Leaving Little Havana
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Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 11-9-2010 Leaving Little aH vana Cecilia Fernandez Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI10112013 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Fernandez, Cecilia, "Leaving Little aH vana" (2010). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 306. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/306 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida LEAVING LITTLE HAVANA A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF FINE ARTS in CREATIVE WRITING by Cecilia Fernandez 2010 To: Dean Kenneth Furton College of Arts and Sciences This thesis, written by Cecilia Fernandez, and entitled Leaving Little Havana, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this thesis and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Lynne Barrett _______________________________________ Bruce Harvey _______________________________________ Les Standiford, Major Professor Date of Defense: November 9, 2010 The thesis of Cecilia Fernandez is approved. _______________________________________ Dean Kenneth Furton College of Arts and Sciences _______________________________________ Interim Dean Kevin O’Shea University Graduate School Florida International University, 2010 ii DEDICATION For my mother, Cecilia Emilia, who survived, and for my children, Alexandra, Andrew and Christopher, who need to know. I love you. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank Professor Dan Wakefield, mentor and friend, for his untiring support in the seven years that this thesis has been taking shape. His incredible ideas and faith in the project enabled me to finish. I also want to thank Professor Les Standiford, who took over from Dan at the last minute to give invaluable advice, Professor Lynne Barrett, whose lessons on plot will never leave me, and Professor Bruce Harvey for his comments on my work. Thanks also to the Creative Writing Department staff, Marta Lee and Therese Campbell, for all the answers to my questions. I have found my coursework and interaction with the professors of the Creative Writing Department to be a turning point in my life. Without this program, the talented faculty, and my insightful fellow MFA students, my writing never could have flourished. iv ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS LEAVING LITTLE HAVANA by Cecilia Fernandez Florida International University, 2010 Miami, Florida Professor Les Standiford, Major Professor Leaving Little Havana is the story of a young girl who leaves her comfortable middle-class home in La Habana just after the Cuban Revolution and, fighting to overcome cultural and language barriers, forges a new life in Miami. Dealing with a torn identity and discovering her voice are at the center of the narrative. After an endless string of escapades, she finally pulls herself together, learns the value of her inner strength by rising above bleak circumstances and gets accepted to journalism school in California. The book examines the devastating effects of immigration on a family and the struggle of a child of Cuban exiles, coming of age in a foreign society, to beat the obstacles that stand in her way to a stable and satisfying life. The narrator shows that Cuban immigrants share similar challenges with all who have aspired to make America their home. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Chapter I......................................................................................................................1 Centro Medico ...................................................................................................2 Villa America.....................................................................................................6 Rancho Luna ......................................................................................................9 Sunday..............................................................................................................12 Elsie..................................................................................................................18 Three Patios .....................................................................................................23 My Father.........................................................................................................33 Colegio Kopi....................................................................................................38 Almost There ...................................................................................................45 Good-bye To All That......................................................................................51 Chapter II ..................................................................................................................56 Miami...............................................................................................................57 First Home .......................................................................................................60 Cristy................................................................................................................62 The Roes ..........................................................................................................63 Fulford Elementary ..........................................................................................67 Melting Pot.......................................................................................................70 North Miami Beach..........................................................................................72 The Hunt ..........................................................................................................75 Gladys ..............................................................................................................77 Romance?.........................................................................................................80 The Mistress.....................................................................................................84 Trouble in School.............................................................................................86 Miami Beach....................................................................................................90 Little Havana....................................................................................................94 Chicago ............................................................................................................98 My Mother .....................................................................................................101 The Bertots.....................................................................................................105 Divorce...........................................................................................................108 Phone Call......................................................................................................110 Beba ...............................................................................................................111 Carnal Knowledge .........................................................................................115 Beaumont .......................................................................................................119 Chapter III...............................................................................................................126 Citrus Grove...................................................................................................127 Class...............................................................................................................131 After School...................................................................................................134 Thanksgiving..................................................................................................136 vi The Return of My Father ...............................................................................137 Ibis..................................................................................................................141 Sylvia .............................................................................................................144 Gloria .............................................................................................................146 Cari.................................................................................................................147 Jaime ..............................................................................................................149 Going Steady..................................................................................................152 Open House....................................................................................................155 All The Way...................................................................................................158 Diana’s Bakery...............................................................................................160