So today was a special day indeed. By the title of this blog, i’m sure you understand what the news is. I’ve finally found a girlfriend. And it was completely unexpected. She popped into my life so quickly there was no time to blink. As a matter of fact, today was the first day we met. And indeed, it was love at first sight. We immediately hit it off. We had lunch together, sang together, played footsies together, smiled together, laughed together, and danced together (kinda). It was meant to be. She’s my angel. She’s my dreamboat. Yes folks, she’s my girlfriend.
Here are the two love birds together during lunch today.
At first glance you might think it’s kinda weird. Yes…she’s a little bit older. She was born in 1957. I was born in 1984. But trust me folks, it was meant to be and when we’re talking about heavenly love, age really doesn’t matter now does it.
Let me introduce you to my new girlfriend. She is a five-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter-author. She sang the WORLD FAMOUS song “conga.” I can guarantee that you’ve heard it…but probably don’t know it. It’s a party favorite (kinda old…but still popular). Anyway….my girlfriend is Cuban. She’s an international icon. Her birth name was Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo. Her name today is Gloria Estefan. And yes….love has found a place in Mickey’s heart. Finally. Almost 22 years of searching, seeking, sniffing and hounding like a doggy…..Mickey finally found what makes the bells ring. Love. April 21, 2006. An unexpected time. An unexpected place. At an unexpected event. To an unexpected woman. Life is full of surprises. Ain’t it grand.
So aside from me finding a girlfriend and totally falling in love…today was an interesting day. It was fun…but exhausting. Princeton is hosting “The Princeton and Harvard Cuba Conference” this weekend…and they hired me to be the event photographer. How lovely. Basically it’s a big conference for Cuban/Cuban-American (half or full) to meet together and discuss what they can do to help develop a more pluralistic and democratic Cuban society. More than 150 students are here from 44 different schools. I’ve never seen such a passionate people devoted to a cause before. Tears during speeches weren’t rare. Bitter remarks toward the evil dictator weren’t either. It’s quite amazing. I’ve heard some amazing stories about some of the oppression and social injustices that are occurring right now in Cuba and things that have happened in the past. It’s sad. And it’s real. But it’s great that these young Cuban-Americans are joining together to try to do something about the way things are going in the Communistic Cuba. It’s been very interesting for me to learn more about it and be educated.
Here is one of the panel discussions during the day.
Many influential and well-known Cuban-Americans are in town. Gloria Estefan of course is one. Another interesting fella that I met was Huber Matos. He was the former commander of the Cuban military during the Cuban Revolution when Fidel Castro and their regime took over Cuba from the previous dictator, Batista (I think his name was). This Huber Matos guy was the third most powerful guy in Cuba. A close friend of Castro’s. However, after seeing the way things were going with Fidel, he resigned from the Commander position. Fidel Castro got very upset and threw him in jail for 20 years. Fidel Castro wanted to put Huber Matos in the firing squad, and kill him. But Huber somehow survived that and was put in jail. After being released he came to the U.S. to seek protection, where he of course found it. Since then he has been fighting for the cause of making Cuba a free nation. He’s quite an old man. But he’s a hero to the people. And whatever room he enters, heads do a slight bow and respect is always shown. It’s an interesting site to see.
Here is Hubert Matos with Gloria Estefan.
So it’s been an interesting experience hanging out with the Cubans. I’ve enjoyed learning about the situation and becoming educated.
One of the things that I love about my job as a photographer is that i’m always meeting new people. I’m a social guy…and to me it’s always fun to interact with people, get to know them, make new friends, and learn from their culture, background, and experiences.
One nice man I met during lunch today at the conference was a man by the name of Pedro Greer. His daughter goes to Boston College and is also at the conference. She’s extremely nice. Pedro’s wife is nice too. The entire family is extremely nice. I spoke with Pedro quite a bit during lunch. It was fun getting to know him. He’s probably one of the nicest guys i’ve ever met. He was so friendly and so down to earth. He was sitting at the same table of Gloria Estefan…they’ve been friends since childhood. He told me he was a doctor in the Miami area, but a simple google search led me to learn that he wasn’t just any doctor in Miami. He was big time…and quite well known. Here are just a few articles I ran into online:
See his Wikipedia Page.
We spoke awhile and in the end he gave me a goodbye hand-shake, told me his name and told me to be sure to look him up if I was ever in the Miami area. Like I said, I love to meet new people and make new friends. You can be sure that if I’m ever in Miami, i’ll be looking up “Dr. Joe” to pay a visit and see how their family is doing.
Here is a picture of his family (the three on the right…and he might have more kids….I don’t know). The dude on the left is just one of the conference dudes. The young lady is the crush of the day.
[ TIME OUT FROM THE CUBAN SCENE ]
Anyway….since I only got a few hours of sleep last night I decided to take an afternoon nap (during a break at the conference). It lasted a couple hours. However, there was an activity right in front of my room in the Butler Quad that was LOUD as H – E – double hockey sticks. They were playing loud music and the worst part of all….the music was terrible. So it was tough to sleep. But I managed to snag some z’s nonetheless.
In the evening we (BodyHype) performed a piece at the Operation Style Fashion Show. It was a huge event that took place in a big ol’ closed tent outside on Frist Lawn. It was to raise money for the charity, Operation Smile. Princeton students basically did a bunch of modeling with designer lines, etc. They had a catwalk and everything. It wasn’t a normal stage…so our spacing during our performance had to be all reconfigured before hand. Anyway…the place was packed. There wasn’t enough room for everyone so tons of people were left outside looking through the little plastic tent windows on the side. We had a good showing. It was alot of fun. Disiac (another dance company here at Princeton) went alittle before us and they did a really good job as well. I liked their choreo.
[ TIME IN FROM THE CUBAN SCENE ]
After that…I ran home quickly, changed, grabbed my camera equipment, and headed up to Rocky Dining Hall for the Cuban party. As event photographer, I was supposed to be there to capture the event. I arrived at around 11:40ish and started snapping some shots.
And oh boy…was it a party.
I love the latin culture so much. For those who don’t already know, my mother is Guatemalan. So i’m half latino. Tonight’s party was so much fun. The Cubans know how to dance. They definitely have that latino rythm & energy. That’s why I love latin dances so much….cuz everyone dances…..and everyone knows how to dance. It makes the entire experience so much more enjoyable.
So at they party they had a sweet band playing. The band played for awhile and then they had this afro-cuban rapper dude spit some rhymes. It was fresh. The dude had dreadlocks and was really entertaining. Here’s a quick pic.
Of course throughout all this the Cubans were dancing away….getting their groove on. Also on the side of the dance, they had this Cuban artist making a painting. I had never in my 22 years seen such a scene. In the middle of a huge party, an artist making a painting. It was really, really, really neat. It added to the entire Cuban experience. Here’s a pic.
And of course, not to mention the Cuban cigars that a couple people were using. I don’t know what Cuba smells like…..but I had a feeling that the room we were in had Cuba’s scent all over it. Oh yeah, and a bunch of people were wearing those cute cuban berets. Word.
After the band and the rapper had finished their thing, music was played. Good ol’ vintage cuban dance music. At one point, somehow the computer froze and the music all of a sudden stopped working. The crowd went nuts in disappointment….but then with their cuban energy….started clapping and singing the lyrics to the song…..all while continuing to dance.
I gotta admit. It was quite the party. I took pictures for only about 15 minutes…then I danced. Cuz I really wanted to dance and enjoy the fun. And indeed…it was a blast.
You know it’s a sweet Cuban party when…..
+ The security guards (in tonight’s case: 2 Princeton police officers….with their big beer bellies, grey hair, and “white” upbringings) over by the door were dancing, shaking their hips from side to side and nodding their heads to the beat. There’s something about the Cuban vibe that just gets ya moving.
+ Old Cuban couples are in their dancing as if they were 30 years younger. The cuban spirit is eternal I guess.
+ Like I mentioned earlier, the music stopped…but the cubans continued to dance and have fun, replacing the music with clapping hands and singing of the song lyrics.
+ An NYU student who is doing a documentary on Cubans was there filming. He’s a gringo whitey in the purest form. He had long shabby hair, skaterish/punkish. He was chilling throughout the party, just filming everything that was going on….etc. Towards the end of the dance he had put his camera away. He was in the middle of one of the circles dancing like a maniac, sweat running down his face, shaking his booty in the most intense way that a “white boy” knows how. He was going crazy. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. All I could do is laugh.
The Cubans know how to party (dance). Latinos in general know how to dance. The cuban spirit has definitely rubbed off on me. I’m excited for tomorrow’s conference activities.
So there it is folks. The SUPER LONG BLOG on how in one day I became Cuban.
Much love from your latino gangsta,
Mickey Lee Hagen
OF THE DAY AWARDS…
Announcement of the day: Fidel Castro is a dork. Dorks need to be “taken care of.”
Highlight of the day: Being Cuban for a day.
Lowlight of the day: That terrible music eating away at my ears while I was napping.
Biggest Surprise of the day: Gloria Estefan wants me. [ Jay Kay, nerdz ]
Randomoscity of the day: Gloria Estefan is married so she can’t have me.
Sweet diggity Dog of the day: Chris Gueits. This dude is THE MAN. He’s a student at Princeton…and is the main organizer of the whole Cuban Conference thing. I’m very glad I met him this weekend. He’s an amazing bro.
Crush of the day: Alana Greer. The daughter of that cool doctor from Miami I was talking about earlier in the blog. There’s a picture of her up there too.
Song of the day: “Congo” -Gloria Estefan
Quote of the day: “Never invest your money in anything that eats or needs painting.” – Billy Rose
