“I’m going to Havana. I go to Havana no come back no more. Don’t worry. And when I arrive I’ll get off
the boat, get a cup of coffee, catch a taxi and drive close to the cemetery where Sylvia is.”
The next day, after this conversation, I found myself in the library stealing a nautical map that came
from inside a pageless National Geographic. Learning to read the map would take me about three
weeks. When I told abuela that I knew it, she went to her room and quickly put on her evening dress.
We would arrive at the boat around 3 in the morning. We got on and abuela opened a bottle of conac
she brought. We travelled in the direction of the southeast, in search of the Gulf Stream. Abuela talked
tirelessly.
“Do you know why I have to keep Sylvia company? The first kiss your grandfather gave me was for her,
but he fell in love with me. Sylvia never forgave me. They say my poor sister died vomiting stars.”
“You can’t throw up stars. ¡No vo-mi-tar es-tre-llas!”
After our last dialogue, abuela boarded the ship while I cut the rope that held it.
“You good, okay? No worry you me. Good bye!”
I did not turn back to look in her direction. I started the motor and kept my gaze fixed without turning
around until arriving home. Maybe it was a little sad that I never believed all those stories of stars and
backwards rain.
Time passed, fleeting, and now I am an old man. One week, for the first time, I saw it rain backwards. I
thought of my abuela and understood that my time was drawing short. I told my grandson and he
responded that surely I had drank too much coffee.
Vocabulary
Lluvia….rain
Tormenta…..storm
Nieve…….snow
Relámpago……lightning
Sol…..sun
Trueno……thunder
Nublado…..cloudy
Temperatura….temperature
Hace calor…….it´s hot
Hace frío……it´s cold
Afuera…….outside
Ventoso…..windy
Tiempo…..weather
¿Qué tiempo hace?.....What´s the weather like?
Nebuloso…..foggy