Personal Childhood Story From Cuba It is a night I will likely never forget. My sister and I had flown in to Cuba for a Quinceanara, which is the 15th birthday party for a young woman of Latina descent. We were very excited because the girl whose party it was a close friend of both my sister and I as well as of our extended family in Cuba. I remember my sister looked really pretty that night. She wore purple polka dotted dress with a lace frock that flared at the bottom. Her hair was pinned up in a bun and, at 14 years of age at the time, I thought she looked like it could have been her rite of passage/coming to womanhood birthday party instead of my friend's.

Quite possibly my sister had the same thought because, for some reason, she decided to drink alcohol for the first time that night. I had never drank before (and still have not), and it was the first time she had ever done so. Although she did not consume much, she became extremely inebriated and soon began to slur her speech, stumble around, wobble when she attempted to stand still. She caused quite a scene since she was the only one who was that intoxicated, and before long my grandmother (who lives down the street was notified to take her home). The spectacle she caused made quite an impression on me; I remember feeling both ashamed and scared for her, and never wanted people to look at me like they looked at her that night.

From a cultural...

In Cuba, the purchasing of alcohol is extremely restricted. In fact, it is illegal for any person (regardless of age) to purchase alcohol in this country. This type of moratorium on the purchasing of alcohol naturally extends to the consumption of it, at least within my mind and that of most of family members. Also, my grandmother was extremely upset at both my sister and I because of that incident. I had never liked incurring her disfavor. This particular night, she was extremely animated. I, of course, was the de facto cause of the situation since, being approximately two years older than my sister, "I should have known better." Thus, the cultural implications of this situation were daunting. Not only is the purchasing of alcohol illegal in Cuba, but imbibing it to the degree in which one becomes sloppy drunk is frowned upon and primarily forbidden by my own family. I am certain that these aspects of my Cuban culture, combined with the poor experience my sister had the first time she became inebriated, did not encourage me to begin drinking either recreationally or otherwise.
I have learned that over consumption of alcohol is never pleasant, and creates a spectacle out of the individual who has imbibed too much. I learned this when I…