Cuban Heritage Day and the Dodgers - Stuff You Need

I'm still recovering from the LA Cuban Festival last weekend. Thanks to all of you who came out and said hello. Also, if you have a photo of us together (and we look cute), please send it to me! 

Today's post is really a PSA for Cuban Heritage Day at Dodger Stadium.

Cuban Heritage Day at Dodger Stadium is coming up next month on August 17th, 2014. I would love to see as many of you there as possible, which is why I'm sharing this today. I promise you won't want to miss it. In case you were wondering about my love for the Dodgers and last year's day, look here, and here.

(Also, if you want to read a really cute story about my mom, Luza and a former famous Dodger player (full disclosure: she's a Yankees fan), click here.)

Thing 1) You need tickets! Click on over to the Los Angeles Dodgers Page and order them today. There are some good seats still available. (I'll be giving some away in a couple of weeks, but that's not important right now.)

Thing 2) You need shirts! My good friends at Habana Brand Clothing have designed some gorgeous t-shirts, which you will want to wear to the game, beause that's what all the cool Cuban kids are doing. Pre-order is happening NOW. We need to represent, people! 

I'm loving these shirts so much that I'm thinking you're going to want one even if you don't make it to the game.I'm super excited about this day, because...

Cubans + Dodger Baseball = The Best Day of Summer 2014. See you there!

"It's time for Dodger Baseball!"

Los Angeles Cuban Festival - A Giveaway

Living in Southern California, it's sometimes difficult to find Cubans living nearby. Which is why I'm super delighted to be involved in this year's LA Cuban Festival. It's the very best place to celebrate all the things that we love most about being Cuban.

It's a wonderful event bringing together our people for a fun day of Cubania. There will be food, music, and all things Cuban. This pleases me greatly, because, as you know, I am always looking for the best places to get Cuban food in So Cal (but that's not important right now).

I'll be there with my family and my extended LA Cuban Family: the guys from Wassup En LA, the folks from Cuban Heritage Day at Dodger Stadium, and many more. 

The LA Cuban Festival will be held at

Rainbow Lagoon Park in Long Beach, California, on Sunday, July 13th, 2014 from 10:00am to 8:00pm. 

If you haven't yet bought your tickets, I'd like to offer you some! If you'd like to go ahead and purchase pre-sale tickets on your own, please visit Fiestalegre Promotions.

The featured artists are:

• Issac Delgado
• Timbalive
• Charanga Cubana
• MC Paloma Morales
• Super DJ Robby
• DJ Warapo

You know you want to be there for all this awesome Cubanity. (<--that should be a word.)

Today's giveaway is sponsored by the LA Cuban Festival. Thanks, guys! 

To enter this drawing for Two Free Tickets to the LA Cuban Festival on July 13th, please leave a comment on this post and answer the following:

• Where do you live in So Cal? 
• Can you find Cuban food there? (This is important information to have, people!)

For an extra entry, go to Facebook and "like" LA Cuban Festival. Come back and tell me:

• "I like the LA Cuban Festival!" 

Please leave your comment on this post and I'll choose one winner on:

Thursday, July 3rd, 2014 at 8 pm PST.

I really want to see you there! Oh, the Cubanity!

A Match Made in Cuban Coffee Heaven

You know how much we Cubans love our cafecito.

We also love lattes and cappuccinos and café con leche. Any iteration of coffee will do for us.

There's even a subset of us that just love our Americano. All that to say this: We love a cup of strong coffee any way we can get it. Particularly a shot of hot, sweet espresso.

In light of that I'm super pleased and very proud today to welcome my newest sponsor to My Big, Fat, Cuban blog Family:

Café La Llave!

If you click on the link just to the right, you can get an extra 20% off of the best coffee around. (For the record, my favorite is Don Francisco's Family Reserve, but that's not important right now.)

Also, if you're not already following them on Facebook, you totally should. Here's the link: Cafe La Llave on Facebook. They're always doing fun contests and giveaways. Tell them Marta sent you.

Thank you again to the Gaviña family for partnering with My Big, Fat, Cuban Family. We are a match made in Cuban Coffee Heaven

.

Guayaberas and Cubanity

{Disclosure: I received the shirts as described below in order to review them. I did not otherwise receive any compensation for writing this post.}

A "guayabera," for the uninformed, is a beautiful linen shirt with two stripes of tiny pin-tucks and four large pockets. It has decorative buttons and a straight bottom as it was designed to be worn untucked. It is the iconic dress item for men in many Latin American countries. I've heard it called a "Mexican wedding shirt," however, historical evidence suggests that the guayabera shirt originated in 18th century Cuba.

HistoryMiami has a wonderful history of the guayabera that you may enjoy.

Men in Guayaberas

All my life, for as far back as I can remember, (and that's a really long time, people!) all the Cuban men I have ever known have worn guayaberas.

It is the iconically beautiful Cuban shirt worn by iconically handsome Cuban men. It is as God intended.

My Cuban Store graciously provided these gorgeous guayaberas for me to review. (Well, technically, for my guys to wear and review, but that's not important right now.)

Although the original guayaberas are white or light, today you can find them in a wonderful plethora of colors and styles. Coincidentally, the men in my family come in a plethora, too.

Brace yourself for the awesome...

My handsome men in their new guayaberas from My Cuban Store. You're speechless right now, aren't you?

*puts on her best Runway Announcer Voice*

My husband, Eric on the left is wearing a gorgeous black linen Men's Long- Sleeved Guayabera. He has already worn this to the office and gotten many compliments. Someone actually said, "Pretty fly for a white guy." (I know. 1998 called. They want the use of the word, "fly" back.)

Adam is looking handsome in the beautifully detailed Deluxe French Cuff Fitted Lavender Guayabera. The soft lavender color brings out his striking blue eyes. The guayabera style brings out his Cubanity. (<--is that a word?)

There's something magical about the guayabera. It looks fabulous on multiple body types. And it evokes an air of mystery and Caribbean charm. The guys carry themselves differently when they're wearing them. It is as if the beauty and mystique of the tropics becomes a part of them the moment they put the shirts on.

Jonathan, on the right, is rocking the Short Sleeved Navy Guayabera. He's wearing it all the time now. Seriously. All. The. Time. And he's speaking with a slight Cuban accent when he wears it. And he's started calling me "Mami."

Oh, guayabera, you've cast quite a spell around here.

Jon: (in a Cuban accent) "Papi, look at me in all my Cubanity." (<--it should be a real word.)

Eric: (to himself) "Did my son just call me Papi??"

Thank you, My Cuban Store, for your contribution to my family's Cubanity. (<--it should totally be a word.) My guys love their shirts and they look beautiful in them.

As God intended.

Cuando Sali de Cuba - Gustavo's Story

Marta here: Through my blog I've been privileged to meet so many wonderful Cubans, who represent the very best of our Cuban exile community.

One author in particular has been an inspiration to me since my very first blog post right here on My Big, Fat, Cuban Family titled, like his book, Life on the hyphen...

His name is Gustavo Perez-Firmat. You'll find his books listed over there on the right under Smart Cuban Authors.

He is also a fan of My Big, Fat, Cuban Family Cookbook and my pastelito recipe, but that's not important right now.

Author Gustavo Perez-Firmat & his lovely wife, Mary Anne with their favorite cookbook.

Gustavo's story is being featured in an episode of the new PBS series on Latino Americans. Gustavo was interviewed for it, and they used a lot of family photos and home movies.

You are all familiar with the story: The family left Cuba abruptly. Started a very different life here in the U.S. waiting for the whole Revolution thing to blow over so they could return home to Cuba. You know how it ends.

Episode will air tonight, Tuesday Sep 24th, 2013. Check your local PBS listings for times.

This video is worth your time. Enjoy.

Viva Los Dodgers - A Giveaway

 {Disclosure: This post is not compensated by any organization, nor affiliated in any way with the Los Angeles Dodgers. I, personally, just have some extra tickets that I'd love to give away.}

Cubans and Baseball. A Love Affair.

The Cuban love of the game of baseball is legendary. From the late 1800's when the Almendares began playing baseball in earnest, we Cubans embraced baseball as part of our own national identity.

Growing up in Los Angeles, I remember going to Dodger games with my brothers-in-law. They would bring transistor radios with them to the game so they could hear the legendary Vin Scully calling the play-by-play as they watched the game live.

Personally, I don't really enjoy watching baseball on TV, but a live game....The Best. Plus when we go watch the Anaheim Angels play at Edison Field, we get to wear red. (It's the little things.)

And my 99 year old mom? She still gets totally excited about the World Series every year. I know. Shut up.

So, last month my kids, Jonathan and Amy Kikita went to a Dodger game to watch Yasiel Puig play (also, we look really great in Dodger Blue, too), but sadly he had gotten hurt and it didn't happen. But they had a fantastic time sitting with a large group of noisy Cubans (is there another kind?) out behind right field.

In case you haven't been following the story, Puig defected from Cuba last year and started his rookie season this year with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He's young and brash and a little cocky and okay, maybe not too bright, but that kid can hit!

Viva Los Dodgers!

Anyway, the Dodgers are hosting Cuban Heritage Day next Sunday, September 1st at Dodger Stadium and we Darbys are all going to be there, because hey, it's Cuban. Heritage. Day. (Actually, for reasons unbeknownst to me personally, they're now calling it Viva Los Dodgers Day and I'm okay with that. The tickets still say Cuban Heritage Day, but that's not important right now.)

There will be a pre-game shindig pachanga with the salsa band, Charanga Cubana and a meet and greet with another fabulous Cuban player, Paco Rodriguez.  The party starts two hours prior to the game 11:00 am where we will celebrate our Cuban culture and love of all things baseball with music, games and entertainment.

After the game, everyone is invited to stay to enjoy a special screening of the baseball movie The Sandlot. (The kid who played Benny in The Sandlot? Also Cuban. We're everywhere!)

My big, fat, Cuban family will be there all day on Sunday and we'd love to have you join us. I have two tickets to Sunday's game (in the Cuban section, of course) to give away to some lucky (?) reader.

If you live here in Southern California, or will be here next weekend and would like to hang with me and my big, fat, Cuban family at Dodger Stadium, here's your chance.

To enter this drawing for Two Tickets to the Los Angeles Dodgers Viva Los Dodgers Day, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or both of the following questions:

• Are you a baseball fan?
• Which team is your favorite? (Note: Just saying "Dodgers" does not improve your chances of winning.)

Please leave your comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Wednesday, August 28th, 2013 at 7:00 pm PST.

IMPORTANT: You must use a legitimate email address to comment and not just a Facebook link. I need to be able to contact the winner.

So, come on. Let's talk "beisbol."

Also, please just leave a comment only if you're interested in winning the tickets, any political comments will be deleted. Thanks.

Cubamerican at the Tower Theater, Miami - Ticket Giveaway

As you know, I love to promote projects by and for Cubans. In the month of September, I usually showcase the stories of Cuban exiles in my blog series, Cuando Sali de Cuba.

Our shared history is so compelling and our contributions and accomplishments are many and varied. The film, Cubamerican beautifully and artfully showcases the stories of many prominent Cubans. Their stories, like all of ours are filled with both unbearable sadness and unquenchable hope.

I had the privilege of seeing the film in a rough version last summer and I was blown away. This is a must-see, not just for Cubans, but for all lovers of liberty.

Here's an interview with José Enrique Pardo – Writer/Producer/ Director

Q: What spurred you to make this film?

A: My father’s death.  After he passed away I felt like my connection to Cuba had died with him and I wanted to commemorate his experience and mine.  I also wanted to provide a portal for my children and their children to remember the lives of their Cuban ancestors.  As it turned out, making the film revived my Cubania.  It was my father’s last gift to me.

Q: Of all the stories chronicled in Cubamerican which one is the most powerful to you?

A: All the stories are powerful, and though they share similarities they are all unique.  Anytime one is forced into exile from one’s homeland, it is a tragedy.  However, for me the stories of those characters who lost their parents and their families, who were never able to reunite with them, are the most compelling; they have an almost unbearable sadness.

Q: What would you like to see happen in Cuba?

A: The existence of a pluralistic democracy with free elections, which incorporates the philosophy of the American Declaration of Independence.  Namely, that we are all created equal and are endowed with the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  That government is necessary to secure those rights and derive their power from the consent of the citizenry not the military or a dictatorship.  And that whenever any government  abolishes or infringes upon those rights, as the Cuban government has done for so long, it is the right of the people to institute a new government that can effect their safety and happiness.  None of this exists in Cuba today.

Q: What is the purpose of your film?

A: I hope that the purpose of my film is to bring all Cubans closer together.  To show that hatred, force, and repression is evil and a curse on humanity and that it is forgiveness and compassion that bring us closer to the divine.

Q: What place do you think your film will occupy in Cuban history?

A: I don’t know if it will occupy a place in Cuban history I think it will occupy a place in Cuban-American history.   My film presents Cuban history as background and explanation for the Cuban-American condition but it does not dwell on Cuba.  More than anything else, my film shows the resiliency of the human spirit embodied in the characters of the film and the million more like them that risked everything for freedom and ultimately triumphed because of it. 

Cubamerican will be showing beginning Friday, June 14th in Miami at The Tower Theater • 1508 Southwest 8th Street, Miami, Fl.

They have graciously offered to give away 4 sets of 2 tickets to the Friday, June 14th showing of the film to MBFCF readers. Of course, this is available only to my South Florida friends. (Don't hate.)

In order to enter the Cubamerican Ticket Giveaway, please leave a comment here on this blog and answer the following questions:

• What year did your family come to the U.S?
• What part of Cuba are you from?

Please go "like" the Cubamerican La Pelicula Facebook page for an extra entry and come back and leave another comment saying, "I like Cubamerican."

I'll choose the winners on Wednesday, June 12th, 2013 at 11:00 AM PST.

About the Director:

José Enrique Pardo was born in Havana, Cuba, raised in Union City, New Jersey, and now resides in Los Angeles, California. He has written three novels (Dealing from Heaven, Leverage, Hurricanes) a collection of stories (Poised Upon the Precipice) and three screenplays (Persuasion, God’s Law and Feelanthropy).  José Enrique has previously produced and directed two short films (Proposition, Birthday Boy}.  Cubamerican is his first feature film.

Family Dinners

I probably shouldn't make such a big deal about it, but I do. Family Dinners are super important to me.

It has nothing to do with surveys or statistics. Although statistics are on the side of regular family dinners for keeping families connected and eating well.

Family Dinners are kind of sacred around here.

Confession: I don't always cook Cuban. But I do cook a lot. And there are always vegetables and salads and lots of variety in the main dishes, although we're mostly unapologetic carnivores.

My rules are that 1) dinner must be delicious and 2) phones must be off. The exception to the turning-off-phone rule is that you may take photos of your food, and you may even Instagram it, which everyone knows is why God gave us smart phones.

I know the Family Dinner thing is hopelessly old-fashioned. But as everyone has gotten busier, it seems to be the only place where we consistently connect and share as a family. I miss not having my older kids here as much, as they've gotten on with their busy lives. But when they are here we make it a point to have a feast.

In the interest of full disclosure, we also order pizza and take out Chinese food. But even then, we sit at our places and slow down enough to spend time together. Did I tell you that everyone has their own place at the table? (I know. Shut up.)

Ironically, yesterday, as I was working on this post, I had a terrible fibro episode. I did not even make dinner and every man was on his own. Those times make me glad that we have so many everybody-sit-down-together type meals. The free-for-all is much more the exception, rather than the rule.

I think the need to feed people and have them around the table comes from my happiest memories of my Cuban childhood. The Family Table was sacred. There was always lively conversation and delicious food. I wish we had more moments like this in our lives. This is why I've become so intentional in making Dinner Time so important.

In the Movie of My Life, most of the scenes and family exchanges will take place around the dinner table. In that silver-screen-fantasy there will also be someone else who cleans up after the meal, but that's not important right now.

When I see the faces of the ones I love best as they laugh and share and we listen to the stories about who said what and how their days went, there's no question that this is a good and solid tradition.

The only question left is: "What's for dessert?"

99 Red Balloons

My mom, Luza, celebrated her 99th birthday in February. You may recall that she asked if she could have balloons at her party.

How fabulous would it be if we could get 99 RED Balloons for the party? (Inspired by the 80's song of the same name, but that's not important right now.)

I took it up just a notch and asked everyone to please wear RED. And to bring her a RED gift. (Did I mention that my mom loves themes?)

So we had the party and I was struck with just how delighted Luza was with her 99 RED Balloons. Actually, everyone was struck with how fantastic they were.

When I originally went to order them, the guy at the party store asked if I didn't want 100. "No, thank you. There must be exactly 99." I know that my mom is a little OCD and that she would count. (She did.)

Here's Luza in all her 99 RED Balloon Glory:

What a fun and fitting way to celebrate her 99 years of life and the joy she's given all of us.

I'll never, ever forget the look on her face when she was surrounded by so much RED and so much love.

It was indeed...Priceless.

Is Anybody Listening?

It's barely 5:30 AM. I'm in the uber-hip offices of NPR in Los Angeles waiting to be called into the studio.

I'm cooling my heels in the lobby as I wait to be summoned into a recording studio to tape a segment about my recollections of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

October 22, 1962. I was only 7 years old and my family was living in Miami when I first heard that the world was about to come to an end. And it had something to do with Cuba. Of course.

Those days come back to my memory like grainy snapshots:

• Duck and cover drills at school where we had to hide under our desks. (Seriously, people?)
• Dinner conversations about what city might be the first to be hit. (We agreed, rather dispassionately, as I recall, that it would most likely be New York.)
• If the Russians were to start World War III from Cuba, would Cubans then be sent to camps like the Japanese during World War II?
• Nikita Kruschev (the name of the Soviet Premier at that time) was fun to say.
• President John F. Kennedy had betrayed the Cuban troops in April of 1961 at the Bay of Pigs. Could he be trusted this time when the entire world was poised for nuclear destruction?
• Would anyone be left standing?

Today marks the 50th anniversary (!) of the Cuban Missile Crisis and I was invited to share my Childhood Memories of the Cuban Missile Crisis on NPR with host Michel Martin. The segment is called Tell Me More. It will be airing today around 1:00 pm PST - click on the link at that time to listen. (I think I sound much taller on the radio, but that's not important right now.)

I remember the entire episode in a surreal and fearful manner. The world was on the brink of nuclear destruction and I would probably not live to see my 8th birthday. What a world.

Fidel Castro is on his deathbed as I write this. Wouldn't it be fitting if his life ended today? It would just be so much easier to remember the date that way.