Conversation with Lauren Keshvari Leyva

Rosha 00:00:01: Hi, I'm Rosha.

Mia 00:00:02: Hi, I'm Mia.

Rosha 00:00:03: And today we'll be chatting with our friend Lauren about her experience as a Cuban-Canadian.

Rosha 00:00:07: Hi, Lauren, how are you?

Lauren 00:00:08: Hi, Rosha, I'm good. How are you?

Rosha 00:00:10: Good. Okay, so starting off, what is your connection to Latin America and the Caribbean?

Lauren 00:00:17: So I was actually born in Holguín, Cuba. That's where my mom was born and my grandma was born. My great-grandma is still there. And I actually moved away when I was quite young. I was only five months old and my mom was 21.

Rosha 00:00:30: Okay. What brought you to Ottawa? What brought your family here?

Lauren 00:00:33: So, we didn't initially move to Ottawa. So, we initially moved to the GTA area, Toronto, moved around a bit to Richmond Hill, Brampton. But I ultimately ended up coming to Ottawa to pursue my education. I wanted to further my education, become the first gen in my family to go to university. And I just thought there was something special and unique about doing it in the country's capital.

Rosha 00:00:57: That's really cool.

Mia 00:00:59: So, following up on that, you said that you still have a great-grandmother in Cuba. Do you have any family here? Did you move with, you know, some extended family or was it really just with your mom?

Lauren 00:01:13: So, I moved with my mom. My dad is not Cuban, so he actually already lived in Canada. But all my extended family on my mom's side, for the most part, still is in Cuba. So, I have some family in Holguín, where I'm from, and I also have some family in Havana, the capital. I have like some limited extended family. And by that, I mean like my, some like … some of my grandma's cousins that live in London [Ontario].

Lauren 00:01:37: So, it's not a lot. So, when I do get to see my mom's side, it's when I go back to Cuba.

Mia 00:01:45: Okay, that's really interesting. And so do you live in a predominantly Latin community, like Latin community or neighbourhood, or has it really been more of a living in a diverse neighbourhood or a predominant culture other than Latin American.

Lauren 00:02:04: I'd say pretty diverse. I feel like having lived in Toronto and Brampton, there is a lot of diversity. I wouldn't say that there is a large Latin population per se. I will say that I was usually part of the minority in the schools that I attended. But the nice thing about it was that everyone was kind of unique in that sense. And there were diverse cultures that kind of aligned with my own, so I didn't really feel too alienated.

Mia 00:02:34: Okay, and just to kind of follow up on that, did you, because it was a minority, did you have many opportunities to either speak Spanish with peers or celebrate Latin American and Caribbean culture with them, or was it more of something that you did within your family or, you know, at a community centre that was more geared to Latin American and Caribbean culture?

Lauren 00:02:56: That's a really good question. I feel like, not really, like… It was pretty limited to my household. Like because it wasn't a dominant culture and I was part of the minority, those weren't really like culture days that people really celebrated a lot at the schools that I attended. So, when I got the opportunity to celebrate my culture and my heritage, it was more so within my household, or I would go to a community event somewhere else with my family.

Lauren 00:03:22: I know Toronto has like a lot of Latin cultural fests and stuff like that. So those are the ones that we would go to if we wanted to do something to celebrate.

Rosha 00:03:29: That's nice. What celebrations are most important to you?

Lauren 00:03:35: So, for me, I would have to say Christmas. So, something unique for Latin culture, I know generally speaking, from like speaking with my Latin friends, is that like we always celebrate on the 24th. Like Christmas Day is the 24th for us. And it's a party. Like, it's a party. Everyone's invited. There's a lot of food. We don't do like the traditional like turkey, or at least I think like the Canadian traditions do like turkey, right? We like roast pork.

Lauren 00:04:06: Like we roast pork. And that's usually what we have. Like pork is really big in Cuban culture. Like that's like the primary meat that they consume back home, just because a lot of the other options are limited. So especially like beef in Cuba, like really hard to get.

Rosha 00:04:23: And would you say that's your favourite holiday or is there another that's?

Lauren 00:04:29: I would say that's my favourite holiday. I feel like we do celebrate Easter in my household, but it's also nothing super big. And it's actually something that my mom didn't celebrate in Cuba. So, it's just a lot of the celebrations that I currently partake in aren't celebrations that my mom had celebrated back home. So, they're not necessarily Cuban. But Christmas is like that one celebration that like the Cuban comes out.

Rosha 00:04:56: Can you describe a typical day in your community?

Lauren 00:05:00: A typical day in my community, I think it kind of varies for everyone. So, I'll kind of just like speak for myself as to what like a typical day looks like for me that might reflect Cuban culture. So, for me, I just love listening to Latin music as I do my day-to-day tasks.

Lauren 00:05:16: Like I'm a huge Bad Bunny fan. So, I love listening to music while I'm doing like laundry, washing dishes, doing my homework. Growing up, my house was always full of music, and my grandma and mom would always be singing to some Cuban classics. I think I definitely listen to some more modern Latin pop than my mom and my grandma, but it still kind of helps me feel connected to my culture and connected to them, given that I am also living away from them as they are still in Toronto.

Rosha 00:05:47: Okay. And I think you've kind of answered our follow-up question, but is there anything else that you think, like, anything else of importance that you think really defines a typical day in your household that might reflect specifically like Cuban culture?

Lauren 00:06:05: I don't think so, besides the fact that we always do try to make time for family at some point throughout the day, whether that be throughout dinner, for dinner, or late night, just having like a little family session. We're just going to talk about our day. Family is very important in the Cuban culture as well. So just making time for family.

Mia 00:06:26: Okay. So, it's a little, this next question is a little bit of a pivot, but still kind of within the same stream. How would you say that you celebrate your heritage, whether it's like a special occasion or a day-to-day activity?

Lauren 00:06:44: So, as I mentioned, there weren't a lot of community events where I would live. So, we would usually move around to go to Latin Fests whenever possible. So, Salsa on St. Clair is like a really good one. That's the one like my family loves to go to over the summer. I think it usually happens in July. It's like a two-day Latin-themed street festival that happens on like St. Clair Avenue West. I think it's between Winona Drive and Christie Street. Yeah, and it's free, it's family friendly, there's a lot of dancing, live music, and some good food as well.

Mia 00:07:22: You know, when you grew up in your household, you kind of, you've been talking about how it's been like very close-knit, very family-centred.

Mia 00:07:33: Did you recognize any values that your mom and your grandmother kind of taught you or instilled just in your day-to-day that you hold kind of most dear as like a Latin American and Caribbean diaspora member.

Lauren 00:07:53: I think the two core values would have to be family and hard work. Like family is just so important for us. And I think moving to Canada kind of just emphasized that for us, given that we lost access to our extended family. And it was really just us and like, my grandma now immigrated to Canada, but at the beginning, it was just my mom that she, and she was alone. So, family became really important. We became, we are really close because of that, I like to say.

Lauren 00:08:26: And also, just hard work. Cubans are very hard working, and that's something that has not... not stopped, not changed. It's something that my mom carries in her. I remember growing up, my mom had to learn how to speak English. She had to learn how to adapt to a Canadian workforce. And she really worked hard to make her way up. and to get to where she is today.

Lauren 00:08:53: And you can see that in people back home as well, despite different economic circumstances. And that's something that I continue to value in my day-to-day life, especially as a student, I continue wanting to work hard for my family. So I feel like they're very interconnected values.

Mia 00:09:11: That's really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Rosha 00:09:14: What would you like to share about yourself or your community that you think is important for people to know?

Lauren 00:09:21: I think Cuba can get a bad rep sometimes, but Cubans are some of the most hardworking, caring, and empathetic people you'll ever meet. When you go, they will welcome you with open arms. They are so open-minded and so friendly. I think just like sometimes the political climate of the world can sometimes affect how people perceive a culture. And I think it's very important to distinguish politics from the culture of a people sometimes. I know there's overlap that sometimes is inevitable, but I do think it's very crucial to kind of see between the lines.

Rosha 00:10:05: No, I totally agree with you. What foods do you make that remind you of home? And is there a specific place that you go to buy these ingredients?

Lauren 00:10:17: Okay, so I don't tend to make food myself that remind me of home. I'm grateful enough to have my grandma who loves to cook for me. So, when I go back home, she'll always make some, she'll make me some fried plantain. It's so good. Like she'll have to like cut up like one just for me when I go back home. And she's always like slapping my hand away from the plate because I'm like, I'm eating them all. And also pulled pork sandwiches. So those in Cuba are called like Cubanos. And as I mentioned, like pork is like the main source of protein in back home. So, you'll see that incorporated into like a lot of like our national dishes and such.

Lauren 00:10:56: And like every time we go back to Cuba, we go to my great grandmother's home and on the rooftop, she has like a rooftop, nothing fancy. It's like a cement rooftop, but we'll always host like family gatherings there. And at least once we will like roast a pig and invite everyone and invite our neighbours. And that's something that we continue to do here, although a lot less often, but sometimes when we do have family gatherings with the extended family that we have in London, for example, we'll roast a pig, we'll make some Congrí, which is like rice and beans.

Lauren 00:11:30: Fried plantain and it's just like a really good time. I think we also make yuca. I'm not the biggest fan, don't hate me, but that is also something traditionally made.

Rosha 00:11:40: That's making me hungry. It's very wholesome too.

Mia 00:11:45: Thank you for sharing that. So, a bit more of another kind of pivot question, but … How likely would you and or your family be to use the website we're creating to upload your stories? So as like accessing oral histories and different experiences of Latin American and Caribbean immigrants.

Lauren 00:12:10: I would say very likely, just given how spread out the Latin community is in Canada, I feel like the website would be a great way to contribute to creating a greater sense of community amongst Latin immigrants. Yeah, for sure.

Mia 00:12:25: Okay. And so, you're like the way that you're talking about using it would be more like a connection thing. Would you like use it as a kind of reaching out to people? How would you see yourself using it?

Lauren 00:12:38: Maybe not so much reaching out to people for myself at least. I could maybe see some of my relatives doing that. But I think sometimes it's easy to feel isolated, especially when you're not amongst people from the same culture. So I think just even an online space where you can see that there are people with similar backgrounds, similar experiences, living in Canada, kind of gives an inner sense of peace, even though you're not maybe necessarily directly interacting with them, you know they're there, you know you're not alone, and you know there is a community there that you can fall back on.

Mia 00:13:14: Thank you so much. And so, we're kind of coming to the close of our interview and discussion right now, but I'm just wondering if there's anything else that we've discussed or haven't touched on that you'd like to expand on or introduce or just kind of have as a closing remark.

Lauren 00:13:36: I think I would just want to say that every Latin immigrant has a different story, and every Latin culture and country is not the same. And I think that's also important to keep in mind when meeting Latin immigrants and interacting with Latin immigrants, because we all have different experiences and you want to be very careful not to overgeneralize as well, just to maintain a certain level of respect for everyone's unique culture. But yeah, I think that's it. Thank you so much for having me.

Rosha 00:14:07: Thank you for being a part of this project and sharing your experience. It was so much fun chatting with you about Cuba.

Lauren 00:14:13: Thank you.

Mia 00:14:14: Thank you.