May 25, 2007

Cuba Nostalgia - El Gusano

Had it not been for El Gusano, this year's Cuba Nostalgia Convention might not have gotten off the ground. He was gracious enough to offer to help me set up the Babalu Booth this year and I can say with all honesty, had he not been there, I would have exploded and called off the whole thing. Not only did he help me put the Babalu frame together, but he did so with much patience as I was a bit hungover - having busted my behind on Wednesday night prepping - and we had no air conditioning in the place.

When you put a stressed out, exhausted and somewhat hungover Val in an un-air conditioned building and have him under a deadline building stuff...well...let's just say he's not the happiest of campers and definitely not someone you want to be around all that much.

But the Big G was patient and took my rantings in stride, knowing I was under a great deal of stress, and busted his behind helping me. Not only that, unbeknownst to him, his cool demeanor helped keep me calm, or at least, kept me from blowing my top.

All of this, mind you, having never met in person before.

So, I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank El Gusano - the Big G - not only for all his help and sweat and hard work and also coming back during the convention to help out as well, but for being my new brother and for keeping me sane and focused on the purpose of the whole event while I was, at times, ready to set the building on fire.

Dude, I know I said it a bunch of times, but I could not have done it without you. I am humbled and honored to have met you and to be part of this blogging family along with you.

Eres un bravo y te quiero y me quedo en chor.

Posted by Val Prieto at May 25, 2007 07:28 AM



Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.babalublog.com/cgi-bin/mt/hut.cgi/5242

Comments

So the A/C was broken again this year?

Posted by: Scott [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 25, 2007 08:36 AM

I have been reading El Gusano's blog for a while and I think it is one of the best around! To now learn he is an all around good guy does not surprise me at all.

Posted by: Jose Aguirre [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 25, 2007 09:12 AM

To be honest, it is me who should be thanking Val. All of us should be thanking Val and his family.

It is always a pleasure to give of oneself to a good cause and an honor, privilege and duty to serve Cuba. So I thank Val for the opportunity to able to do so.

It takes an incredible amount of preparation just to get to the point where you can prop up the booth and set up the café. And for Val, it’s a family affair. The Mrs, Mom and Pop..everyone’s involved. My efforts were miniscule.

I’m sure Val will agree that all the hard work is instantly compensated the minute a young person walks up to the booth and shows an interest in our struggle and mission. Especially since the Babalu booth was probably the only politically oriented island in a sea of culture and art.

Like we told the guy who got the very last t-shirt on Sunday night, Maybe next year we will be having Miami Nostalgia in Havana.

Posted by: Gusano [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 25, 2007 11:10 AM

Ditto Gusano, I'm with you 100%

Posted by: Jewbana [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 25, 2007 12:24 PM

Meeting El Gusano was indeed a privilege. Serious, but funny. It didn't take long to recruit him into the "family." I feel richer now because I know him. CN broke so many molds for me! My favorite was connecting screen names to flesh and blood people. =D

Posted by: Marta [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 28, 2007 05:19 AM

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)


Remember me?