Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Alexei Gonzalez Cedre.
Alex may be one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He is from Cuba. He leads a salsa band, works with English speaking clients for a big Panamanian real estate firm, loves rum, is brilliant and well read, teaches salsa dancing, and has a sweet, romantic streak a mile wide.
In November 1998, Alex’s band, originally called Sextasis, received the Best Amateur Band Award at the 14th Festival of the College Artists of Cuba. That success led them to play in other interesting places around the world, including Mexico and Greece. They are credited with introducing salsa music to Vietnam in 2012. (You can hear the band, now called Warapo, and learn more about its history, on the website, http://warapoband.com/. You can also see photos of Alex without his signature cap!)
Warapo seems to be fairly well known in Panama City. They played for a huge New Year’s Eve bash at the Panama City Hilton and had everyone in the crowd of several hundred dancing, even Bob! When we told one of the young ladies at the front desk in our apartment that we were going to see Warapo one night, she knew who they were. We like showing off our famous friend to others.
On stage, Alex is a showman who enjoys nothing more than engaging with his audience and getting everyone to have fun with the music. Off stage, he is more serious—a thinker. He thinks deeply about politics and world affairs and speaks about issues with empathy. When I mentioned to him one night that I’d just finished reading Wuthering Heights, he got very excited, as he had read that book in Spanish. He talked about it being one of the great pieces of world literature and showed us a serious, scholarly side that, frankly, I wouldn’t have expected from a salsa band leader!
His life has been full of twists and turns, ups and downs. We know a few, but one story is particularly telling. Many years ago, as the band struggled to gain fame in Cuba, Alex was flat broke. He ended up living in a Catholic church in Havana for two years, assisting the padre there who fed lunch to AIDS victims every Thursday along with other outreach programs to the poor and downtrodden. Alex had nothing, but he realized he still had something to give. It’s a huge part of who he is today.
Alex learned English as a kid in school but really learned to speak it while he was in Vietnam. It was the “language of exchange” there. He says the Vietnamese don’t like outsiders trying to speak their language, so the Cubans and everyone else spoke English to each one another.
He tells a funny story of the first gig the band had in Vietnam, at a hotel bar. No one danced, and the band members were mortified, fearing that everyone hated the music. The bar’s manager insisted that the audience loved them, they just didn’t know how to dance. So, Alex started giving salsa lessons. You can now find dozens of articles online about salsa being all the rage in Vietnam.
The band members are incredibly talented and diverse. They sing beautifully, play instruments seemingly without effort (watching Alex’s younger brother Ariel play piano and have a conversation at the same time, as if playing the piano is just like breathing for him, is amazing). They dance energetically, and they entertain always. Bob has a huge crush on the band’s female singer, but that’s another story!
Alex’s beautiful daughter was born while he was in Vietnam. The child of two Cuban parents, she could not be a legal resident of the Asian nation. Since she could not get citizenship or really any legal immigration status, Alex came back to Latin America and ended up in friendly Panama, where he has been for seven years, still playing with the band and now also working in real estate. Because of his English-speaking abilities, the company has him work with the gringos who come to town, even the ones looking for dumb, short-term deals that no one wants to make (yes, that would be Bob and me).
We met Alex while searching, rather desperately, for an apartment in Panama City that would accept a dog and a three-month lease, a difficult combination. We wrote to some real estate/rental companies through a Panamanian website, and Alex was the first to respond. He showed us a couple of places that fell through and finally talked us into the one we didn’t think we could afford. (Did I mention among his qualities that he’s a good salesman?) Through the process—and because they helped us move a couple of times during it—we got to know him and his girlfriend, Mariame. They are both terrific people, and we love spending time with them.
Alex met Mariame, one and half years ago. She works in insurance, and had taken a couple of London-based clients out for drinks where the band just happened to be playing one night. During a break from the music, Alex walked over and introduced himself to this beautiful Panamanian lady. The rest isn’t quite history, but we’ll get there.
As for politics, Alex’s views have matured over the years. He grew up a die-hard communist because that is what he knew, what his parents and those around him taught him. However, as the band’s success in Cuba increased, they had opportunities to play for the “elite.” It infuriated him that Fidel Castro’s sons and other leaders would spend thousands of dollars a night on top-shelf, probably smuggled alcohol, while the average Cubans struggled to make ends meet for their families. He now tends more toward European-style socialism, but we’re still working on him. 🙂
In December, we had the honor of celebrating Alex’s 41st birthday with him at the home of Mariame’s beautiful mother. It was a lovely gathering of wonderful music and good food, laughter, and family time. We truly did feel part of the family, especially when Mariame’s sister scolded the entire bilingual group to speak only Spanish so Bob and I could practice more!
With the festivities in full swing, Alex took the microphone and proposed to Mariame. It was so sweet. We do plan to attend the April wedding (a Panamanian wedding sounds like another good blog post, to me!).
Alex and I usually text a couple of times a week, keeping up with the band’s crazy schedule, talking business about our apartment, or just checking in. We feel very privileged to be considered among his amigos.
Great story.
Randy