Mamey milkshake./ Batido de Mamey.

 Mamey fruit

                                                      
                             Mamey milkshake./ Batido de Mamey

I have not been back to my country of origin, Cuba, for a while now; but today I made a mamey milkshake (batido de mamey) and it felt like I went to Cuba and cameback. It is just the flavour that traditionally we feel a milkshake must have. It is a taste adored by our grandparents and us.

Many of us now are living in other countries where traditions are different so it is not so easy to access to our Cuban products. I had many years without this drink and the last time I enjoyed it was in Miami, Florida, in a place called “El Palacio de los Jugos” a site as Cuban as any other in Cuba, and my wish was to find the fruit in Australia.  

A friend purchased the mamey for me in Queensland and it was fantastic. The flavour is a combination of vanilla, peach, pawpaw. I made a milkshake with 80 g of frozen fruit, 1 cup of milk, 1 tsp of honey and ice cubes.

Homosexuality. / Homosexualidad.

                                                    

                                           Cuban Street.

In Latin American countries homosexuality is not well understood. They think it is a disease that you could get if you associate with people like that. They think that people make a decision to be gay or not at a certain point in their life.

This type of thinking causes conflicts between homosexuals and heterosexuals. Comments like “people think you are gay if you are a friend of one”. Parents advise their children not to associate with a gay, because the rumors can be very damaging in a small town.

These attitudes can occur when there is little knowledge or teachings and not being prepared to accept diversity of any kind, of race, sexual preferences, ideology, cultural, etc.

Those people critical of gays are less prepared mentally to live in this world. They have incapacity to live with people who do not fit their stereotype.



Cuban Mix feelings. / Sentimientos encontrados.



                                                          Melia Cohiba Hotel, Cuba.






                                                                    Cuban man.



                                      
Sometimes I feel shame when I find myself speaking in English to Cubans, but later I look for reasons and there they are.

It seems that the years I spent living in hotels in Havana with my fiancé and being constantly asked by security for my identification (Cubans were not allowed to stay in the hotels) those experiences took a toll on me. In some way I was not in trouble if I looked like a foreigner in my country. My Cuban looks were not accepted in the Melia Cohiba hotel pool; I went on to bleach my hair and speak English so I could be free of harassment. This worked.

There are other reasons too; I grew to feel uncomfortable whenever a Cuban man approaches me. Their conversation very often was of a sexual nature with innuendos and it could vary from nice to very rude. I lost my taste for that type of communication which is very much part of Cuban culture.

La Playa. / The Beach.

                                          
                                           Santa Maria beach, Cuba.

                                                  

Remembering my trips to the beach in Cuba we would wake up early in the morning and meet at a particular place to take the tractor or bus that would transport us to the coast.

My friend’s mother would be offered as a bonus from her job, trips to the best beaches around, these were virgin beaches. Some employees and their guests were fortunate to have this opportunity to experience the best beaches our country had to offer until those white sand paradises where taken to build hotel villas for the sole use of foreign tourists.

My friend’s mother would take to the beach some food she had prepared the day before, the popular choice was tayuyos, a corn dish we enjoy in Cuba.

We never used anything like sunscreen. In one hour our skins would start to burn on the shoulders and face. This did not present a problem for us until 4 hours later when we would be returning home all burnt, salty, tired and exhausted from so much sun and sea.

I think we were a bit lucky we have olive skin which may be more resistant to the damaging radiation. We never had heard before anything about skin cancer in Cuba.

Cubans were not allowed to visit those white sand beaches until recently when the laws were changed. Such places, for many years were exclusively for foreign tourists. Cubans risked a visit to the police station if they dare to go near by.

Here in Australia the beaches are open to be used by all. It used to amaze me that we could go there without paying one cent and everybody is free to use it.

Volunteers. / Trabajo voluntario.

In Cuba the government for many years has made extra efforts in making Cubans attend to “volunteer jobs”. For a better understanding what happens is that we are assigned certain jobs and told that it is voluntary, but if you do not attend you can get in serious trouble in your job or school. This form of “volunteer” practice has made us feel apathy towards it.

I guess that we humans can show certain values only when they are coming from our inside convictions and not from an imposed model.

It is a thought that comes to the mind when I see the Brisbane people volunteering in masses for the clean up of their city after the flooding last week, helping each other like brothers and sisters with a common interest in their community.

My Cuban Paintings. / Mis Pinturas Cubanas.

Cuban Woman.

By Yudian.

 Oil on Canvas.

Price $ 1200

Dessert Dreaming.

By Yudian.

Oil on Canvas.

Price $ 1200

Framed.

Cuban Lady.

By Yudian.

Oil on Canvas.

Price $ 1200

Framed.

Cubana.

By Yudian.

Oil on Canvas.

Price $1200

Framed.

Snail Woman.

By Yudian.

Oil on Canvas.

Price $ 1200 

Framed.

A dance to the Sun.

                                                             By Yudian.

Oil on Canvas.

Price $1200

Framed.

Sugar Cane Woman.

By Yudian.

Oil on Paper.

Price $ 1200

Framed.

Feathers.

By Yudian.

Oil on Canvas.

Price $ 1200

 Framed.

Keep Walking.

By Yudian.

Oil on Paper.

Price $ 1200
Framed.
SOLD

 

Butterfly.

By Yudian.

Oil on Canvas.

Price $ 1200

Framed.

Icarus.

By Yudian.

Oil on Paper.

Price $ 1200

Framed.

Rock Woman.

By Yudian.

Oil on Canvas.

Price $ 1200

Framed.    

Festive treats.

Gorgeous mini Christmas puddins.

 


                                    
                                                                         Macaroons

Key lime pie.

The festive season gave me an opportunity to share some of my desserts; all of them were a big success. I feel very happy and proud when this happens. I enjoyed sharing the results of my cookery passion so it is not only me who enjoys my cooking.

         

                                

                                                       Christmas kitchen.

                                                   

Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home

Nigella Christmas: Food Family Friends Festivities

Christmas. / Navidades.

                                                 

                                              

                                                  Church in Cuba.

                                                  

We do not know how to celebrate Christmas in Cuba. Some people do go to the church that day but the rest of the population spend Christmas evening with the expectation of something to celebrate but they do not have an idea of what or how to celebrate it.

Our Christian commemorations lost their appeal long ago when the communist party members where advised not to display any interest in religion and in our schools we were never told anything about the existence of the Bible. It seemed pretty clear in our textbooks that people with religious beliefs were ignorant. Any celebration we were allowed to have was only to commemorate the Revolution and its heroes. However, the older people would always remember Easter (Pascuas y Semana Santa)

It feels sad for me now that I live in Australia to know all the celebrations we were forbidden to have in Cuba. The church in present times may not be so important for some, especially after so many sexual abuse scandals, but in some other countries it was one of the first choices people were denied.

Nowadays, years after the 1998 Pope John Paul II visit to Cuba we have a more open space for religion, more people are involved in the church and there is a proliferation of different religions groups with diversity of beliefs.

There has always been an important presence in Cuba of an African imported religion practice called Santeria. It  is a very common sight in The Havana streets to find mulatto girls walking by, all dressed up in white and showing distinctive Yoruba necklaces, a vision that adds certain charm to the city.

It has taken me years living abroad to embrace the Christmas spirit, years to learn the traditional recipes, colours, and symbols that represent such a beautiful festive season. I am grateful because I got such an opportunity.

Religion in Cuba