@ossobucotemp,
Quote:I know at least some a2kers who have connections, and would like to hear more.
Fidel Castro made a smart move when he sent to the US most of his jail dudes as if they were decent Cubans trying to come here.
These were known as "los Marielitos" (Followers of Mariel)
I remember they were distributed to different cities, including Washington DC.
In the 80's, in Washington DC, a non profit organization managed to obtain a building which was a Funeral Home, and converted it into a shelter.
Between the homeless, there were some Marielitos.
I did work as a volunteer, running a copper pipe from a wall to the ceiling in order to make a wide room as a common shower. I installed 4 shower heads.
The homeless had the facility to sleep and clean up themselves after other modifications made to the building.
The Marielitos were guys who talked in Spanish very fast, with an accent that is particular from the Caribbean region.
One day, when I finished installing the cut off valves, one of them told me that in Cuba the government provides free construction materials to anyone who ask for them to built his house.
Then, what Cubans did, - for example this Cuban is a carpenter- was to reunite a plumber, an electrician, a bricklayer, and helpers, and together building his house. The wife will kill a pig, providing good food at the table, serving beer or rum, and in a few weeks the house of the carpenter was finished.
Later, the bricklayer does the same, and in this way lots of Cubans took advantage of the free construction materials given by the government and they ended having the house they wanted.
Another Marielito, who was also drunk, after hearing what his Cuban friend told me, very seriously gave him a warning, and told him that he was talking too much.
