Diary of a Cycling Instructor (Week 14th June — 18th June)

 Can a T-junction be a metaphor for life?

Week Monday 14th June — Friday 18th June 2021

In the primary schools I’ve worked with, the ones I’ve been based at and the ones where I’ve been delivering cycling training so far, I’ve seen the same notice, or variations of it: “Please, do not leave any dirty dishes/glasses/ cups/ mugs/cutlery in the sink. Wash, dry and put them away.” Usually accompanied by a wild array (worthy of a Damian Hirst’s Turner Prize entry) of grease-stained plates left in the aforementioned sink.

Nothing like the countdown to the summer holidays echoing in a semi-empty staff room. It’s such a pleasure to hear teachers and teaching assistants working out the number of weeks left until the summer break after a Covid-struck sixteen months. It’s the same sense of normality I get as soon as I pedal off after a few days without cycling.

Whilst waiting for the children to come out to the playground today I saw a magpie perched on a branch. I was suddenly reminded of the nursery rhyme. What’s not clear in the text is the time lapse between birds. For instance, I happened to see just the one magpie today, does that mean that I’ll have sorrow, even if another one joins it after a couple of seconds, thus, turning my sorrow into joy?

I can’t wait to see seven magpies, though, if only to reveal the secret that was never to be told.

Negotiating a T-junction on two wheels is as just showing sharp observation and position skills as it is a good lesson for life. You don’t pull out of a junction (assuming you’re travelling on the side or minor road) without checking. Similarly, in life you shouldn’t jump into situations without thinking. Of course, occasionally we come up against unexpected events and our centuries-old fight-or flight instinct takes over. But when possible, consider doing what good riders do: wait until the road is clear and only then, proceed.

Why I Wrote "Cuban, Immigrant, and Londoner"

 My book is a call to strengthen the bonds that unite us

Photo by Deborah Jaffe

Published by Austin Macauley, supported by an Arts Council England grant and with photographs by the excellent Deborah Jaffe, my first book, “Cuban, Immigrant, and Londoner” hits the shelves this week.

Somewhere towards the end of my book, I write “This is what writing from an EAL immigrant’s perspective represents. Shards of glass that amount to nothing more and nothing else than the imperfect creation of a glimpse into the life we’ve lived, the one we have yet to live and the experience that has accompanied this process.” The “shards of glass” are a reference to an image produced by the photographer Gillian Allard in 2017 for one of her challenges on the Sky Arts show “Master of Photography” (Gillian went on to win the competition).

Shards tend to be seen mainly as broken pieces of glass and therefore they have a negative connotation. For instance, you can get cut if you walk on them barefoot. For me, though, shards and the distorted image they return, represent the various ways in which our lives as immigrants play out.

That’s why I decided to split “Cuban, Immigrant, and Londoner” into five different chapters. They each deal with five different identity markers. Cuban, Immigrant, and Londoner was the trigger to write the book from a self-proclaimed Londoner’s perspective. A Cuban in London and London in a Cuban is a collection of 250-/300-word light-hearted vignettes depicting those little moments that enrich an immigrant’s life. As the Land is the Language is a reflection on our relationship with the English language as immigrants. From Here and There is a compilation of the articles I’ve published in newspapers and magazines in the last fifteen years. The closing chapter, An EAL Immigrant Writes, seeks to explore the ways in which we, non-native speakers, express our ideas and thoughts in our adopted country’s language, in this case, English.

The main aim of the book “Cuban, Immigrant, and Londoner” is to serve as a platform for fellow immigrants to share our experiences. Furthermore, through the book I would like to start a much-needed conversation with the wider public in the UK on the contributions made by immigrants to this country.

The ideas behind this book have long been in gestation. Some come from my professional life. An example of this was a First Light-funded, EAL children-supporting project I managed at two primary schools in 2009. Another film-related project I managed years later, in 2014, sought to delve into issues related to identity and belonging.

Above all “Cuban, Immigrant, and Londoner” is part memoir, part autobiography and part reflection on an Afro-Latin Caribbean immigrant’s life in London for more than 20 years. It’s a journey that’s barely begun. Welcome aboard and enjoy the ride.