Our History, Our Heart: Cuba Through My Eyes (and My Friends' Too!)

¡Hola a todos! It's me, Beatriz, here with you again, and my heart is just buzzing! You know, here in Cuba, history isn't just in boring old books. No! It's in the songs we sing, in the old buildings down the street, in the stories our grandmothers tell us, even in the way the air smells after a rain. It's alive! It feels like... well, like another dancer on the stage with us, guiding our steps.

Today, I want to share something big, something so important: how I see our Cuba's history. Not like a school lesson, no! More like a feeling, a deep, deep love. And how my friends, all of us young people here, see it too. It's about our heart, our spirit, and where we're flying to next!

Las Raíces Fuertes: Grandparents' Stories and the Past

Our island has such strong roots, you know? So many, many stories from long, long ago. Like when people came from far away to our land, and we had to fight so hard for our freedom. Pffft… imagine! So much courage! Our grandparents, they tell us these stories with such fire in their eyes, and you can feel it, the passion. They talk about people who believed so much in a free Cuba, they gave everything. It makes you feel strong, like that spirit is inside you too. We stand on shoulders of giants, my friends say. And it's true!

La Revolución: Our Parents' and Grandparents' Time

And then, there was the Revolution. ¡Wow! That was a really, really big moment for Cuba. My abuelos and my parents, they remember everything. It changed so much! Suddenly, everyone had schools, and doctors, and a different kind of hope. It was like a new song started playing for the whole country!

But it wasn't easy, no. There were hard, hard times, like the "Special Period." My parents talk about it, how you had to be so smart to find food, how everyone helped everyone else. It was tough, but it made us even more Cubanos, even stronger, you know? It’s a mix of feelings for us now – pride for the spirit, but also understanding the difficulties.

Mi Cuba Hoy: Through Young Eyes

So, this is my Cuba. The Cuba where I dance and sing every night. The Cuba where my friends and I dream. We live with all this history around us. We see the beautiful old cars, we feel the rhythm in the streets, we know the stories. We are so proud of our culture, our music, our kindness!

But we also see the world changing. We have big dreams, just like my Broadway dream! We want to connect even more, to learn, to grow. Sometimes, it feels a little... small, this stage here, when you know there's a whole big world out there, you know? We respect all the sacrifices from the past, yes! But our hearts also beat for the future, for more opportunities, for a Cuba that can fly even higher, shining for everyone. We want to build, to create, to show our Cuban light to the whole planet!

El Mañana: Our Dreams for the Island

Just like I sweat and practice and push for my dream, my generation, we want that for Cuba too. We see so much potential, so much talent, so much love! We dream of a Cuba that is strong, happy, and connected. A place where every young person can reach for their own big stage, whatever that stage is.

It's not easy, no. Dreams take a lot of work. But I feel this fire inside me, and my friends feel it too. It tells us that if we work hard, if we stay together, if we never stop believing, then the sky for Cuba is not the limit. The sky is just the beginning.

¡Hasta pronto!

Be.