What most of you do not know is that I have a new roommate. Her name is Alinita and she is from Cuba and has lived there for 42 years of her life. She is Michele’s cousin. Michele worked hard to give her the opportunity to immigrate out of Cuba. She has moved to Ecuador for the long hall.
She had left Cuba one time before this, I believe about twenty years, where she visited Germany. Her sister has a Spanish husband and lives in Germany, so she is calling there a lot.
Alinita is a dentist in Cuba, and highly educated. She has never lived away from her family and is sort of shy. I like having her around the house, and there is a definite improvement in my spanish. There are a lot of cultural differences that sometimes thoroughly shock me.
She had never used a microwave before. The first time she used it she put a piece of bread in for eight minutes. The desk I am writing this on is probably softer than that bread. Also she was making soup and wanted to brown the chicken first. She asked (thank god) if she could achieve this in the microwave. I let her know that we (at least me) do no cook food in the microwave, we merely warm it up. I think this sort of bewildered her.
Her first experience with a nectarine was not as funny, as they are an import item in Ecuador and are sort of expensive. I had bought myself five for the week and she ate 3 and a half of them! I had a similar experience with Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup (an expensive import if there ever was one.)
She has become thoroughly obsessed with the internet and the computer. We spent one entire night surfing youtube for Cuban music videos. Needless to say, the production is not quite VH-1 worthy. Her friends are sending her a lot of ecards and she loves all of their ridiculous nonsense.
She is having a hard time adjusting to living in Ecuador. She hates the climate and is constantly frozen. Quito is not that cold, but when it get to 60 degrees F she almost faints. Her second day here, we had to buy her a warm winter coat. It has faux-fur and everything.
Alinita applied for a job last week, but was very nervous. She had never in her life seen the modern dental equipment in the clinic. Cuba, though excellent healthcare, is a little behind the times in modern dentistry. When the man who runs the clinic told her that a lot of people come in for teeth whitening she had to ask what it was. The notion of vanity never really entered the cuban medical system it seems.
She is very nervous about working. We told her she can stay on our couch for as long as she needs to do so. I am expecting we will get her setup and on her own sometime in April. I have researched information for her to immigrate to the United States, but she does not seem interested in that process. This, I would assume, is because she cannot speak any English.
I am having a good time with her, the quarters are tight, but not really that bothersome. I hope she gains some self-confidence about this job stuff. It must be incredibly difficult for her to see what the world outside of the Island has turned into.