Born in the poorest neighborhood in the little Cuban town of Sagua La Grande, with its streets made of dirt, mud, and grass, Ana grows up surrounded by her large and loving family. She decides she is going to be an actor, no matter how hard her mother tries to dissuade her. But it's a long struggle to achieve her dream, even when the family moves to Havana. Disaster strikes when Cuba's economic crisis of the early 1990s leads to Ana and her seven siblings leaving their homeland and being scattered across the world. Ana arrives in Italy, looking for a better future, and ends up taking all kinds of jobs to make her way in this new world - everything except acting. In this strange and wonderful country where the climate and the way of life are so different from her homeland, she experiences extraordinary kindness, love and heartbreak, while moving mountains to try to bring her huge and much-loved family together once again. Inés María López Hernández was born in Sagua La Grande in Cuba in 1958. She trained in drama in Havana, first at the National Arts School (Escuela Nacional de Arte) and then at the University of the Arts (Instituto Superior de Arte), from which she graduated in 1983. After graduation she joined the Teatro Estudio theater group and enjoyed a successful career as TV actor, presenter, and writer. In 1994 she emigrated to Italy, where she has worked as a theater director and taught acting. She currently runs the Cubamía restaurant and hotel in the town of Romano d'Ezzelino (Vicenza, Italy).