Growing up Cuban- American means you grew up in America with parents that are Cuban immigrants. It does not matter if you were born here or came when you were little, your life will forever be between the American culture and your parents’ Cuban style.

Here is what it means to be a Cuban-American :

It means that while your friends were going to girl scouts on the weekend or summer camps you were most likely going away for the weekend to a family house in the middle of nowhere or spending your summers in Miami, Fl visiting other family members and learning to fish with a yo-yo.
It means that you weren’t allowed to sleep over anyone’s house but everyone could sleepover yours!
It means that when you were in high school, even though you were a good student and a good girl, you had a curfew and it was a 10 pm. Even at 18-years-old. But your 15 years old brother could get home at 3 am and that was totally cool.
It means that every family dinner was at the dinner table with no cell phone or tv. – I mean every time.
It means that Sundays were designated for family time. ONLY!
It means that you weren’t allowed to have a boyfriend until you were married, period.
It also means that you are most likely frowned upon if you decide to move in with your future fiance before the wedding. – And your aunt will most likely say something about it in the family reunion.
It means that you didn’t celebrate Christmas but instead the night before- a.k.a Noche Buena (Christmas’ Eve). Your Christmas Day was spent recovering from all the Lechon and Arroz Moro.
It means that family was number one no matter what. Before you could speak a full sentence at the age of one your parents would ask you: “what’s the most important thing in the world?” and you would respond, “La Familia”.
It means that the most important thing to your family is getting a college education and becoming a doctor or lawyer. And that is what success is.
It means that you only did good in school if you got 100 on all your classes, a 90 equals failing to a Cuban parent.
It means that you grew up hearing stories about how your parents and their parents left Cuba with nothing to come to America to create something.
It means that you learned to work for everything because nothing came free. -and your mom would make sure you knew by saying ” Tu crees que el dinero cae del cielo?” – Do you think money falls from the sky?
It means that you learned to speak Spanish or you couldn’t communicate with your grandparents.
It means that your grandmother was a genius at sewing and she made all your outfit growing up. Sometimes from curtains!
It means that you’d grown up loving the smell of pork cooking in “Una Caja China” on the morning of Noche Buena, and all the other days you woke up to the smell of Cafe Bustelo.
BOTTOM LINE…It meant you grew up with resilience.

Growing up Cuban- American was hard as a kid, I didn’t get why we had to be so close and share so much time with my family. Why my parents were so strict and everything had to be a certain way. Being that I am an adult now, and sometimes act like one, I can say I’ve learned the why behind all those rules and traditions and I get it. I definitely get it.

Growing up Cuban-American was about being born in a country where your opportunities were endless and where you needed discipline and character to achieve those endless opportunities. Because they, your family, did risk it all, that meant they wouldn’t put up with anything less than amazing. Which is where I get my resilience from (something I truly pride myself on).

Going to Cuba for the first time, and meeting family that I had never met before, made me ‘get it’. Also, it made me so DAMN PROUD!

If you’re Cuban-American too give me some love below and tell me if I missed anything on this list too!