When I was in Europe, Venezuela, the Southern States [Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee] as well as New York [in another era] during the 1970’s, there was no Albania Syndrome. I would get along with everyone and would go to Church, Sport Events and enjoy life. I was in Germany and Switzerland for one month in an exchange program disguised as an attempt to see my Grandfather who was in Switzerland from Cuba as a speaker at a scientific convention sponsored by Ciba Geigy [a pharmaceutical company]

Germany and Switzerland [as well as Italy, France, and Spain] were places of tranquility. In Germany and Switzerland, the music of Santana and Celia Cruz would blare from the record stores. It was a time of people learning that they were masters of their own destinies yet they [except for Spain at the moment] did not believe in God. It was heaven on earth with people of different groups going together. In Italy and Spain, I enjoyed life and reaffirmed my background [the sense of enjoying life] in the latter. Germany and Switzerland were a blast and it was there that I acquired the love of football [soccer]

I want to confess that in Germany, I acquired an idol whose idea was compatible with me. His name was Silvio Berlusconi [Showman, Businessman, Owner of a Football Team, and Prime Minister of Italy] and his ideas of comedy and fun were very much compatible with me. I returned to Europe in the 1980’s and felt peace but a desire to be in Florida.

In Venezuela, it was heaven in spite of whatever problems yet there was the same concept. The countryside, Caracas, and Valencia was a place for me and I felt blessed being there. There were no racism and there was a sense of unity. Everyone was family in the school that I went to. Everyone was the same although very few talked about God. The peace in Venezuela was almost like heaven with the palm trees, beaches, and countryside. Caracas and Valencia appeared to be a mega polis that was growing without limits. The same applied to Florida and other Southern States where there was the same peace and the Veterans returning from Vietnam [at least in the Cuban and Latin Community] was treated with the respect they deserved.

It was in this era where one had a “girlfriend” in which a boy would invite a girl to the beach or a place for milkshakes and coffee.

Unfortunately, it was a temporary peace although I remained at the basics in the Word of the Lord. I did not forget the time in Switzerland when being with my grandfather for two weeks; he had to return to the Iron Curtain and myself to the North. All of this because of mistakes committed by both sides of the Florida Straits.

In the 1980’s when I studied Medicine in the Dominican Republic, I had my times of peace especially with my first love. I also worked, studied, and was able to go to Church with my love. Everything was great within its context but again having to go to a North was not to my liking. I eventually lost contact with my first love.