Non-Western Setting

Leaving Glorytown: One Boy’s Struggle Under Castro

Eduardo F. Calcines

New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2009

221 pp.

$17.95 Biography

ISBN: 9780374343941

“My world was disappearing fast. Turmoil swirled around me: death, imprisonment, fear, whispered conversations, hunger, and sleeplessness. I was sliding down a dark hole with nothing to hold on to.”

Eduardo Calcines was there in January 1959 when Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba. Although he was only three years old at the time he vividly remembers “a Voice on the radio” droning on and on and his life would never be the same. His family was poor under the Batista dictatorship but nothing could prepare them for the endless waiting in line only to be “handed a chunk of hard bread, some sugar, and a bunch of cans with funny writing on them.” To add insult to injury the cans contained “horse meat.” When they did get fresh meat they were rationed to “one pound per person, per month.” Due to the “11 p.m. blackout imposed by the government” gone was the “clicking of dominoes” from neighbor’s front porches as it was now illegal “to sit and talk” with friends. Gone were the festivities celebrating “Noche Buena, or Holy Night” on December 24, as “talk of God was just as forbidden as talk of dissent.” And due to the nerve of his father to dare request an exit visa for his family, he soon would be gone too.

In August 1966, with great fear and intrepidation, Eduardo’s father Felo “went to see an immigration representative and told him the Calcines family…wanted to leave the country.” From that day on Eduardo was tormented by classmates and teachers alike. “This is what a worm looks like. A traitorous, disgusting worm” his teacher would announce on his first day back to school. Within a couple of weeks his father would be arrested and sent to an “agricultural reform camp” to slave in the sugar cane fields. He would be gone for three years and only permitted to come home once a month for a weekend.

Finally in December 1969 word came via telegram that permission had been granted for the Calcines family to leave Cuba. While great excitement filled the air, there was also an overwhelming sense of loss as they were only given “one week” to say good-bye to their lives and loved ones. On December 30 they left Cuba never to return.

This story is a first person account seen through the eyes of a three year old child who was forced by circumstances to come to terms with a situation that many adults would and did struggle with. For 10 years he lived under the oppression of Castro’s ideology gone awry. The writing is smooth and peppered in his native tongue of Spanish with translations provided. It is a story of faith in God as he “doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle” and the significance of family to help us through trying times. This story would be especially appropriate for ages 12 and up in a Social Studies class as immigration in general and illegal immigration specifically is a highly debated topic in this country. Questions for discussion may include: Why are people so desperate to get to the United States any way possible? Why do they need permission? Why was it so easy for Castro to gain control of Cuba? How and why did he do it?

Other titles about children growing up in similar circumstances include Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You by Hanna Jansen and Useful Fools by C.A. Schmidt.