Days of Awe

by Achy Obejas

  And, of course, mil gracias, mil besos to Tania Bruguera.

  GLOSSARY

  Words are in Spanish unless otherwise noted.

  “¡Abajo Fidel!” “Down with Fidel!”

  Abuelo Grandfather.

  aché (Yoruba) Grace, a blessing.

  “Adim chanath chouts Lilith.” (Hebrew) “May Lilith keep her distance”—a reference to Lilith, often believed to be Adam’s first, rebellious wife. In the kabala, she’s the moon goddess and wife of the serpent who seduces Eve. In patriarchal Jewish lore, she devours newborn babies. In modern times, she is a feminist Jewish icon.

  “Ah, ¿el turco? Sí, sí como no.” “Ah, the Turk? Yes, yes, certainly.”

  aliyah (Hebrew) Immigration to Israel.

  amar To love; romantic love.

  anusim (Hebrew) The coerced ones, forcibly converted Jews. Both anusim and conversos profess Catholicism but practice Judaism covertly; the anusim are forced, the conversos may or may not be forced.

  arroz con pollo Traditional Cuban chicken and yellow rice dish.

  Bahía de Cochinos Bay of Pigs.

  balseros Rafters; people who leave Cuba on anything that will float.

  barbacoa Loft spaces, usually resulting from overcrowding in multigenerational homes. The Cuban housing situation is dire and has in recent years produced a surprising and embarrassing number of homeless people.

  “Baruch attah Adonai, elohainu melach ha olam, ha motzi—” (Hebrew) “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, king of the universe who brings forth—” First words of blessing said over bread.

  bizcocho (Judeo-español/Spanish) Cake.

  bohíos The thatched huts in which people in Cuba’s rural and poor areas live.

  brit milah (Hebrew) Ritual circumcision.

  brujería Witchcraft, usually santería or palo monte.

  buenas Hello.

  campesino Peasant.

  castellano Castillian; the original Spanish of Castille.

  ceiba Silk-cotton trees, believed sacred in Afro-Cuban religions.

  CDR Comités de Defensa de la Revolución, or Committees in Defense of the Revolution: Set up like block clubs, these are the Cuban government cells that keep track of a neighborhood’s activities, including the comings and goings of citizens. Generally reviled by Cubans, they’re considered dangerous, as a bad report by the local CDR can ruin a person’s chances for certain jobs, services, housing, or educational opportunities. On the other hand, they are an effective watch against crime.

  Changó In santería, the god of thunder. He is playful, sexual, and temperamental. In his Christianized form he appears as Santa Bárbara, a flaming-haired female warrior riding a stallion or standing next to a castle tower.

  chinelas (Judeo-español/Spanish) Slippers.

  colero Vernacular. During the Special Period, when lines were exceedingly long, these were persons who illegally charged others to hold their place in line while they ran around doing other errands.

  “Compañera, ¿qué hora es?” “Comrade, what time is it?”

  converso Converted, forcibly or voluntarily; the polite word, along with New Christian, for Christianized Jews who continued to privately practice their ancestral faith. Both anusim and conversos profess Catholicism but practice Judaism covertly; the anusim are forced, the conversos may or may not be forced.

  criollo(a) Literally, creole, but in fact it doesn’t refer to race or racial mixing; what it means is Cuban-born, quintessentially Cuban.

  Cuba Libre “Free Cuba.” A drink made from rum and Coke; also called mentirita, or “little lie,” in many exile enclaves, meant as commentary on the revolution.

  cubanismo The essence of being Cuban.

  cubanitas Young Cuban girls; little female Cubans.

  “Dios mío.” “My god.”

  diplo-tiendas Diplo-stores; retail establishments in Cuba for diplomats, foreigners, and the extremely privileged. They were fixtures in the late eighties and early nineties but have become less elite after the legalization of the U.S. dollar in 1993.

  el innombrable The unnameable one.

  Elegguá One of the deities in santería; a god who opens and closes doors, creating opportunities; the messenger of the gods. Also refers to the figures or icons representing the god, usually made of clay or wood, shells, and other natural items, molded into a headlike shape. May be placed behind doors or on altars.

  “En Cuba, no habrá gobierno de transición.” “In Cuba, there will be no transitional government.”

  “¿Es tu primera vez en Cuba?” “Is this your first time in Cuba?”

  facha (Judeo-español/Spanish) Literally, face, but can also mean general makeup or dress.

  flan An egg custard made throughout Spain and Latin America, with regional variations.

  goral (Hebrew) Fate, destiny, the inevitable.

  golem (Hebrew) Literally, a lump of clay (or mud, tar, etc.), a mass crudely shaped like a human, sometimes gigantic in proportions. Also a mythical figure who was made from inanimate material but under a kabalistic spell has come to life. Can also mean a dummy, an idiot, the ignorant masses. In the Hebrew vernacular, it means fool.

  guajíras Folk songs, usually associated with rural life.

  guayabera A four-pocket shirt used in the tropics, which can be either casual or formal.

  güije A spirit, usually associated with rivers. He is frequently accused of stealing children, but often also blamed for sexual raptures.

  gusano A pejorative used to mean Cubans exiled from the revolutionary government; literally means “worms” but actually refers to the shape of the bags used by the first wave of refugees, who left by planes or ferries.

  Habana Vieja Old Havana, the historic colonial district at the city’s eastern end.

  habaneros Natives, residents of Havana.

  ha-motzi (Hebrew) Traditional blessing at mealtime.

  hadas Fairies, supernatural beings.

  haham (Ladino/judeo-español) Sephardic rabbi.

  “¿Hasta cuándo, Fidel?” “Until when, Fidel?”

  judeo-español The oral language of the Jews expelled from Spain at the end of the fifteenth century, a mix of Castillian Spanish, Ladino (which, in its pure form, was used mostly for liturgical purposes), and Hebrew. In the diaspora, judeo-español was deeply affected by Turkish, Greek, and French. It is now spoken mostly by elderly Sephardim.

  judío Literally, Jew. Also refers to the straw figures torched during Holy Week in certain cities in Cuba, such as Santiago.

  kabalat shabat (Hebrew) Friday night worship services.

  kaparot (Ladino/Hebrew) A distinctly Sephardic ritual before Yom Kippur in which live chickens are used as absorbents of sin and evil. It parallels an Afro-Cuban ritual called a limpieza or despojo, in which chickens are used for the same reason. It is impossible to tell if the rituals occurred as a result of influence from one another, if it was brought to the Iberian peninsula from Africa, or brought to Cuba by Jews, hidden or otherwise, and adapted by the slaves, most of whom came from modern-day Benin and Nigeria.

  “¿la china?” “The Chinese woman?”

  la esquina del pecado The intersection of San Rafael and Galiano in downtown Havana, at the center of the business district. Literally means “Sin Corner,” but in fact it was simply a favorite cruising area in the fifties.

  la Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre The Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, a city on Cuba’s far east coast. This virgin, who is said to have appeared as a small wooden icon that washed up on the shore and was found by a local, is the island’s patron saint. She corresponds to Ochún in the Yoruba pantheon.

  Ladino The liturgical language of the Sephardim, particularly those descended directly from Spain.

  “Las ocho” Eight o’clock.

  lechón Roast pork, Cuban-style.

  m’hijo Vernacular version of mi hijo: my son.

  malanga A root used widely in Cuban cuisine, it’s steamed, fried, or boiled; also known as taro in Polynesian and other A
sian cuisines.

  Malecón The seawall around Havana, it also serves as a broad boulevard where locals stroll, particularly in the evening.

  mamey A red, juicy Cuban fruit with a very hard seed in the middle; very sweet.

  maricón Pejorative; faggot, homosexual. Female variant: mariconas, but not very common.

  mariposas After Cuban exiles, who’d been pejoratively called gusanos, or worms, were welcomed back as visitors to the island in the 1980s, Cubans cynically referred to them as mariposas, or butterflies.

  marrano Literally, pig. Pejorative term for crypto-Jews from the time of the Inquisition to the present. Until contemporary times and the popular acceptance of anusim it was often the only available descriptive for persons who were publicly Catholic and privately Jewish.

  “Me muero, me muero” “I’m dying, I’m dying.”

  “Me muero por ti” “I’m dying for you.”

  mezuzot (Hebrew) Containers filled with a tiny prayer scroll, usually placed at the entrance to a room.

  mi negra Literally, “my black one”; vernacular: an endearment.

  mi vida Literally, “my life”; an endearment, along the lines of “my dear.”

  milicianos Cuban militia, particularly visible in the early years of the revolution.

  minyan (Hebrew) The minimum of ten males needed for formal Orthodox prayer.

  “Mir sind pleitim!” (Yiddish) “We’re refugees!”

  mohel (Hebrew) The person charged with performing ritual circumcision.

  mojito A delicious Cuban drink made with rum, lime juice, and mint.

  muchachas Girls; young women.

  mulata(o) A person of mixed race, usually of African and European descent.

  “Ner Adonai nishmat adam” (Hebrew) “The human spirit is the lamp of God.”

  “No es fácil” “It’s not easy.” Since the Special Period, this is the Cuban national creed. It is employed constantly, indiscriminately, for any reason whatsoever.

  norteamericanos Technically, North Americans, but generally refers to U.S. citizens only, not Canadians and Mexicans. Most Cubans, like their Latin American counterparts, see themselves as Americans—natives of the Americas—and find the habit of those born in the United States to refer to themselves exclusively as American as arrogant.

  ñángara (Yoruba) Vernacular, pejorative; Communist.

  oriental Native of Oriente province, on Cuba’s east end.

  orishas (Yoruba) African deities.

  “Oye” “Hey.”

  paleros Practitioners of palo monte, an Afro-Cuban religion akin to santería, but more determined in its relationship with the dead and more assertive in its dealings with evil.

  paredón The thick wall against which firing squads shoot their victims.

  Pesaj The Spanish transliteration of the Hebrew word for Passover; Pesach.

  Pioneros In Cuba, a Scouts-like Communist organization, compulsory for all children up to fourteen years of age.

  piquera Vernacular: taxi stand.

  piropos Street flirtations, usually presented in exaggerated fashion.

  Playa Girón The Cuban name for Bay of Pigs.

  “Por el amor de dios.” “For the love of god.”

  por favor Please.

  porvenir A hopeful future, the hereafter.

  prenda judía Literally, Jewish jewel. But in palo monte, an Afro-Cuban spirituality known for its aggression, this is one of the most powerful altar pieces and has as its centerpiece a sliver from a human skull or bone that must come from a non-Christian person.

  qué What.

  “¿Qué me está pasando?” “What’s happening to me?”

  “¿Qué qué?” “What?”

  querer To love, most common usage. Literally means to want, to desire.

  “¿Quíen es?” “Who is it?”

  “¡Señores imperialistas, no les tenemos absolutamente ningún miedo!” “Imperialist gentlemen, we have absolutely no fear of you!”

  santería A religious practice created out of necessity by African slaves in Cuba, who recast their gods in Christian forms to appease their masters and gain favor with the local priests. Sometimes the African deities correspond to existing Christian saints, such as the Virgin Mary, but other times they are invented out of whole cloth, such as Santa Bárbara.

  santero A santería priest, a holy man, or shaman in Afro-Cuban religions.

  santiagueros Natives of Santiago de Cuba.

  Santo Oficio The Holy Office, a branch of the Spanish Inquisition.

  “¡Se la llevaron!” “They took her!”

  señorita Miss, a young woman; also, a virgin.

  Sh’ma Ysra’el, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai ehad (Hebrew) Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.

  shiva (Hebrew) Jewish mourning period. shofar (Hebrew) Ram’s horn used to signal the start of the High Holidays.

  sí Yes. Without the accent, it means “if.”

  siddur (Hebrew) Prayer book.

  “Somos socialistas . . . pa’lante y pa’lante . . . y al que no le guste . . . que tome purgante!” “We’re socialists . . . forward, forward . . . and whoever doesn’t like it . . . can just stick it!”

  te amo I love you (romantic).

  “¡Te llevaron!” “They took you!”

  te quiero I love you; common usage. Also means I want you, I desire you.

  tefillin (Hebrew) Two small black boxes, biblical in origin, containing prayers, which Orthodox Jewish men are required to wear each weekday morning. These are held in place by black leather straps.

  toques de santo In santería, feasts to honor particular orishas, or saints.

  tostones Fried green plantains.

  “Una guajirita en la capital.” “A little hillbilly in the capital.”

  vaca frita Literally, fried cow; a dish of shredded, fried beef.

  “Vamos” Let’s go.

  vaquita Little cow.

  vega A tobacco field.

  ¡Ya! Enough!

  yanqui A mispronunciation of “yankee(s)”; Cubans much prefer yanqui as a pejorative for North Americans to gringo, which is more Mexican—some say gringo comes from “green coat,” in reference to the nineteenth-century uniforms worn by North American cavalry along the Texas/Mexico border.

  yeudim (Ladino/judeo-español) Jewish.

  “Y’hey sh’lama raba min sh’ma-ya . . .” (Hebrew/Aramaic) The closing lines of the Mourner’s Kaddish: “May God grant abundant peace and life to us and to all Israel. Let us say: Amen . . .”

  zafra Sugarcane harvesting season.

  SELECTED READINGS

  Bejarano, Margalit. La Comunidad Hebrea de Cuba. Jerusalem: Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry, 1996.

  Betto, Frei. Fidel and Religion. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987.

  Bolívar Aróstegui, Natalia. Los Orishas en Cuba. Havana: PM Ediciones, 1994.

  Fergusson, Erna. Cuba. New York: Knopf, 1946.

  Garcia del Pino, César, and Carlos M. Díaz Gámez. En Torno a un Criptojudío: Dos Enfoques. Havana: Ediciones Unión, 1995.

  Gatewood, Willard B., Jr. Smoked Yankees and the Struggle for Empire: Letters from Negro Soldiers, 1898–1902. Little Rock: University of Arkansas, 1987.

  Gitlitz, David M. Secrecy and Deceit: The Religion of the Crypto-Jews. Philadelphia and Jerusalem: The Jewish Publication Society, 1996.

  Levine, Robert M. Tropical Diaspora: The Jewish Experience in Cuba. Gainesville: University of Florida, 1993.

  Ortiz, Fernando. Historia de una Pelea Cubana Contra los Demonios. Havana: Editorial Ciencias Sociales, 1959; reprint: Madrid: Ediciones ERRE, S.L., 1973.

  Perera, Victor. The Cross and the Pear Tree, a Sephardic Journey. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.

  Pérez, Louis A., Jr., ed. Slaves, Sugar & Colonial Society: Travel Accounts of Cuba, 1801–1899. Wilmington, Del.: SR Books, 1992.

  Revah Donath, Renée Karina, and Héctor Manuel Enríquez Andrade. Estudios Sobre el Judeo-Español en México.
Mexico City: Colección Biblioteca del Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, 1998.

  Rosshandler, Felicia. Passing Through Havana. New York: St. Martin’s/Marek, 1984.

  Sachar, Howard M. Farewell España, the World of the Sephardim Remembered. New York: Vintage, 1995.

  Silva Lee, Alfonso. Natural Cuba/ Cuba Natural. Saint Paul, Minn.: Pangae Press, 1997.

  Stavans, Ilan, ed. Tropical Synagogues. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997.

  Telushkin, Rabbi Joseph. Jewish Literacy. New York: William Morrow and Co., 1991.

  Thomas, Hugh. The Cuban Revolution. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.

  Wright, Irene A. Cuba. New York: MacMillan, 1910.

  Days of Awe

  ACHY OBEJAS

  A Reader’s Guide

  A Conversation with Achy Obejas

  Ilan Stavans is the Lewis-Sebring professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. This interview was first aired in November 2001, in a somewhat different form, on the program “Conversations with Ilan Stavans,” on PBS-WGBH.

  ILAN STAVANS: Days of Awe, it strikes me, is about the tension between public and private identities.

  ACHY OBEJAS: Indeed. It runs from the fifteenth-century Jewish diaspora during the Spanish Inquisition to contemporary Midwest America. But it’s not exactly a linear story. Told from the point of view of Alejandra San José, the daughter of Cuban exiles living in Chicago, it’s her personal journey through the family’s history— and Cuba’s history, too—to reconcile her identity and her soul. So it plays something like memory does: It moves according to her needs rather than a traditional time line.

  IS: Memory—individual memory, family memory, national collective memory—plays an essential role in your work. This is in tune, of course, with Jews and Cuban Americans, whose memory is highly charged.