Paciencia Y Fe

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Olga Merediz

Olga Merediz is an American Broadway, TV, and film actress. Merediz originated the role of Abuela Claudia in the Broadway musical In the Heights, for which she received a Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. She played the role for the show's entire Broadway run. Her television credits include NBC's 2016 series "Shades of Blue" and Netflix's Orange Is the New Black. more »

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Calor, calor, calor
Calor, calor, calor

Ay Mamá
The summer's hottest day
Paciencia y fe
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"
("Paciencia y fe")
"Paciencia y fe"
("Paciencia y")

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!

You better clean this mess!
Paciencia y fe
You better learn inglés!
Paciencia y fe
You better not be late
You better pull your weight
Are you better off than you were
With the birds of La Víbora?

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

(Paciencia y fe)
(Paciencia y fe)
(Paciencia y fe)

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 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

I made it through
I survived, I did it
Now do I leave or stay?

Alright, mamá
Okay
Paciencia y fe

¡Calor, calor, calor!

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