美国国家公共电台 NPR A Taste Of Cuba Pops Up In Juárez, Mexico

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Our reporting from the U.S.-Mexico border has highlighted a reality; not only is it a magnet for many refugees and migrants, it attracts a remarkably¹ diverse group of refugees and migrants - people from Central America, South America and beyond. A few years ago, we walked into a shelter and met asylum²-seekers from Ethiopia. Recently, NPR's Amara Omeokwe walked into a restaurant in Juarez, Mexico, and found Cubans.

AMARA OMEOKWE, BYLINE³: It's 12 noon in Juarez, and the customers who have stopped into this busy restaurant for lunch didn't come for Mexican food.

MELBA: (Speaking Spanish).

OMEOKWE: Melba is a waitress here. Reading off the menu, she says there's ground beef with vegetables, pork chunks⁴ in a tomato stew⁵, shredded⁶ pork and rice and beans. The restaurant is called Little Habana, a nod to Cuba's capital city. It's about a 10-minute drive from the border with El Paso, Texas. The walls are painted a bright yellow and orange, and reggaeton songs blare from speakers.

All of the restaurant's 14 employees and most of its customers are from Cuba. Like Melba, many are in Juarez because they want to seek political asylum in the U.S. Melba asked us not to use her name while she's in the middle of immigration proceedings⁷.

MELBA: (Speaking Spanish).

OMEOKWE: When they got to Juarez in April, Melba says she and her husband registered with the State Population Council. That agency keeps a numbered list of migrants in Juarez who want to go to a U.S. port of entry and make an asylum claim. An official tells me there are some 3,000 Cubans on the list. The journey to Juarez took four months, and it was difficult, Melba says.

MELBA: (Speaking Spanish).

OMEOKWE: They went from Cuba to Brazil and then crossed through several countries, including a trek⁸ through the Colombian jungle. Along the way, she says they saw the bodies of other migrants who had fallen sick on their journeys and died. People told Melba the trip would be dangerous, so she left her 5-year-old son behind in Cuba with her parents.

She had hoped all her sacrifices would pay off when she and her husband's numbers were finally called off the list earlier this month, but when she crossed into the U.S. and met with immigration officials, she learned it was only an initial step. They were processed and sent back to Juarez on the Fourth of July.

MELBA: (Through interpreter) We felt very sad. It was America's Independence Day. It was also the eight-month anniversary of the beginning of my journey to come to the United States to be free, to realize my dreams. It was very sad, very hard. But what can we do?

OMEOKWE: Before the Trump⁹ administration started a new policy earlier this year, Melba might have been able to wait in the U.S. while her asylum claim was processed. Now she and thousands of other asylum-seekers have been sent back to Mexico to wait there instead. So in the meantime, Melba is anxiously anticipating an August appointment in U.S. immigration court, while focusing on her work at Little Habana.

MELBA: (Speaking Spanish).

OMEOKWE: Melba says she enjoys serving her fellow Cubans food they're used to, plus her job helps her afford to rent a hotel room for about $12 a day. That's why she's grateful to the restaurant's owner, a woman named Cristina Ibarra, for the opportunity to work.

MELBA: (Speaking Spanish).

OMEOKWE: Melba cries as she explains how Ibarra has looked after Cubans in town. And that takes us to Ibarra's story. For one thing, she isn't Cuban; she's Mexican. Food has always been her business. She spent 20 years running a taco restaurant in Juarez.

CRISTINA IBARRA: (Speaking Spanish).

OMEOKWE: And then, she says, she noticed the growing number of Cubans languishing¹⁰ in Juarez. She says she saw a business opportunity.

IBARRA: (Speaking Spanish).

OMEOKWE: So almost four months ago, she switched from tacos to Cuban food and opened Little Habana. It took some getting used to.

IBARRA: (Speaking Spanish).

OMEOKWE: Ibarra says tacos are simpler - a tortilla, meat, salsa. Cuban food is a lot more complicated; vegetables, rice and meat mean a lot more work. And, she says, she's found meaning in that work.

IBARRA: (Through interpreter) Cubans leave their hotels and come here to eat, as if it were their own home. They stretch out, relax and chat about their experiences, their fears, their achievements, and that gives me a lot of satisfaction.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

OMEOKWE: As lunchtime approaches, dozens of people trickle¹¹ in, and Ibarra turns the music up. A group of well-dressed Cuban men sit down at a table in the back. They gossip as they scroll¹² through Facebook on their cellphones. And here's where you can see the difference between many Cuban migrants and those from places like El Salvador and Guatemala. Keeping up with Facebook, stylish¹³ clothes, eating out - the Cubans arriving in Juarez, by and large, are more well-off than other migrants in the city. Several Cubans we met said they left their country not for jobs or safety, but for more political freedom.

There are Mexican customers at the restaurant, too. Juarez native Yadira Lopez said it was her second time visiting Little Habana. She likes the food.

YADIRA LOPEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

OMEOKWE: "It's something different here in Juarez," she says. She was surprised to see a Cuban restaurant pop up in the city, but she thinks it's good Cubans here are finding a way to make a living. Cristina Ibarra, the owner, says business is good, so she plans to keep things going. And as we walked out the door after trying the food ourselves, Ibarra handed us a business card. Little Habana, it says at the top, and at the bottom - (speaking Spanish) - all are welcome.

Amara Omeokwe, NPR News, Juarez.

(SOUNDBITE OF RODRIGO Y GABRIELA AND C.U.B.A.'S "LOGOS")

1 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

2 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

5 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

6 shredded   

shred的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。
• I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

8 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 languishing   

a. 衰弱下去的

参考例句：

• He is languishing for home. 他苦思家乡。
• How long will she go on languishing for her red-haired boy? 为想见到她的红头发的儿子，她还将为此烦恼多久呢？

11 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。

12 scroll   

n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡

参考例句：

• As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时，黄河的景象展现在眼前。
• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。

13 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。