Cuba - Lonely Planet [403]
mulato/a – mixed race; dark color
nueva trova – philosophical folk/guitar music popularized in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s by Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés
Operación Milagros – the unofficial name given to a pioneering medical program hatched between Cuba and Venezuela in 2004 that offers free eye treatment for impoverished Venezuelans in Cuban hospitals
organopónico – urban vegetable garden
Oriente – the region comprised of Las Tunas, Holguín, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo provinces; literally ‘the east’
orisha – a Santería deity
paladar – a privately owned restaurant
palenque – a hiding place for runaway slaves during the colonial era
palestino – a nickname given to people from the Oriente by those from the west
parada – bus stop
parque – park
parqueador – parking attendant
patria – homeland, country
PCC – Partido Comunista de Cuba; Cuba’s only political party, formed in October 1965 by merging cadres from the Partido Socialista Popular (the pre-1959 Communist Party) and veterans of the guerrilla campaign
pedraplén – stone causeways connecting offshore islands to mainland Cuba
pelota – Cuban baseball
peninsular – a Spaniard born in Spain but living in the Americas
peña – musical performance or get-together in any genre: son, rap, rock, poetry etc; see also esquina
caliente
período especial – the ‘Special Period in Time of Peace’ (Cuba’s economic reality post-1991)
piropo – flirtatious remark/commentary
ponchero – a fixer of flat tires
pregón – a singsong manner of selling fruits, vegetables, brooms, whatever; often comic, they are belted out by pregoneros/as
presa – dam
puente – bridge
¿qué bola? – ‘what’s up?’ (popular greeting, especially in the Oriente)
quinciñera – Cuban rite of passage for girls turning 15 (quince), whereby they dress up like brides, have their photos taken in gorgeous natural or architectural settings and then have a big party with lots of food and dancing
ranchón – rural farm/restaurant
reconcentración – a tactic of forcibly concentrating rural populations, used by the Spaniards during the Spanish-Cuban-American War
reggaetón – Cuban hip-hop
Regla de Ocha – set of related religious beliefs popularly known as Santería
resolver – to resolve or fix a problematic situation; along with el último, this is among the most indispensable words in Cuban vocabulary
río – river
rumba – an Afro-Cuban dance form that originated among plantation slaves during the 19th century; during the ‘20s and ‘30s, the term ‘rumba’ was adopted in North America and Europe for a ballroom dance in 4/4 time; in Cuba today, to rumba simply means to ‘party’
sala polivalente – boxing arena
salsa – Cuban music based on son
salsero – salsa singer
Santería – Afro-Cuban religion resulting from the syncretization of the Yoruba religion of West Africa and Spanish Catholicism
santero – a priest of Santería; see also babalawo
Santiagüero – someone from Santiago de Cuba
sello – stamp (in a passport or on a letter)
SIDA – síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida; AIDS
s/n – sin número; indicates an address that has no street number
son – Cuba’s basic form of popular music that jelled from African and Spanish elements in the late 19th century
sucu-sucu – a variation of son music
Taíno – a settled, Arawak-speaking tribe that inhabited much of Cuba prior to the Spanish conquest; the word itself means ‘we the good people’
tambores – Santería drumming ritual
taquilla – ticket window
telenovela – soap opera
telepunto – Etecsa (Cuban state-run telecommunications company) telephone and internet shop/call center
temporada alta/baja – high/low season
terminal de ómnibus – bus station
tinajón – large earthenware jar; particularly common in the city of Camagüey
tres – a guitar with seven strings and an integral part of Cuban son music
trova – traditional poetic singing/songwriting
trovador – traditional singer/songwriter