Growing up Cuban in Miami was kind of like growing up Cuban in Cuba — if you were raised in the 1950s. Fidel may have taken their properties, their businesses, and their country, but he would never take away my family’s way of life!
Because growing up Cuban in Miami was probably way better than growing up Cuban in Castro’s Cuba, we Cubans have to hold our culture high.
It’s not Havana, Cuba. But it’s close. Maybe that’s why they call it “Little Havana”. Only 90 miles, a 48 minute flight separates the two Havanas. One is located on the island of Cuba, the other is here in Miami.
Right in the heart of Miami is an area that is from a Cuban storybook. Here in “Little Havana”, you can find hand-rolled cigars, fruiterias, meat markets, herbal stores and windows with cafecitos for only 25 cents. On 8th Street (or Calle Ocho) between 12th and 27th Avenues lies a time warp into another reality…