Personal Narrative: A Woman's Escape From Cuba

Would you say that life has any sense? Or Is there an answer for everything in life? Three years ago I was completely messed up about this. Gustavo Adolfo Parra Chassaigne that’s how my parents called me and I was born in Maracay a little city next to Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. I used to be the first student of all my high school, also one of the first in tennis of my state and everybody said that my family was “perfect”. So, What did happen to me?

The book, The Lost Girls (Glatt, 2015) focuses on the story of Ariel Castro, a man with a twisted mind who managed to abduct three you women, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus right from the public streets of Cleveland, OH. For more than a decade he would keep these women hostage inside his home between the basement and bedroom, where he would rape, beat, and physical and emotionally torture them. When these women managed to finally escape, the whole word was made aware of Castro’s sick behavior and crimes, which would ultimately land him in jail for the rest of his life. The following paragraphs described just the kind of person Castro is and what was going through his mind.

I couldn’t handle it anymore. I knew that I would regret not taking the blame for Tilde and her dad, but imagine how much trouble I would be in! Forget the idea of going to prison for many years, instead I would be rotting corpse, hung in front of many people! Okay so I don’t know what the punishment for taking all the blame of bringing a bunch of illegal immigrants is, but I’m pretty sure it’s something related to Guantanamo Bay. My family stared at the floor for what felt like forever, and then I simply walked back to my room, letting sleep ease my mind.

Has your makeshift, third world bus ever broken down and left you stranded in ninety five degree heat with no air conditioning or water? For the last several years, Cuba had been closed for U.S. tourists and Americans were only allowed limited travel. Cuba is considered a communist political system with Castro as their president. In March of 2017, I was able to experience this interesting destination with my family and friends from church. As we were driving to our house in Trinidad, the scenery from the ride was very rural and farm like. Trinidad is a very unique city in Cuba and is most known for their classic cars from the 1950’s, which are still being used there today. It was shocking to see these vintage cars riding up and down the streets

In this assignment, the instructor Ms. Cross assigned us to do a virtual collage describing ourselves and our lives. In other words, to build a collage that depicts our self-concent. According to S. Verderber, Sellnow, and F. Verderber (2015), self-concept bases on “…the interpretations we make about our personal experiencesand how other react and respond to us”. (p.19.). In this collage I relate my personal experiences from when I lived in Venezuela,to my hobbies, my personality, my relationships, and my ambitions.

The first 17 years of my life were spent in the most beautiful place, Caracas, Venezuela. I was happy with my life over there. I had all my family and friends who made me happy and I knew I could depend on them, for any situation in my life. Everything changed when I graduated high school in 2014 and my parents decided to bring me and my older sister, who is only two years older than me, to Miami for a better education. On December 16 of 2014, I got on a plane and left my family and friends behind. I can still remember that day. If you asked me, I thought the world was coming to a blazing end.

When I was 14 years old, I went on a trip with my church to Guatemala. The trip was full of interesting experiences, but this is one that I will never forget.

I interviewed Mrs.Sanchez aka my mom about 9/11. She usually didn't like to talk about that type of personal stuff. Sometimes she just had bad memory or she just keeps her stuffed to herself, but this time she had made an exception. So I started of asking her some questions.”How old were you in september 11, 2011?” I asked Mrs.Sanchez. She had replied that she was about sixteen years old at that time. My mom back then used to live in a farm/ranch and helped my grandparents grow crops and raise the cattle. She had been doing her daily routine. Not so long after that my mom had told me that she had been riding the tractor back home. She said that my gram had something important to show her. When my mom had gotten home she seen what was on TV.

Standing amongst the crowd of people gazing hopefully at the stage in the center of Times Square was a girl named Laina, standing bundled up outside in one of the busiest spots in New York. The announcer was preparing to hand out the grand prize for the contest she had entered in: an all-paid for cruise around the world--well, actually only to the Caribbean, but that was still good enough for Laina. With ports in Bermuda, the Bahamas, Bora Bora, Aruba...this had only been Laina’s dream since she was a toddler.

Me and my brothers were trying to escape from slavery. We walked for the longest time, and we were at a small town named TerryTown. A colored man told us about the danger that lies within the little town. The people in the small town hated colored people especially the ones that are trying to escape slavery. We all got worried and decided to hide in the woods, but then we got scared by a farmers dog. The farmer came outside with his shotgun, and told his dog to be nice.

On a monday at the beginning of May I remember of this time where all the teachers came to school as if it were a normal day, but none of the students showed up. I remember it like it was yesterday, that’s only because I was one of the teachers.

In my ongoing quest to highlight up and coming talent, the advent of Havana Guppy's presence on the entertainment scene is a welcome addition as she is a remarkable young actress whose star has been on the rapid ascent in the last six months. She has the singular honor of appearing in three highly anticipated new series that are beginning to garner much attention. Recently, Havana and I chatted about how she began in the business, her current and forthcoming roles, and how she keeps an equable head in spite of obstacles, negativity, and pressures.

Along with this you will visit the birth place of Fidel Castro, visit the Floridita the favourite haunt of Ernest Hemingway and visit the site of the armoured train that was hijacked by Che Guevara, plus much more!

Since the 1959 revolution, there has been substantial advancement towards women’s equality in Cuba. At the same time, the progress is far from complete. Though Marxists could argue that this indicates that the revolution’s work is not yet complete, I take a different stance: the fact that the problem is not solved means that a specific, targeted attack on women’s oppression is

As I stepped off the gargantuan, snow white cruise ship, I gazed at a colorful sea of retro-style cars zipping through the narrow streets littered with potholes. The day I had been anticipating and fearing was finally here. I was in Cuba. The customs office at the end of the ship terminal was institutional looking, with stark white walls and bright lighting. Eventually, my family left customs and officially entered Cuba. Before meeting our tour guide, we located a restroom. Outside, there was a rugged and dirty looking man selling toilet paper to American tourists, who forgot their own roll. However, the cruise line had forewarned us, so we bypassed him.