I grew up in a household where coffee, milk and sugar were part of balanced breakfast.

I grew up in a household where my ADD was treated with a ‘sopla moco’ rather than Ritalin. 

I grew up in a household where my ADHD was treated with ‘en cuanto te coja te voy a partir la cabeza’ instead of Ritalin. 

I grew up in a household where all it took was just one look. 

I grew up in a household where white rice and fried eggs was considered comida de puta. 

I grew up in a household where lentil soup was considered comida de preso.

I grew up in a household where Spanish was my primary language.

I grew up in a household where Spanish was my only language.

I grew up in a house where we went to the beach every Sunday, instead of to church.

I grew up in a household where we were Catholic but never went to church because only ‘la gente bien hija de puta van a la iglesia’.

I grew up in a household where I wrote my own absence notes for school and my mother signed them. 

I grew up in household where I had to go to my school’s open house to translate for my parents. 

I grew up in a household where my parents didn’t understand anything that my report card said. 

I grew up in a household where my sister and I shared a room until I was seventeen. 

I grew up in a household where you couldn’t use the phone at 8:45 pm because we were waiting for ‘el primer numero’ de la bolita. 

I grew up in a household where music was never played on Good Friday. 

I grew up in a household where TV was not watched on Good Friday. 

I grew up in a household where you couldn’t sweep your house on Good Friday or se te llenaba la casa de hormigas. 

I grew up in a household where we ate bacalao on Good Friday because all other fish was too expensive. 

I grew up in a household where we didn’t have Easter Egg hunts. 

I grew up in household where we ate Lechon at Thanksgiving. 

I grew up in a household where we ate Lechon at Nochebuena. 

I grew up in a household where we ate Lechon at birthday parties. 

I grew up in a household where we ate Lechon at every social function. 

I grew up in a household where malanga was the remedy to end all remedies. 

I grew up in a household where I could have café con leche for breakfast but I was too young for a buchito de café. 

I grew up in a household where we watched la Novela while we were having dinner.

I grew up in a household where we took La guagua 11 to Midway Mall y la guagua 15 to El Downtown. 

I grew up in a household where all the adult parties were in the basement pero no te podías meter en el basement con nadie. 

I grew up in a household where I was not allowed to have a sleepover at anybody’s house nor could anyone have a sleepover in mine. 

I grew up in a household where we didn’t need cable because we only watched one Spanish channel. 

I grew up in a household where the closest thing to a sitcom was ‘Soltero y Sin Compromiso con Guillermo de Cun’. 

I grew up in a household where the next best thing to a sitcom was ‘Popa en Nueva York’ with Lilia Lazo. 

I grew up in a household where we went to see movies at the Teatros Tivoli, Trail and Marti because they showed movies with subtitles in Spanish – Dirty Harry: Harry El Sucio; The Exoricst: El Exorcista; Airport 75: Trajedia Aérea en el año 1975. 

I grew up in a household in West Hialeah. 

I grew up in a household in East Hialeah. 

I grew up in a household in Westchester. 

I grew up in a household in Union City. 

I grew up in a household in Elizabeth. 

I grew up in a household in Coral Gables. 

I grew up in a household near La Calle Ocho. 

I grew up in a household where we were rich in Cuba but poor in Miami. 

I grew up in a household where we were poor in Cuba and rich in Miami. 

I grew up in a household where my mother went to la peluquería on Saturday morning. 

I grew up in a household where the carpool was El Ride, el carrito was the lunchman y la lonchera was the lunch box. 

I grew up in a household where la carne was from la carnicería and the groceries were from la bodega. 

I grew up in a household where meat and potatoes was literally Carne con Papas.

I grew up in a household where Oxtail Stew had the colorful name of Rabo Encendido or a fiery tail. 

I grew up in a household where people were either blanco, negro, indio or chino. 

I grew up in a household where we drank Bustelo because El Pico was for Puerto Ricans. 

I grew up in a household where we ate frijoles negros and colorados. 

I grew up in a household where the oven was used to store las cazuelas and the oil. 

I grew up in a household where los perros was the dog track, las maquinitas were slot machines and el juego was anything related to gambling. 

I grew up in a household where el juego was part of our everyday life. 

I grew up in a household run by Cubans. 

I survived a household run by Cubans. 

I now run a household… just like the household in which I grew up. 

Written by Juan Hernandez as included in More Cuban, That’s All!  

http://www.morecta.com