While growing in Puerto Rico, I had to define my sentiments towards Cuba. Both islands share a history of colonization, political oppression, and tumultuous relationship with the United States. After the Cuban revolution in 1959, some wealthy Cubans moved to San Juan, while the patriotism of the independent movement within my island was inspired by the liberation of Cuba from the United States. In high school, I wished that I could participate in a brigade to work in a farm in Cuba. But life molded me into an immigrant that ended up in the United States.
Yoani Sánchez’s blog Generación Y, http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy/, informs about the social and cultural realities of Cuba which has earned her international recognition. She mentions the trend in Cuba to name people weird names that start with Y. In Puerto Rico, there was also a trend of naming kids strangely like Nanushka, Nitroshka, Yerannia.
