TCNJ

23 Galindo (second from left) is pictured with (right) her great-aunt, Isolina, and her great-uncle, Roberto Beltrán. To the left of Galindo is Isolina's daughter, Bettis. FOR KAITLYN GALINDO '15, TRAVELING TO CUBA MEANT FINALLY MEETING HER GREAT-UNCLE. I'd grown up hearing stories about my family in Cuba—especially about Roberto, my abuela's brother. My grandparents on my mother's side left Cuba in 1964 when they could no longer put food on the table for their children. My abuela, my grandmother, couldn't tell her father or brother she was leaving because both were strict Communists and would have stopped her. They might have even had her arrested. Still, my abuela remained close with my great-uncle after coming to the U.S., and so, when I left for Cuba last winter, I lugged a suitcase stuffed with 50 pounds of goodies she wanted me to bring to him: Goya spices, Café Bustelo, sugar-free chocolate, razors—all things that are prohibitively expensive in Cuba. When I first saw Roberto in Cuba, I cried. I was overwhelmed. He looked just like my abuela: short and gordito (a little chunky), with blue eyes and pale skin. We hugged and kissed, and it felt like we had known each other our entire lives. A few days later, I traveled with him through La Habana and Cotorro. He showed me the little pink house where he and my abuela had grown up. I walked down the narrow streets she once took to work as a typist at GE. I went to church with a woman named Rosario who'd been her best friend when they were kids. Roberto, still a strict Communist, waited outside, but afterward he told me that regardless of our political views—and how different those are and will always be—we're family. We just won't ever discuss politics. I'm excited that relations between the U.S. and Cuba are normalizing. My great-aunt and -uncle are in favor of the changes, too. My great-aunt visited the U.S. once, alone, and loved it here, especially that so much was new. I'm not sure Roberto will ever come north, but he's happy that it will be easier for us to visit him. In fact, he invited me to come back after graduation. Now I can go. This time, my parents and grandmother will come, too. —as told to Molly Petrilla Above: The faces painted on the wall——Julio Antonio Mella, Camilo Cienfuegos, and Che Guevara——symbolize Cuba's Young Communist League. "To Americans, it's an intimidating reminder of the authoritarian state. Cubans obviously see it much differently," says photographer Alexander Cary '17. "What struck me was how commonplace propaganda was." Facing page: A man sells fruit in an open-air market in Callejón de Hamel, an alley in Havana that is the epicenter of Afro-Cuban culture. Photo by Lois Fichner-Rathus. "Hola, tío abuelo"

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