The Cuban content creator Maryannet, known on social media as @maryannet_, shared a video in which she recalled some of the most curious and hard-to-explain experiences she had during her childhood in Cuba, evoking laughter and nostalgia among her followers.
"As many of you know, I was born in Cuba, and there are many things that I find myself thinking, 'That's a lie, I dreamed that,'" said the young woman at the beginning of the video, before presenting her list of things she still struggles to understand from her childhood on the island.
Among them, she mentioned "empacho," a supposed illness that in many Cuban households was treated with prayers on the stomach or home remedies.
"I spent my whole life thinking it was something medical, but now I don't know if it was poisoning, a virus, or witchcraft," she commented with a laugh.
Another of his anecdotes was "the little sip from the schools," a mysterious liquid that nurses distributed in schools without explaining its purpose. It was a fluoride rinse, made up of sodium fluoride dissolved in water.
It couldn't be swallowed; it was only for rinsing the mouth and holding it for a few minutes. Its use was to strengthen dental enamel and prevent cavities. Most children, and their parents, had no idea what that "little rinse" contained.
“It tasted like mouthwash and came in an unlabeled bottle. No one knew what it was, but we all drank it,” the young woman recalled.
He also spoke about the dreaded "sereno," a popular belief that blamed the nighttime breeze for causing fevers and colds. Grandparents advised covering up to avoid getting sick.
The fourth element of their history was the absurd "pioneer guard," where elementary school children were required to "protect" the school as if they were military personnel.
Maryannet's video has received thousands of views and dozens of comments from other Cubans who shared similar experiences about the beliefs and more unusual aspects of the country.
Her publication humorously and tenderly reflects the cultural peculiarities that shaped an entire generation that grew up under the Cuban educational and social system.
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