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differently. "Look over there," said the administrator as he pointed
to an area directly in front of us.
You see how the Cuban boys have located themselves
between the Cuban girls and the rest of the cafeteria?
That's how they eat every day. It looks to me as though
they have cut the girls off and isolated them. They
appear to want to keep them away from the rest of the
students. The boys still talk very loud even though
I've tried to quiet them many times. You'd almost
think they were fighting the way they carry on. They
are always taking each other's milk or ice cream.
It's not stealing. They do it for fun, but they do
keep the food and eat it. The girls usually sit in
small groups. They are much quieter.
Let's go outside and see what the ones who
have finished eating are doing. There are some
Cubans over by the basketball court. Watch how
they take each other's hats. They like to play
and run around. They seem to be the most active
group on the campus at lunch time. Even the Cuban
girls run and play around more than the other
students.
As we walked by a row of benches, a group of boys were pushing and
shoving each other. One young lad fell on the walkway in front of the
three of us, barely missing me. "You see what I mean," adds the ad
ministrator. "That's how the Cuban boys play."
They shove and push each other like that all the
time. That's why so many have detentions. The
Cuban boys get a lot of detentions. They know
they are playing with each other, but they are
often misunderstood. The other students and
teachers think they're fighting but I don't
believe they are.
Something else that I've noticed is their
behavior at the school dances. Frequently, many
of our parents will stop in when they bring their
children to a dance. I'm in charge of all the
dances, so I know what goes on. The parents don't
stay very long, unless they are Cuban. Then they
stay for the whole dance, especially if their child
is a girl. I didn't know anyone still believed in
the old-fashioned custom of chaperoning. These
parents watch over their children very carefully.