Paciencia y Fe

[ABUELA CLAUDIA]
Calor, calor, calor
Calor, calor, calor
Ay, Mamá
The summer’s hottest day
Paciencia y fe, paciencia y fe
Ay, carajo, it’s hot!
But that’s okay
Mamá would say, "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 summer rain
Mamá needs a job, Mamá says we’re poor
One day you say, "Vamos a Nueva 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"

[COMPANY]
Paciencia y fe

[ABUELA CLAUDIA]
Paciencia y fe

[COMPANY]
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 La Guardia
All of society welcoming Mami and me, ha!

[COMPANY]
You better clean this mess!

[ABUELA CLAUDIA]
Paciencia y fe…

[COMPANY]
You better learn inglés!

[ABUELA CLAUDIA]
Paciencia y fe…

[COMPANY]
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

[USNAVI/BENNY/GRAFFITI PETE/MAN]
Paciencia y fe…

[SONNY/PIRAGUA GUY/TWO MEN]
Paciencia y fe…

[DANIELA/NINA/ENSEMBLE]
Paciencia y fe…

[ABUELA CLAUDIA (COMPANY)]
And as I feed these birds
My hands begin to shake
And as I say these words (Ooh)
My heart’s about to break (And ay Mamá)
And ay Mamá, what do you do when
Your dreams come true? (And ay Mamá)
I’ve spent my life inheriting dreams from you

[ABUELA CLAUDIA]
What do I do with this winning ticket?
What can I do but pray?
I buy my loaf of bread
Continue with my day
And see you in my head
Imagining what you’d say
The birds, they fly away, do they fly to La Víbora?

(spoken)
Ay, alright, Mamá. Okay!

(sung)
Paciencia y fe

[COMPANY]
Calor, calor, calor