In Howard, Partying the Old Cuban Way – Howard County, Maryland

“The leafy wilds of Howard County are not the first place you’d expect to stumble upon a pachanga Cubana.

But look, listen, taste, smell: The sounds of Cuban salsa soar amid the tall oak trees, the minty mojitos are flowing like water. Among the 100 or so politicos, entrepreneurs, bankers and social service managers gathered yesterday afternoon and evening around the swimming pool, there are more guayaberas than sports coats. They’re feasting on Cuban classics like ropa vieja (beef) and lechon (pork), followed by flan and tres leches, then strong coffee and long cigars — not from Cuba, alas, the puffing men complain in mock dismay, but from Honduras.

Pachanga Howard? Latino middle-class professionals have long since spread beyond the typical Latino neighborhoods in and around Washington. In common with professionals the world over, they like to party and to network. This pachanga — a word that Cubans in particular use to mean “big party” — is supposed to combine both passions of the multi-tasking careerist. Leave your stuffy work inhibitions at home.”

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