Paciencia Y Fe

Calor! Calor! Calor!
 Calor! Calor! Calor!
 Ay Mama!
 The summer's hottest day
 Paciencia y fe
 Paciencia y fe
 Ay carajo, it's hot!
 But that's okay
 Mama would say,
 "Paciencia y fe"
 It was hotter at home in La Vibora
 The Washington Heights of Havana
 A crowded city of faces the same as mine
 Back as a child in La Vibora
 I chased the birds in the plaza
 Praying, Mama, you would find work
 Combing the stars in the sky for some sort of sign
 Ay, Mama, 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 cassiopia in Washington Heights
 But ain't no food in La Vibora
 I remember nights, anger in the streets, hunger at the windows
 Women folding clothes, playing with my friends in the summer rain
 Mama needs a job, Mama 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, imagine what you'd do
 Remembering what we went through
 Nueva York! Ay Mama!
 It wasn't like today, you'd say,
 Paciencia y fe
 NEW YORKERS: Paciencia y fe
 ABUELA CLAUDIA: Paciencia y fe
 NEW YORKERS: 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 espanol I remember
 Dancing with Mayor Laguardia
 All of society welcoming Mami and me! Ha!
 EMPLOYERS: You better clean this mess!
 ABUELA CLAUDIA: Paciencia y fe...
 EMPLOYERS: You better learn ingles!
 ABUELA CLAUDIA: Paciencia y fe...
 EMPLOYERS: You better not be late
 You better pull your weight
 Are you better off then you were with the birds of La Vibora?
 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
 NEW YORKERS: Paciencia y fe...
 Paciencia y fe...
 Paciencia y fe...
 ABUELA CLAUDIA: And as I feed these birds
 My hands begin to shake
 And as I say these words
 My heart's about to break
 And ay Mama
 What do you do when your dreams come true?
 I've spent my life inheriting dreams from you
 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 Vibora?
 Ay, alright, Mama, okay.
 Paciencia y fe!
 NEIGHBORS: Calor! Calor Calor!