Paciencia Y Fe

[ABUELA CLAUDIA]

Calor… calor… calor…

Calor… calor… calor…

Ay, Mamá!

The summer's hottest day

Paciencia y fe, paciencia y fe

It was hotter at home in La Víbora

The Washington Heights of Havana

A crowded city of faces the same as mine

Back as a child in La Víbora

I chased the birds in the plaza

Praying, Mamá, you would find work

Combing the stars in the sky for some sort of sign

Ay, Mamá, so many stars in Cuba

En Nueva York, we can't see beyond our streetlights

To reach the roof you gotta bribe the supa

Ain't no Cassiopeia in Washington Heights

But ain't no food in La Víbora

I remember nights, anger in the streets, hunger at the windows

Women folding clothes, playing with my friends in the summеr rain

Mamá needs a job, Mamá says we're poor, one day you say, "Vamos a Nuеva York..."

And Nueva York was far

But Nueva York had work and so we came

And now, I'm wide awake

A million years too late

I talk to you, imagining what you'd do

Remembering what we went through

Nueva York! Ay Mamá!

It wasn't like today, you'd say

"Paciencia y fe"

[NEW YORKERS]

"Paciencia y fe"

[ABUELA CLAUDIA]

"Paciencia y fe!"

[NEW YORKERS]

Paciencia y—

[ABUELA CLAUDIA]

Fresh off the boat in America

Freezing in early December

A crowded city in 1943!

Learning the ropes in America

En español, I remember

Dancing with Mayor Laguardia

All of society welcoming mami and me!

Ha!

[EMPLOYERS]

You better clean this mess!

[ABUELA CLAUDIA]

Paciencia y fe…

[EMPLOYERS]

You better learn inglés!

[ABUELA CLAUDIA]

Paciencia y fe…

[EMPLOYERS]

You better not be late

You better pull your weight

Are you better off than you were with the birds of La Víbora?

[ABUELA CLAUDIA]

Sharing double beds, trying to catch a break, struggling with English

Listening to friends, finally got a job working as a maid

So we cleaned some homes, polishing with pride

Scrubbing the whole of the Upper East Side

The days into weeks, the weeks into years, and here I stayed

[NEW YORKERS]

Paciencia y fe

Paciencia y fe

Paciencia y fe

[ABUELA CLAUDIA]

And as I feed these birds

My hands begin to shake

And as I say these words

My heart's about to break

And ay, mamá

What do you do when

Your dreams come true?

I've spent my life

Inheriting dreams from you

I made it through

I survived, I did it

Now do I leave or stay?

(Spoken)

Alright, Mamá. Okay

(Sung)

Paciencia y fe

[NEIGHBORS]

Calor, calor, calor!