Are your freinds from Cuba?

I picked a job that would allow me to speak Spanish on a regular basis.  I used to have a theory that Spanish speakers here in Portland/Beaverton are not as prodominantly Mexican as most people say.  Now that I've been working in one of the more popular hospitals on the west side, I know that I wasn't as spot on as I usually am with my generalizations.  As it turns out, a vast majority of the Spanish speakers that I check in are from Mexico.  I'm willing to help anyone, and with my overall desire to maintain rather than lose my language skills I'm double-willing to help someone if they offer some Spanish practice.  But there's a funny thing that has happened more than once.

I introduce myself and ask a few basic questions, and everyone can tell that I speak more Spanish than the average gringo.  But the longer I talk, the more little smiles and sideways glances I start to see.  I speak Spanish, but it obviously doesn't sound like the Spanish they're used to.

The first assumption is that I leaned the language in college, so when they start to ask if that's where I learned, it's my turn to smile.  I tell them that I never really studied the lanugage, because I don't count the few months that SCS made me show up to a Spanish class as good, hardcore study.  I didn't really learn anything in that class, cuz it was geared to people who were a level or two lower than me. 

So I say that I didn't lean in a university, but in the house of friends.  While this gains me instant street cred (there are a lot of univeristy gringos out there, but few homies that learned in living rooms ad dinner tables), it also leads to another question: Are your friends from Cuba?

Until recently I've just smiled and explained that I lived in the Dominican Repbulic for a year, and my accent is a combination of a lot of different places.  The patient smiles, nods, and then we move on with the business part of what we do at the hospital.  I just realized that the real answer to that question is that I do have friends from Cuba, thank you very much.  Kisha and I met a couple of Cuban guys at the language exchange and we've been kicking it on the side, helping with resumes, etc.

To add fancy to fun, we recently celebrated Memorial Day in the US, which is to commemorate the US Military, wave the flag, and in general promote all things American.  My father's generation tends to celebrate this holiday for what it really is, going to services and making sure they hang the flag in front of their house if it doesn't hang there all year 'round, but my generation usually just enjoys the day off with a couple friends over for lunch or dinner.  Since we had the time off we invited our Cuban friends of for a Caribbean/American fusion meal. 

Yeah, you heard that right.  We celebreated an inherently American holiday eating foreign food with a couple of Communists.  Viva la Revolucion!!!