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Nobuko in Cuba: Flying to Cuba with the Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club at Cancun Airport November 23, 1999 I’m standing at the Air Caribe window at Cancun Airport, paying my precious $40 for overweight luggage. I packed an extra suitcase of clothes, school supplies and Ibuprofen because we were instructed that the Cubans were in need of these things. I explained it was for the children, but the man Air Caribe didn’t go for it. While waiting for my receipt, I turn around and catch the back of a jacket that says… “Buena Vista Social Club”. You know, the group of vintage Cuban musicians that are the rage of the music scene. Oh, I thought, now they’re selling Buena Vista jackets! Then the jacket turns around and I see the face of Omara, the unforgettable woman singer of the world famous band. Then I pull back for a long shot and see, it’s them - the whole group with a mountain of music gear. We’re flying to Cuba with the Buena Vista Social Club! This was our welcome to Cuba, and we hadn’t even gotten there yet. The plane was delayed for a couple of hours, so me and my friend Adrienne, who had just seen them play at UCLA, got to hang out with Ruben Gonzales and Ibraham Ferrer and the folks. They were on their way back from several weeks on the road. It was fun to watch the younger band members hover with love around the elder musicians, who must have been road weary, but were still warm, patient and friendly. An eager American approached the elder Gonzales to autograph his ten dollar bill. Gonzales laughed in amazement. He must have thought...Crazy Americans…that’s a lot of money in Cuba.
If you saw their stories in the “Buena Vista Social Club” documentary, you knew they were seasoned, not only by their years of playing music, but by the many life struggles as a citizen of the embargoed Cuba. Waiting and doing without is all too familiar. How sweet this moment must be for them. They are doing what governments can’t embargo… playing the beloved music of their homeland, Cuba, and opening hearts all over the world.
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