Nobody has written anything down, but everyone in our Cuban family knows the history; just this year, one of the women retold the story about the first meeting while everyone was gathered in the house. I guess that's how it's all kept alive.

We all write letters back and forth, but they take 6 weeks to get through - that makes it about 3-4 months before the original writer receives a response. And we have to be careful what we write, because censorship is still alive. We always have to be careful not to inadvertently endanger our friends with what we write. One of the saddest realities in terms of communication is that they think they can email us, but very rarely do the emails make it through, and our emails back to them rarely make it through to them, but they don't know that (and we can't discuss the "why" of that with them), so they think we're just not answering them when they write to us. We do send Christmas cards back and forth.

That's why it gets harder and harder every year to make sure everyone gets a little gift - every time we go back there are more people there! There are about 30 people in our "core" family, but when you add cousins, fiancees and new babies, it's more like 45-50. Plus we also try to share stuff with the hotel staff and their families, as well as other people in another village we go to frequently to play dominoes with other friends. I would say that altogether, we doled out well over 125 gift-bags this year. In each bag we try to put toothbrushes, emery boards, nail polish, needles & thread, medicine (Tylenol or Aspirin sample packs that have been donated to us for the trip), a skipping rope for girls and either a hot wheel car or frisbee for the boys, hair scrunchies, combs, pens, pencils, erasers, underwear for the children, socks and at least one specialty gift like a crank flashlight, stove lighter and/or Swiss Army knife (I buy them in lots on eBay). We also bring mosquito nets, and other various things that we use during our time there and then leave behind (swim goggles, towels, clothespins, etc.)

It's fun shopping around for bargains. I look all year for one extra-special gift to bring to Sarah, my adopted abuela (grandmother). Usually something like a beautifully boxed soap, special linens...this year I brought her a beautiful fan we bought in Madrid and a flowery pillow sham for her bed. Simple, lightweight, but she loves these silly frilly things. A couple of years ago we brought her a Spanish Bible - it's still her most prized possession and something she could never have afforded to buy on her own - as far as we know, you still can't even buy Bibles in Cuba.

Anyway, sorry for rambling. It's our passion, and it's hard to stop!