Our Featured Guest- Mrs. Lu Flodine

We spoke to Mrs. Lu Flodine about what Hispanic History Month means to her. We are really grateful to her for sharing her family's story. Stories like those of her family are what makes our nation a mosaic of experiences, hope and promise. As she said and we affirm too; we are a lot more similar than different!

She also shared her pictures with us. Pictures that give us a glimpse of the Cuban culture which is similar but a bit different from other Hispanic cultures. I loved listening and learning from her stories and I hope you do too!

TMC: Thank you for talking to us! Let's begin!

You're welcome, my Dear!

TMC: What does Hispanic History Month mean to you?

Well, the Hispanic History month didn't really mean much of anything to me. Because that wasn't really a thing when I was growing up. I feel like this is more of a newer phenomenon. So, I guess if I were to think what it means to me, it's doing what we're doing now and just sharing, you know one person's story, and knowing that everybody has a story. Although we all have some differences, we all have some similarities too, and that goes the same with Hispanic people.

Maybe because I'm Hispanic, I didn't feel like I needed to celebrate something that I did every day in my life. It was just my daily life. I had such a close connection with Cuban people that I grew up with and was surrounded by, so, there really wasn't a need for me to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. But that doesn't mean that others don't have that need.

TMC: Do you prefer the term Hispanic or Latinx?

Well, the Spanish language has a masculine and feminine for pretty much all words. So, to me, by using the term Latinx you're denying that very basic part of the language. That's how the language has been forever, so I prefer Hispanic.

TMC: Hispanic History Month is a way to connect to your roots and know your family history. Would you like to share your family’s story with us?

That's a tricky one. But I will share a summary. My parents are both from Havana, Cuba, and they both came to the United States, as kids because of the Cuban Revolution. My mom was 13, and she was put on an airplane by herself so that she could have a chance at a better life here in the United States. Imagine being 13, not knowing the language, not having any money. She had somebody that was waiting for her here in the United States, her uncle. She was away from her parents for almost three years without ever knowing if she'd ever see them again. That was really hard and traumatic, but her parents felt it was more important for her to be put on a plane and have a chance at a better life where there's freedom.

My Dad was 16 when he left Cuba. He first went to Spain, with his grandmother, and his three- month old niece. At that time the (Cuban) government was trying to separate families. If a family requested permission to leave the country, the Cuban Goverment would only give it to part of the family. So it forced the family to make a choice as to who stayed, and who went. It forced the family to decide either to stay in Cuba under a dictatorship or send part of the family away and hope for the best. That's what happened to my Dad's family.

Then he migrated to the US. When he came here, he had about $4 in change and didn't speak the language. My dad still sounds like Ricky Ricardo from "I Love Lucy!" He has an accent even though he's lived here since he was 16. He's in his mid -70s now! My parents both ended up in the same city, and my mom ended up going to high school with my dad's sister and that is how they met. Then they got married, and they've been here ever since. It was a big decision for them and for their families to move here (to the U.S).

TMC: Culture also means food! What is your favorite Latino food?

My favorite lunch is called the Midnight Sandwich. It has roasted pork, sliced ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard, but the best part of it is the bread! The bread is an egg bread that makes it a little bit sweet, and then they put it in a flat iron, like a panini kind of style, so it gets super crispy on the outside but it's still like kind of soft on the inside, it's super yummy!! Then there are fried bananas chips. So there are two different kinds. One kind is sweet and the other is salty. Trader Joe's has some really good ones if you would like to try them. I was so happy to find those recently!

For dinner, it has kind of a funny name which is one of the reasons that I picked it but it's also one of my favorite dishes- is called Old clothes, " Ropa Vieja." It's shredded beef that is stewed in a tomato- based sauce. Usually, they serve it with rice and black beans, and sweet bananas. Our food is not spicy like Mexican food. It's more savory and uses garlic, onion, citrus, and olive oil. Oh! we can't forget about dessert! We enjoy flan which is a custard. This is something that is prepared slightly different from other Hispanic cultures. Each country has its own version of it. The Cuban version has caramelized sugar on the top and it's really sweet. Yummy!

(Dear readers, you can look and drool at the pictures at the bottom of the page! All descriptions are provided by Mrs. F!!)

TMC: You are Cuban. Would you like to tell us something about your culture?

I love the music. I grew up listening to salsa music and dancing to salsa. When girls turned 15 they have what's called the Quinceanera, which is different in different Latin cultures. So for me, it was a big, big deal. We had 200 people at this party, and everybody dressed up!

It was like a wedding without the groom! it was a pretty big party and it symbolizes that a 15- year -old is now becoming a young lady. It's the presentation into society. It would be similar to a Sweet -16 or Debutante Ball. We had a dance that we choreographed and there were 30 of my friends, including myself, and my chaperone- my date, and, we danced the waltz and the Cuban waltz.

(We have the cake pic, it's FANCY)!

TMC: How is the Cuban culture similar to or different from other Latin cultures?

That's a good question. So, we in Latin culture speak Spanish, so that is a commonality, some of the foods are the same, if not very similar- most Latin cultures have some form of beans and rice for example. There are some commonalities there. I think the love of family goes across Latin cultures, and that appreciation and value of family is really strong in the culture. But we're all different. Just like you know somebody in California would be different than someone from New York. Right? So yes, we speak the same language but there might be some words that might mean something different to me than to somebody in Mexico, for example. I have to ask them, "what does that mean?" I'll share a story about when my husband and I went to Spain a long time ago. We were getting directions from somebody, and he was speaking so fast in Spanish. They pronounce their letters differently than in my Spanish, So after we got the directions, and I looked at my husband and he looked at me, he goes, "Well what did he say?" and I said, "I don't know!!" I did not understand him and we laughed. I thought Spanish was my first language!!!

TMC: What are stereotypes of being Hispanic that you would like people to stop using?

I think that it's important to know that Hispanics come in every color of the rainbow. I think there's an assumption about what Hispanics look like. If you were to go to Cuba, for example, you would find people that are fairer-skinned than me with blond hair and blue eyes, like my grandmother. She had blond hair and blue eyes. You would also find people that were very dark. Sometimes people say, "Oh you're Hispanic, I didn't know that." I might ask, "Well, why not?" "Well because you're not that dark." Well that's okay. We come in all different colors. So it's just knowing that we need to look at the person's character, and not what we think we know about a culture.

TMC: One last question. We at The Mustang Chronicle are trying to inform our readers about diversity in America through these special features. What would like to tell our readers?

It's really important to not judge a book by its cover and to not look at a person and make assumptions about them based on what you've heard on the media or from what your others tell you. But to really just try and understand the person. We're all people. We all have hearts and our blood runs the same color. We all go through emotions. We all feel pain. We all feel joy. If we just understand people for who they are, and accept them for who they are, I think we'll all be a little better off. It's just really that simple.

TMC: Thank you for your time.

You are welcome, Dear!