For many Cuban islanders, hummingbirds are a sacred animal, both a sign of good luck and of the presence of the Divine. No wonder Rafael Guerra, then a UF history major (and no relation to me) was shocked when he noticed not one, but two baby hummingbirds emerging from their nest while sitting on the front porch of his family’s home in the quiet town of La Salud, near Havana. Cuba boasts two kinds of hummingbird, called colibrí or zun-zun for the buzzing sound of their wings. This, the larger species, is called the Cuban Emerald. Also important is the Yoruba-Cuban belief in the divinely blessed meaning of twins and the fact that the town where Rafael witnessed the twin birds’ birth translates as “Health”. Whenever Cubans toast anything, they do not say “Cheers” but rather “¡Salud!”. In all ways, there could be no more hopeful a sign—for Rafael in particular or for the future of Cuba, whenever or however it may come. La Salud, December 2018. Photographs and video by Rafael Guerra.
