Half-Colombian

I've always considered myself both Colombian and American. I am a first-generation Colombian-American whose parents migrated to the US as adults. I was born and raised here, although in my younger days I spent a few summers in Colombia. My nostalgic attachments to all that's Colombian come courtesy of my parents and the displaced version of Colombian foods and rituals I grew up with. However, as I enter now into my 30's, the idea that I'm really half-Colombian really hits home. It's almost like an identity crisis. I am not the Colombian girl I thought I was. Sure, I speak Spanish a lo paisa, I enjoy bunuelos for Christmas, and I can dance vallenatos and cumbias, but in Colombia, I'm a gringa, an extranjera, a daughter-of-Colombians. Whenever someone asks, I say I'm Colombian, but then I have to quickly clarify - when asked "de que parte?" - that I was born here to Colombian parents I wasn't born in Colombia, so how could I claim it as a nationality? I'm a half-Colombian.

The same could be said about being half-American, although I guess if you really want to get down to the basics, I'd be three-fourths American and one-fourth Colombian. After all, I don't like natilla or sancochos, and I'm not that fond of sporting the yellow-blue-and-red bracelets and bands to sport my nationality. I was born here, and I am proud to be an American where we have the ability and freedom to work hard and bask in the opportunity of getting ahead. I even enjoy country music. But I'm not really "American" here; I'm a Latina or a Hispanic. American-born but not really American, whatever that means.

I've noticed, though, that the older I get, the more American and less Colombian I seem to become. It makes me sad because I still live in the memories of Colombia and I want my son to grow up with that, only I have to concede that he is second generation American, born to a Colombian-American mother and a Chilean-German-American father. He will know the fragments of Colombian-Chilean-German culture that my husband and I have brought with us. For me, the memories that I hope to pass on include the music, the alegria and the bunuelos and empanadas.

Yesterday, I was almost Colombian again. We got together to celebrate a birthday and most of my mom's family was there - seven of the eight women and three men that make up my mom's siblings (as an only child, I absolutely loved having such a large, extended family). In addition to my mom and aunts, the house was decorated with cousins ranging from the mid-thirties to the pre-teens, our grandfather - the patriarch of the family - and other in-law family members. As in most of our celebrations, the men took out their guitars, passed out miscellaneous musical instruments to those willing participants, and the voyage into a musical past began. The songs were mostly those that they grew up listening to although a few current ones made their way into the repertoire, such as "Camisa Negra" and "Esta Vida." As in my memories, my grandfather danced a cumbia with each of his daughters and one of my aunts video-taped the celebration.

When I was younger, such celebrations were many times met with crafty resistance on my part. When we had the Noche Buenas or New Year celebrations, the locations were filled swiftly with family and friends, and then just as swiftly divided by age groups. The children would run and jump and play around the adults, while the teenagers sulked in corners at having to attend such "boring" events. The adults would sit around in fold-up chairs piled neatly against the walls and the chatter would be nostalgic reminiscences of times past- who married whom, who died, who had left, who was now working for so-and-so, and who had migrated to another country. They would laugh and cry and say, like Alan Jackson's song, "Remember when..." Then, I was one of the teenagers, sipping aguardiente behind my mother's back (because my father never went to these events - he always stayed home) and thinking about the other things I could be doing that did not involve being there. Today, though, I miss those gatherings. The responsibilities of adulthood and the change that comes naturally with time prevent me from being part of those celebrations as much. Now, most of my family lives a good two hours away that, while not that much, prevents family-hopping during holidays since most of my husband's family lives locally. So the times, like yesterday, when everyone comes down here to celebrate, I immerse myself in the memory-made-real.


And it leaves me feeling almost Colombian, at least while I'm there. Once I'm back in my car, going back to my Colombian-Chilean-German-American home, I lose some of the "Colombianness" and become half-Colombian again.

Pics from Day 3

Day 3 - Castawat Cay

When we woke up on day 3, we had already arrived at Castaway Cay; we were waiting for the authorities to clear the docking. We got up, got dressed and packed our day bag; then we headed up to deck 9 for breakfast at our usual place: the Beach Blanket. While we were up there, we took the opportunity to take some pictures of the island and of the infamous Flying Dutchman from Pirates of the Caribbean. The ship is docked off Castaway Cay and there are some amazing photo opportunities that capture the ship with the cruise liner on the background.

We disembarked and made our way to the first character greeting: Daisy Duck. We meandered down the road towards the beach destination, stopping for any and every photo opportunity that was available. Have I mentioned that I'm a sucker for photos? A bit further up were Minnie Mouse and Goofy, and of course, we got a picture with them. All the characters were decked out in their summer wear.

The island is beautiful and a curious mixture of Caribbean meets Disney. The buildings, such as the post office, are similar to those you will find at the parks, so it makes you wonder whether the buildings were there before or if Disney set it up with props.

The walking from the ship to the beach takes about 10 minutes. However, half-way there is a tram, and L loves any type of train so we opted to ride it to our destination. If he could have stayed on the tram and ridden it back and forth all day, he would have been content. Once at the beginning of the family area, we were greeted with the last few strollers and wagons that were complimentary on a first-come, first-serve basis. We took hold of a wagon, dumped our stuff, towels, and L in it, and proceeded to work our arms as we pushed and pulled the wagon through the sand. Before we got to the sand, though, we were at a mercantile-like shopping area where little stores boasted Castaway Cay, Disney, and Bahamas souvenirs. In front of that store were the restrooms and outdoor showers appropriately titles "Suns" and "Daughters." Further up the road was an open circle and a small shack where the DJ played music and the characters engaged in some dancing with the guests. I didn't make it past that point. From the map I could see there was a teen area further down, and, at the end of the island, was the secluded, adults-only beach.

But we didn't go forward. We took a left, onto the sand, following the path of tourists who had the same agenda: make it to the beach. By now, it was about 10 AM, and it was cloudy with some rain threatening in the far end of the horizon, behind the buildings. We got the complimentary floats - one large rubber tire, the other a flat, blue mattress. The latter one ended being the most useful. We had received complimentary bike rentals and scuba rentals, but unfortunately, a few hours is just not enough time when you have a toddler in tow that needs to nap.

The beach was full of people. You could barely make out the water on the family beach; instead, you saw a sea of multi-colored dots decorating the little blue that was in between them. Towards the left was the ship, docked and probably hosting very few of its passengers. Between the ship and the beach was the Flying Dutchman first, and then the jet-ski and boat rentals. After that was a small shack with the scuba gear. Next to that shack was the beach, which was separated into the snorkeling area and the family beach area. On the far right hand corner, before the teen beach, was a wooden playground for the older kids right in the water. Kids could swing from one side and jump into the water, or they could monkey around until the were tired and them jump in.

We parked our stuff a few rows back and then went into the water. L was in heaven. Before, when we've gone to a beach, there have been many waves, so he has been afraid. Here, there were no waves, and he felt as if he were in the pool only the water was different (and tasted different, too, as was apparent by his wrinkling of the nose when he took a swig of salty sea water). We were in the water for a while, got some pictures taken by cast members - the only pictures while we were in the water since I was afraid to get my camera wet! - and rested on the blue, mattress float. L even tried "surfing" on it. We spent the next few hours in and out of the water, playing with sand, and making friends with fellow cruisers. Finally, J went to get some lunch and brought it back, but we both quickly realized that sand + food is not a good equation. By now it was about 1:30 PM and it was past L's nap, so we wrapped up and moved towards the hammocks where there was some palm tree shade. Although no hammocks were available, J and L were able to lay down on a lounge chair and soon, both father and son had drifted into a beach-induced slumber. I sat next to them reading Madeleine Blais's Uphill Walkers and avoiding the bird-bombs that were thrown my way. Good luck or not, I'd rather not have to clean up after bird excrement, thank you very much.

At around 3:30 some thunder mixed between the island music, and although L was still sleeping, we decided to pack up. We carefully placed him in the wagon, still asleep, and made our way back to the front. We browsed through the stores, went to the rest rooms, took more pictures and before we knew it were back at the wagon/stroller return place. We took L out, awake but still sleepy and grumpy, and rode the "too-tain" (choo choo tren aka tram) two times before getting in line to board the ship. By the line was Donald Duck posing for pictures, so, you guessed it - we took pictures.

That night was Pirate's night. We dressed L in his pirate costume from last year and then made our way to the usual: lobby for pictures and that night's restaurant, Animator's Palate again. In the lobby was Mickey dressed as a swashbuckling pirate, and the picture of Mickey pirate with L pirate is priceless! At the restaurant, all the servers were dressed as pirates and wenches, and the meal and theme that night revolved around pirates. Even the show was an Argh-inducing show with limbo and dancing in which L and I joined. That night, they brought out a large chocolate cake to celebrate J and L's upcoming birthdays and my what a tasty cake that was! We shared with our neighboring table since it was much too much for us to eat.

Afterwards we walked around and made our way for the Pirate's Deck Party where Mickey and the gang had to save the day from Captain Hook and his pirates. It was awesome! Each character had his/her/its own fave dance moves and music he/she/it shared with the crowd and then Mickey came swinging down from one side of the ship to the stage, marking the beginning of a beautiful fireworks display. Yes, fireworks aboard a ship. Apparently, Disney is the only cruise line that is allowed to do so. I thought L would be afraid but no, he was enthralled (although I think part of that was that he was tired!).

Soon after the Disney channel stars joined the Pirate deck party, we called it a night and went back to the room.

Pics from Days 1 & 2

Here are a few pictures from Days 1 and 2.

The Splash Area by Mickey Pool:
Mickey's hand is holding up a water slide that desemboca on the pool side; it's also holding up a star-shaped shower head for the baby splash area.

The columns in Triton's restaurant.

Getting ready to sail away.
The sailaway party on Day 1.
Mr. Panda and Mickey enjoying the sights of Nassau.
We found them - and the towel monkey hanging from a clothe's hanger with my sun glasses on - when we went back to the room on Day 2 to get ready for Gala night.

Disney Cruise, Day 2 - Nassau

Monday morning we woke up around 9 am, much later than the usual 7:30 wake time for L, but who could blame him since it'd been around 10 pm the night before when we finally went to sleep and he'd barely napped the day before.

We got up, opened the curtains, and saw that we were arriving at Nassau. We had decided to stay on board instead of racing through Nassau with a toddler in tow and juggling nap time, snack time, and crankiness. Instead, we booked a relaxing spa treatment for couples, and the corresponding time in Flounder's Nursery, all around L's normal nap time. We threw on our bathing suits and headed to breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet. This time, after piling all the food we could eat on each of our trays - eggs, bacon, Mickey waffles, Mickey chocolate waffles, biscuits, an array of fruits, and some other breads - we made our way with the help of the friendly staff to the outside seating area. With L in his Mickey high chair, we all delighted in the morning sun and breeze and the view of Nassau's port. Atlantis was visible from our seats, so we snapped away as many pictures as we could.

After breakfast, we discovered the Cove, the intimate, adults only coffee/bar lounge area towards the front of the ship. There, they steamed some milk for L, and made me a Disney version of Starbucks's caramel macchiato. Let me tell you, I'm a Starbucks fanatic, but Disney's version was almost as good, if not better!

We hung out at the kiddie splash area since L is not potty trained yet, but he didn't miss the pool. He had a great time, although at first he was reluctant to go in by himself. He clung to the border, shying away from any stray water that went his way. Within a little time, though, he was running around and laughing merrily while he got wet. He even tried copying the older kids and blocked the nozzles so that water would splash everywhere.

Soon it was time to head to the nursery. Unlike the first night, L was not having it and I had to go in with him. Eventually, he relaxed, and we went on our way to the spa for our couple's massage, facial, and champagne with chocolate-covered strawberries. The massage was relaxing and much-needed, but I could have done without the facial. It was the first facial I'd ever done and honestly, I wasn't impressed. I think I'd rather spend those extra 15 minutes on kneading over balled muscles. After that we headed into the rain room, which was basically a combination of steam rooms, saunas, and hot chairs, where our champagne and strawberries were waiting for us. I guess it's fine for those that enjoy being sedentary in a room overflowing with heat, but being that I just need to step out into my front yard and get hit with the same force of humidity as was in that room, I quickly grew bored and restless and decided to head back out into the heat of the sun - at least that was partially dry heat!

I picked up L, and headed back to the Mickey pool along with one of the nursery care givers who was heading there with a bucket of toys. I made a quick stop at Pinnocio's Pizzeria, grabbed a few slices of cheese pizza, and made ourselves home on one of the tables across from the pool. L went in and had more fun while I waited for J to leave the retreat of the rain room.

Back in the room, we prepared for Gala night. I dressed up in a 50's inspired black and white dress with an empire waist (which I later realized was not very flattering); J dressed in khaki pants, a light blue buttoned shirt, and a navy sports coat; and L was decked in khaki pants and a checkered, blue and brown shirt. I kicked myself for not having taken his little suit, but at least he and his daddy matched outfits. We went to the lobby and had a photo shoot with Mickey and Minnie, both dressed in their gala attires: Mickey in a black and white tuxedo and Minnie in a radiant, white, glittery dress with feathers at her feet.

Dinner that night was at the Animator's Palate. If anyone's watched the Travel Channel (or traveled in a Disney Cruise before), then s/he will know exactly what I'm talking about. Animator's Palate is designed to be the sketch-book of all the Disney classics. Hanging on the walls in black and white are framed "sketches" of scenes from Pocahontas, 101 Dalmatians, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and many other films. The waiters and staff are all dressed in black and white, and even the table cloths are decked in the contrasting shades. As the dinner begins, the lights dim a little and soon, the sketches on the wall begin to gradually transform into their full-color finales; then the paintings change into a completely different scene, again in black and white, and the process from sketch to full-color begins anew. Towards the end of the meal, the waiters disappear, and before you even miss a refill, they are putting on a show for you.

After dinner, we meandered towards the theater to watch Toy Story the Musical. It was cute, but we didn't stay the entire show as L hadn't napped that day and was extremely tired (and moody), and it actually got a little scared towards the end. So back to our room to call it a night it was.