Havana Nights in Kansas

About a week ago, I experimented on my family in preparing a Cuban meal and having them test it out.  I made everything from scratch including rice, black beans, palomilla steak, tres leches cake and mojito's.  To start off the meal, I read an excerpt from a poem by José Martí, the beloved Cuban poet who died fighting for Cuba's independence from Spain.  I also passed out "cubanismos," or Cuban slang, on note cards and placed them at each setting around the table, and had my very white family attempt to pronounce them.  ;)  It was quite enjoyable!  We listened to light salsa music playing in the background, the very first salsa mix that Israel brought to Kansas in March.