from the prison, we once again notice the fertile land from the air...and that one can see both Key West and Cuba from the air...i swear i could cross that 90 miles in a raft or sailboat...maybe even swim it if i practice long enough for it...my high school classmate swam 4 min under water and wires and mines to escape communist Yugo
i just met a neighbor of mine who came over on a small boat...he is now driving a Ford Mustang and living the good life...watching the Bucs on a large screen TV...one day i need to ask him about his family
we land in the USA and the people on the plane clap...what is it about LAtinos that we must show our emotions on our sleeves...
as we unload the plane the fancy walkway to the plane does NOT work...welcome to Miami
i head for the bathroom in the back of the plane...now feeling the lost of sleep of 4 nights where i average 4 hrs a night getting to bed with the dogs at 1 am and getting up with the roosters at 5 am (got to remember to bring ear plugs next time), but you know what i have been doing the same back here in Tampa in my house...why sleep with i can spend time with my boys who are now gone to back to college
the people on the plane are all on their cellphones talking to their love ones...many are crying
i wonder how many have won the "Lottery" and won a golden ticket to leave the island they prison and enter heaven, freedom and the AMerican way...(the US only allows 50,000 Cubans to enter the US legally each year...and there are 2 million people wanting to leave the island...they must buy a lottery ticket for 500 pesos...the equivalent of 25 months pay (2 years of saving your paycheck while trying to eat)...
it would have been interesting to see what would have happen to the nearly 2 million Europeans that flood our shores back at the beginning of the 1900's...if there would have been a 50,000 quota...LIMIT...would we have turned the other million of people back to Europe??
we do not even know how many Europeans enter this country illegally during WWII....the baby boom did NOT come to the US until AFTER the war...how did the US population grow so rapidly before and during WWII??
that is right the only difference between "legal" and "illegal" immigrants is the quotas passed by Congress during the 1900's
if the 12 million "illegal" immigrants that now live in the US were allowed to fill out papers, they would do it in heart beat
please do not tell me we do not have room...that is a cop out...all you need to do is travel across this amazing country to see we have more room than we know what to do...we even pay our farmers NOT to grow crops...we give much of grain away FREE to the world...in fact we give grain to Cuba too...but noone ever talks about that...
so we are now in the air...and once again we can see Cuba and Key West at the same time...
we are asked to fill out a US Custom's paper where we must declare how much stuff we are bringing back (BTW if you are bringing stuff that is very expensive you need to keep a receipt)
so we enter the terminal and follow the signs for US Citizens...they let us right in with very few questions...i almost blow it by saying something like..."Do you know my bother Xavier Suarez the MAyor of CUBA??"...the poor man says sure and tells us to move on...lol...Brandon says "Dad keep your mouth shut"...
we are waved right through the lines and out the door
the only thing that bothered me was the US Custom agents speaking among themselves in Spanish...this is the USA, speaking in English...i think new visitors to the USA should hear English...NOT Spanish...this is NOT havana
i still can not believe they did not ask me about the rum or sugar cane...nor take a quick look in our bags...so much for Homeland Security
we went out into the Miami air of gas fumes and people honking their horn....why do they honk so much in Miami...i rarely hear a horn in Tampa
we are excited to find our park car and load it up with our souvenirs
as we drive back to Ft LAuderdale we start to reminisce about the trip and the good times we had
if we push it, we can get back to Berkeley in time to see the championship game of the basketball tourney
we make it back just as it ended...and i am at the door talking trash with all the fathers...we lost and only scored 1 point in the 4th quarter...dam if I had been there that would have not happened
welcome back to the USA and high school ball
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