I know lately I’ve been a bit monotonic with my posts. However more I am writing about relationships with Cubans, more things I discover.
Today I’ll write about the things you should know before getting engaged to your Cuban love. Or if you’re already engaged, before marrying him. Things I´ve learned along the way 🙂
1.It may not be love 💔… I know nobody wants to hear this. But we mistake summer crush with love so many times. And not just in Cuba 🇨🇺. It happens to the girls all over the world. We are on holidays, relaxed and this beautiful exotic guy starts to flirt with us. Of course we fall for it. And don’t get me wrong, 50% of these stories ends up with “and they live happily ever after”, but the other 50% of the girls end up scammed, heartbroken and miserable. Make sure you stay on the right side.
2.You should take your time 🕰️. If you find yourself engaged after a month of knowing a guy, while you actually spent with him few days and the rest was IMO conversation, just think it through. He may be the best or the worst that happened to you. Would you accept a guy from your country who proposes after few weeks together?
3.Travel to Cuba 🇨🇺 and spend time with him. And I’m not talking about short visits. I know girls who went 3 times in one year to Cuba and everything went perfectly fine. Once the guy was in their country the problems started. Why? Well because they were on holidays again! Staying in a Casa, eating out, going out. Just another honeymoon. What could possibly go wrong? Holidays is not a real life unfortunately.
4.You can stay in Cuban house🏠!! If you were told something different, it’s a lie. We were living together for months before we actually go married. You arrive in Cuba with your normal tourist card, later on you have to go the immigration office (there’s one in every town) with your boyfriend and the owner of the house. The owner of the house has to confirm he’s ok with you staying there. Changing your tourist visa to a family one costs 40CUC, the first month. After you have to extend it each month for 25CUC.
The tricky part. If your love had problems with police before or was registered in any Casa with another tourists you may not be authorized to stay with him. The immigration has a record of everything, on Cubans, on your previous entries, all the accommodation you stayed at. That may be the reason he is not inviting you home.
The other reason may be his living conditions. If he lives in a basic house with no bathroom he will not make you stay there.
But there’s a third option. To rent a house/apartment. If your boyfriend finds something to rent and the owner agrees that a Yuma will be living there, you can stay a month or two in Cuba and save yourself some money. In Viñales the monthly cost would be around 60-80 CUC per month. In Havana more – 100-300 CUC depending on the neighborhood. In the other provinces the prices will be similar but only if he finds a good deal. Unfortunately a lot of people will try to take an advantage of the fact you´re Yuma.
Nothing will help you to get to know each other as good as living together. Trust me.
5.Be ready for cultural differences🤼. Especially if you´re thinking of bringing your Cubano home. Cubans see work differently. Cubans see and spend money differently. If they have $50 they would probably buy new shoes or headphones or any other stuff before thinking about paying the bills or food. That´s normal.
Cubans will always put their family first👪. Their Cuban family. And you will have to love them and deal with being number 2. And with the little money they´ll make, they will still want to send things to Cuba. And he will not stop living his Cuban lifestyle.
6. It will take time before your love will be allowed to work. 👨💻 And now you think is all ok but after 2-3 months it will get frustrating. And in some countries it´s more complicated than in the others. Make sure you have a plan or money to take care of you two. And be ready for spending because for Cubans who never left the country everything is new and they want to have it all. And if you leave on the colder side ☃️ of the world you´ll have to buy a lot of clothes. The bills seem to be a never ending story here.
And once you say I do, well enjoy the Cuban ride and be patient. Cuba is a different state of mind and people don´t change from one day to another 😉 But that´s why we love them, don´t we? 💑
Fidel´s Girl 