There is no greater joy than announcing the news of a baby on the way, but if you're trying to do it from outside of Cuba, it can quickly become chaotic. Between the internet connection that feels like it's from another century and the unexpected power outages, what should be a special moment can end up being an exercise in infinite patience.
This is what happened to Gretel Susel and her husband as they tried to share the good news with the future grandmother on the island, who, despite all the effort, finally "found out."
“Hey, you’re going to be a grandmother!” the son repeats insistently, while his mother on the island asks over and over again, “Are you at home? Are you in the little house?” Amid laughter and frustration, the call turns into a surreal scene: the connection drops, the voice comes and goes, and the news gets lost in the air like so many other things in Cuba.
The video, shared on TikTok by @grettel.susel, has not only elicited laughter but also highlights a reality that thousands of Cubans face every day. The comments quickly poured in, reflecting the shared experience. "I go through some stress, and my dad is another; in the end, we both hang up with high blood pressure."; "In the end, she never heard him."; "Only a Cuban knows what it feels like, for God's sake. It's so frustrating!"; "Those calls take away my peace."; "You end up with a headache."; "I thought it was just happening in my house."; "Those calls to Cuba are terrible, wow."; "That's what happens with my mom; it makes me so sad that sometimes I end up crying without her noticing."; "Better just send her a telegram."; "At this rate, when the kid turns 15, he'll find out he was supposed to be a grandchild."; "The situation is like a mother's; the family keeps growing, and they don't even realize it."; and "I get stressed every time I call, my God, you can hardly talk."
Grettel, reacting to the comments, didn't miss the chance for humor. “The best thing is to hang up because it just doesn’t work,” she replied in one. In another, she wrote, “That was the 101st attempt to tell him, and nothing.” Her tone, though sarcastic, does not hide the exhaustion behind a reality that repeats itself for Cubans both on the island and abroad.
This, however, is not the first video online depicting the ordeal of calls to Cuba, a mix of frustration and laughter that highlights how distance and the conditions of the island complicate the most basic thing: communicating with loved ones. What’s the outcome? According to the text in the video: "in the end, they found out," although it remains unclear whether it was due to the call or because the electricity arrived just in time for the news to work its magic.
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