A Letter from Miami, Florida, USA

A Letter from...

Miami, Florida, USA

Dear Friends,

The story of the little Cuban boy really touched me.... but well, what can I say when I know who is this special Cuban boy!!!!

For me moving to Madrid in 1961 after leaving Cuba was a real experience!!!! I was told that we were going on vacations to meet our Spanish family for the first time . Madrid was such a big city, I remember that people looked at us as if we were "extraterrestrials" the way we dressed was so different. Everything was so gloomy, dark and of course COLD!!!!! Our Spanish family was great; they welcomed us with opened arms. We were referred as " las cubanas" and guess what... we are still called that way!!!! But to tell you the truth when they ask me, "Where are you from?" I always say: "Well, Cuban, Spaniard and American."

The first year we went to a small school in Arturo Soria called THE NORTH AMERICAN SCHOOL OF MADRID. This was "la primera prueba de fuego" for almost all the students were Americans, little Spanish was spoken but we had great teachers, specially the English teacher that helped both my sister and I. The school closed after one year and in 1963 we joined ASM. There also we were helped because our English was not so good. I remember one summer that we had to go to summer school to speed up our reading abilities!!! Mr. Hawkins was very helpful!!!!

In my case I speak three languages, which by the way have been very helpful in my life. When I moved to the States I was hired because I was able to speak and write "la lengua de Cervantes". My French (thanks to Mme Asunsolo) has always been helpful. For many years I worked with Swiss (French speaking) and now I am working with French!!!!!

Your friend,

Xamara

Last Updated:
12 July 2003