A Cuban woman could not contain her emotions when faced for the first time with the immense variety and abundance of a supermarket outside the island. In a video that has touched thousands of people, the woman, caught between nervous laughter and a mixture of joy and sadness, explained what she felt as she compared that scene with the scarcity she left behind in Cuba.
The video begins with the person filming asking, "What do you have?" The emotional response was, "I feel like crying." When pressed for a reason, the woman replied, "Because there’s so much food… Too much food, my dear. In Cuba, people are very hungry, oh God." In the end, when asked if she was emotional, she simply answered, "Too much."
The moment, shared on social media, has sparked a wave of reactions from those who have had similar experiences. "That emotion is felt by all of us who have left for the first time"; "I had the same experience, I cried seeing so much food and thinking of those I left behind"; and "Every time I enter a market, I think of my family in Cuba and I can't help but feel sad," were some of the most prominent comments.
Others took the opportunity to share their own experiences. One person wrote: "My mother had the same reaction the first time she came to Italy; she burst into tears at the market," while another recalled: "28 years ago, I experienced something similar; I ate my first grapes with tears in my eyes."
This reaction, a mix of surprise, nostalgia, and emotion, is something that many Cubans recognize as common when emigrating and confronting a reality so different from the one they experienced on the island. However, it also serves as a reminder of the harsh situation faced by those who remain in Cuba, where scarcity continues to be part of daily life.
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