¡VIVA CUBA!

**This week, Barack Obama, lifted travel restrictions and money transfers to Cuba for Cuban-Americans.**

This, for me, is HUGE! I was sitting in a cafeteria having coffee and watching the morning news and there it was, the MAGNIFICENT noticias! I can now travel (legally) to Cuba, I started tearing and had a huge lump in my throat!

I visited my family in Havana one time in my life. They don't have a phone and they don't have email (like most Cubans). I was there for 3 weeks and finally, 3 days before I was scheduled to leave, I got in contact with them and met them. My cousins, my aunts, my grandfathers' brothers. I visited the house that my father was born, I met his neighbors, it was surreal. One of the best experiences of my life. They always told me to come back soon, I never went back, it was risky enough for me to get there that time.

NOW-- I can go freely. I can meet my family, I can get to know them. I can ask questions about my grandmother who died before I was born. I can explore my culture more. I can dance in the beautiful island where Salsa was born! I can embrace all of this.

There's a reason I cried when I saw that news broadcast, I knew I would get my family and my culture back, I knew it.

I'll make it there this summer. That's a promise.

¡Viva Cuba!

Here's a short video (this is all I have) of when I visited my fam. My cousin is in the middle and my grandmothers sister on the right. We were ready for a picture, but the video came on instead. I was 21 years old here and livin on cloud 9.