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Hot sand, clear azure sea, salsa rhythms and pumped-up mulattoes promising stars and the moon. All this can become a reality. Hurry to Cuba!
Such a slogan could be an advertising lure, because it is pure truth for most tourists. But do beautiful tropical romances always end with a sweet goodbye kiss, rather than bitter disappointment and an empty wallet?
So, a little more detail about the local business industry called "Chineteria", a word derived from "jinetear (Spanish) - to get rich at the expense of other people's money". Sometimes it seems to me that the basis of the Cuban GDP directly depends on the leaders of this difficult production, this phenomenon is so widespread on the island of freedom. Beautiful chocolate Cubans, in their twenties and younger, luxurious long-legged mulattos that invariably live in nightclubs. All of them perfectly know their business, and their business is to play love professionally. Please do not confuse it with prostitution, because prostitutes and prostitutes perform hourly work, for which they actually receive honestly earned and agreed upon in advance. And hineteria is already much more sophisticated, it is a kind of a whole art of how to beautifully extract the maximum from a trusting romantic foreigner or foreigner, skillfully manipulating the dreams of a naive traveler.
Maria, in her forties, was very fond of dancing and young negroes who would dance with her all night long. With all the passion of a withering youth, she rushed into the cycle of Havana entertainment and even decided to permanently stay on Cuban soil. Maria registered a fictitious marriage, bought an apartment and started a beautiful romance with a beautiful black, like the most vicious night, Cuban. Everything seemed so serious, so real. Feelings seethed with a powerful stream, until Maria decided to help her beloved financially, because he could not get a poor job in life without a car, on which he was going to work around the clock in order to ensure a comfortable existence for his Russian Snow White. Maria, without thinking twice, made a luxurious gift worth fifteen thousand dollars, hoping to spend the rest of her life behind her dark stone wall. But for some reason, the beloved became silent, withdrawn, spent more and more time outside the house and finally finally said goodbye to his recent muse, returning as usual to his Cuban wife and children.
By the way, almost all hineters have permanent local wives or girls who do not consider the activities of their loved ones to be treason, for them it is the same job as for doctors or teachers. But such an alignment does not apply to the relationship of a husband with another Cuban woman, this is already treason, for which you can grab sick people from a narrowed one.
From here we learn the first truth - an ordinary poor Cuban (especially a black one) can never truly fall in love with a foreigner, mentality is too different. It will always be a one-way relationship that benefits the less well-off side.
The main signs of a hineter, habitat and favorite tricks for taking funds from a foreign population. Male hineters love salsa nightclubs, in general, where they dance traditional Latin American dances, due to the huge popularity of these among visiting German women, Spanish women, English women and Russians. An experienced hineter is distinguished by black skin, skillful dance skills, a slender toned body and a rasto hairstyle, such small dreadlocks no more than ten centimeters long. More regrown hair, due to a common great conviction, is considered unattractive to foreign women. In most cases, acquaintance with a hineter occurs in a club, but often such types sit down with a potential victim in the evening on the Malecon embankment, or catch them in their nets right on the street, hunting, as a rule, in Old Havana. Particularly dangerous flocks live on the popular tourist promenade - Obispo.
So, you have found your black happiness, you have fun with it, everything is beautiful and romantic. But there comes one fine moment when a beloved with sad, wet eyes is forced to refuse to accompany you to another nightclub. You begin to console him, caressingly stroke his curly head, and he reluctantly begins his sad story. Then choose the option you want. He cannot accompany his white swan to the club because:
The last sneakers, shoes, sneakers, etc. were torn. And new ones cost at least 100 cookies;
- he supports all his brothers, sisters, grandmothers, uncles and aunts. In this case, the wife and children are prudently silent. Therefore, Romeo must go to work, no matter how much he wants to continue the fun in the company of his beloved. The same 100 cookies and above can easily solve this problem;
- he needs to go to the hospital to see his grandmother, whose last chance is to buy an expensive medicine, etc.
There can be a lot of options, for any situation, the imagination of the local guys is striking in its ingenuity, and the natural artistry would satisfy Stanislavsky himself. Especially gifted people achieve more impressive heights, from gifts in the form of expensive mobile phones to buying an apartment or a car. Professionals in their field often have several regular clients who either visit their mistress themselves several times a year, or call him to themselves, naturally paying all expenses.
And now about especially advanced cases. Pocientka is so fond of her tropical romance that she throws herself into a maelstrom of legal relationships and happily rivets together black children. Due to the limited circle of contacts, I can only judge by women of Slavic origin, I have not yet met other representatives with a similar diagnosis.
As a rule, inexperienced beginners, who do not shine with special intellectual abilities, decide to marry such a foreign woman. Experienced ones keep their foreign wives / husbands at a distance, so it is more convenient to continue their professional activities with others, and to siphon the Eurodollars earned in the far northern land.
Therefore, all that the husbands of foreign women who have left for permanent residence in Cuba can count on is at least not to work, but to live at the expense of their white wife, who, due to her traditional habit, has a habit of working three jobs, raising children and looking after the house. In such families, quarrels begin literally from the very first days after the beginning of everyday life, the constant betrayal of a black husband, adjacent to quite arrogant dependents, bring the marriage to a logical end. And children and an inexplicable love for black men, who, after their first husband, change as often as new models of iPhones, tie the former dreamers to the Cuban land forever.
The second truth is that if you take your tropical romance seriously, then a sad end is guaranteed.
Finally, for those who are especially interested, I would advise you to familiarize yourself with the work of the famous Cuban writer of Uruguayan origin Daniel Chavariga called "Adios Muchachos". Like any foreigner who stayed in Cuba for a long time, Daniel was also interested in the topic of chineteria, so much so that he even wrote a book. By the way, this book has been translated into several languages, including Russian, nominated for several literary awards and even filmed in France. True, in the book the main character is female, but the meaning does not change from this.
After reading all the questions we will personally pass on to Daniel, since after buying his house in Havana, now we often communicate.
Hello girls! Tell me, does anyone have any experience of such a marriage or living together? Now I am facing this very choice. We have known each other for half a year .. during this time I have been to Cuba 3 times, and it seems that such happiness is the ultimate dream. I have never seen that they would treat me like HE, I feel that he has a blooming kind soul. The last time I lived in his house, I introduced me to my whole family and friends. And everyone just tells me how wonderful and good he is. I don't know if we have a future. I would really like to know more stories when foreign women got married or just live with Cubans. Thank you!!
one of my acquaintances, met her once, talked about her new Cuban love. That she feels like a princess with him, on a cloud, moreover. After a year later I met her again - well, they had an affair. She soon ceased to be the only princess, it turned out there is another queen in her homeland. Something there she was talking about his football, friends, well, in general, usually everything. Sorry, there is nothing more to tell.
I haven't personally been to Cuba, but I had to visit some of the islands, and live in Jamaica for a long time. And then I am extremely suspicious of the whole Caribbean culture. I realized long ago that their poverty was not at all due to bad conditions or difficulties in the economy, but because of elementary laziness. For three weeks after a hurricane, which are not uncommon in that region, they cannot remove garbage from their homes, but they will sleep for days under the palm trees, scratch their tongues for hours, listen to super loud music and, dancing, scold the government with might and main, which does nothing for their benefit and even the garbage to them on the street did not come to clean. Everything will collapse, rot, but there is neither skill nor desire to put a prop. I'm not talking about repairing. But they will tell you a whole colorful story. They know how to fill in .... When you marry a Cuban, don't cut off your roots in Russia, so that you have where and what to return to if something happens.
It all depends on the person. My neighbor has long been married to a Cuban. A child was born (by the way, very handsome and smart). Then they decided to move to Sweden. He went first. In a toga, he married a Swede there and gave birth to three more. But not everyone is like that.
I think that it will be very difficult to acquire European citizenship as the wife of a non-citizen of Europe if you leave for Spain. Therefore, you should not bet on this. What difference does it make where to live? If only to live well! See what a person is like, and what is his social status. If he is your loader or janitor, he will not get anything good in any country. If a specialist with education and ambitions, he will find application everywhere and there will be prospects. Well, and whether he loves you sincerely to the depths of his soul or, holding the banner of national temperament high, sniffs beautiful words, fluffing feathers in order to confuse his head and use, even temporarily - this is only you yourself can decide.
From heaven to earth - this can be said about Svetlana Ostannaya. In Russia, Svetlana worked as a flight attendant. Having married a Cuban, she brought him to Russia. A few years later, the family moved to Miami, where Svetlana became a culinary guide.
Is it easy to start from scratch in Florida's most international city? This is the American story of Svetlana and her husband, Cuban Abel Castillo, who was told by the Voice of America.
Svetlana is from Petrozavodsk, Russia. After graduating from school, she moved to St. Petersburg, where she entered the Pedagogical University at the Faculty of Philology. There I studied English, a little Spanish and Russian as a foreign language.
“Then I worked a little at a school where I taught English. I didn't want to sit still. I wanted to travel, so I got a job as a flight attendant in one of the Russian airlines, ”recalls the heroine.
Svetlana worked at the airline for 6 years. During this time, she managed to make a career - before the senior flight attendant.
Love story
“My husband is from Cuba, from Veradeiro. We met when I was in Cuba on vacation. He worked as a tour guide. We spoke Spanish. At that time, I spoke a little Spanish. I really wanted to practice the language. I asked his advice on where to go to dance, ”Svetlana recalls.
Then the young Cuban liked her - and they began a relationship. Considering that at that time Svetlana was a flight attendant, her vacation was 70 days a year. The girl spent every vacation in Cuba, so they could often see each other.
They decided they wanted to live together and moved to Russia. In February 2012, they applied to the registry office and in a couple of months they prepared a wedding for 20 guests. The guests were mainly relatives of the bride, since the groom's family could not come from Cuba.
Coincidentally, in July 2012, Abel's sister got married in Cuba. Svetlana and her husband decided to repeat their wedding with them.
After the young family moved to Russia, it was very difficult for Abel. He missed Cuba and the climate, friends and the opportunity to communicate in his native language. It was also not easy to find a job for him. Apart from working in a restaurant and taking Spanish lessons, he never found anything.
Considering that in 2014 there was still a law according to which Cubans were given documents for legal work in the United States, the international family decided to take this opportunity and move to Miami, Florida.
Immigration and adaptation
“After the move, at first it was hard and lonely, because I had to leave the city where I had friends, a family, everything was arranged, but here, by and large, there was no one,” Svetlana recalls. - It was hard for me. I wanted to talk to someone in Russian. It was impossible at that time. "
The fact that Svetlana and Abel could only rely on each other strengthened their relationship even more.
The family really likes Miami, and they are not going to move anywhere yet.
“The climate is very similar to Cuba. There are many acquaintances here and, of course, the Spanish language, - says Svetlana. She could not even imagine that she would ever end up in the United States and this country would become her home. "This city is good because there are many different cultures, those who do not know you greet you on the street."
Svetlana is engaged in tourism and communicates with people in all three languages \u200b\u200bthat she knows. She works as a guide in the company Miami Culinary tours.
“I run all kinds of food tours. We have several directions. Excursions are held in different areas: the beach, the Museum of Contemporary Art and Little Havana, which has recently become very popular, ”says the heroine.
She got this job by accident - she just found her through an ad when she was looking for something in the field of tourism. Despite the fact that Svetlana does not have deep knowledge in the field of cooking, this did not stop her, as she loves to cook.
While working as a flight attendant, she tried to taste the national food in different countries, as she is sure that the historical aspect of this or that country is behind the traditional food.
The Russian woman considers herself an "ambassador" who can represent the culture through the national cuisine. The advantage of this profession is that Svetlana is constantly learning something new, because it is not easy to be a guide in a non-native city.
Svetlana enjoys her job, but she would still like to work for a larger travel company such as Gray line, eg.
Abel is now a lifeguard on the beach. His whole life is connected with water - the pool, the ocean - because he played water polo for the Cuban national team. Even in Russia, he always kept himself in shape and swam, although he could not get used to indoor pools.
In Miami, he had a great opportunity to continue his hobby and make it work. First he worked as a lifeguard in the pool, and then on the beach.
Abel has the opportunity to grow at work. After a few years, he can graduate from the courses and receive a certain title, which, in fact, refers to firefighters.
In addition, Abel gives private swimming lessons. Therefore, in the future she dreams of opening her own training company.
In their free time, the couple socializes with friends, organizes parties - both Russian and Cuban dishes.
As for drinks, Svetlana prefers Cuban cocktails. The couple have friends of different ages and from different countries. Abel has more of them just because there are more Cubans in Florida.
Of course, the couple dreams of buying a house with an ocean view, owning a dog and having a big family. Svetlana wants her relatives and parents to be able to visit them more often. And the maximum program for her is to be a city guide in Miami and Cuba.
“In time, I hope I will be able to open my own company, establish a business. And we'll see what happens, ”Svetlana says with a smile.
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If you decide to take this step, a difficult path awaits you. On this page I will try to somehow ease it and help you by sharing some information. It is difficult to obtain accurate information about the nuances of marriage with Cuban citizens.
The fact is that the data on this provided by the emigration service in Cuba, the Cuban embassy in your country or posted on their websites will differ.
I will try to explain everything to you in order so that you more or less know what awaits you. It is not at all easy to marry a Cuban citizen. Before you even start talking about a wedding, check your bank account. From there, it will soon leave five thousand dollars for the flight, the wedding itself and the paperwork. After all, the Cuban Embassy is the most expensive in the world.
So, there are different options to marry a Cuban (Cuban).
OPTION 1 - Get married in your country.
Cubans no longer need permission to leave the country as they used to. Therefore, it is easiest for your (her) chosen one (s) to obtain a visa to travel to your country. If it is Russia, Cubans do not need a tourist visa at all.
To get married you will need:
Passport;
A document confirming that your chosen one (s) is not currently married (you may have to certify the validity of this document in Cuba)
It is better to check with the registry office what documents are needed for this case.
But these are all flowers. Berries will be after marriage.
Cubans can leave the country, but they are obliged to come back every two years (previously they had to come home once every 11 months). Every month, despite the fact that he is not currently living in Cuba, the Cuban is obliged to pay the state 20 CUC. You can pay this amount through the Cuban embassy, \u200b\u200bmoreover, you can pay the full amount for the year, it will be 240 CUC. This payment is required if you do not make it, the Cuban will have many problems up to the fact that he will be denied entry toTO ubu more than three months a year, like any other tourist.
If you are married to a citizen of Cuba, you will need to legalize this marriage under Cuban law. The Cuban Embassy will help you with this, but be prepared for bureaucratic delays. First, it is necessary to translate the marriage certificate into Spanish in an officially registered (licensed) translation company and certify it with a notary. The next step is the Foreign Office. There you must affix the apostille on the marriage certificate, and confirm the legality of the notary and the correctness of the document certified by the notary on the translation. Then, with all documents, including your passports, you need to go to the Cuban embassy. It is unlikely that you will be able to resolve issues with paperwork by mail. Prepare to pay at the embassy about 1000 (one thousand) dollars for the transcription of the marriage certificate (transcription - legalization, i.e. recognition of marriage in Cuba). Here you will also be asked for a small fee for PRE (permanent resident abroad), that is, your chosen one (s) does not have to return to Cuba every two years, since in this way he (she) loses permanent residence in Cuba. However, the Cuban embassy may not provide such an opportunity if your spouse's passport does not contain a visa (at least temporary) of the country in which he (she) will reside.
OPTION 2 - get married in Cuba
In this case, you will need the following documents:
Your passport;
A document certifying that you are not married, issued in the country of which you are a citizen. It is necessary to translate this document into Spanish in an officially registered (licensed) translation company, notarize it, affix an apostille. The document itself and the notary's details must be certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Birth certificate. The procedure is the same. It is necessary to make a translation of this document into Spanish in an officially registered (licensed) translation company, certified by a notary. The apostille will certify the document itself and the notary's details on the translation - this must be done at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
You must submit all prepared documents to the Cuban embassy, \u200b\u200bwhere, in accordance with Cuban law, they certify the validity and correctness of the document stating that you are not married and your birth certificate. Before going to the Cuban embassy, \u200b\u200bcheck by phone how much these services will cost (it may be about $ 500, but prices change and not less).
I advise you to choose a wedding outfit at home, as you may not be able to find a suitable one in Cuba.
I want to warn the groom: prepare for the fact that the wedding will cost you dearly. After all, your chosen one is marrying a foreigner. It is you (as is customary in Cuba) who pay for absolutely everything. It is better to discuss these costs with the bride (groom) in advance. In addition to the costs of the wedding, you will have to pay700 CUC (yes, seven hundred!) for a marriage certificate (the amount must be specified, since it increases annually).
It is very likely that you will have questions in the course of this case. In this case, you can always call or write to me!
Underwater rocks
Rest, hot southern sun, sea, music, salsa, romantic Cuban nights, temperamental Cubans, a charming desired girl next to you day and night - how can you not fall in love? Time flies, and the farther, the more vivid impressions overwhelm you, you plunge headlong into the sea of \u200b\u200blove and understand that you can no longer live without this fireworks. Believe me, you are not the first to get into these networks and, I think, you are far from the last.
Every day, many men and girls fly away from Cuba with such feelings. In 2008 I experienced all this myself and therefore understand you perfectly. You come home, plunge into your ordinary life, but soon you realize: what happened in a distant exotic country does not leave you. What to do? There are several options:
Force yourself to forget everything and continue living your usual life;
Visit your girlfriend as often as your work and finances allow you (and the trip, as you have seen, is not cheap);
Marry and always be with her.
If you chose the latter option and decided to marry a Cuban woman, I think the following notes will be useful to you.
Unfortunately, many marriages with Cubans fall apart. This often happens where the age difference is significant. There are no statistics, but, as a rule, I know: if a Cuban woman is married to a foreigner who is much older than her, she will definitely have a young lover. Often, after marriage, a Cuban woman takes her lover with her to another country.
Male Cubans are even worse. They rarely live life with one woman and usually have several children from different wives. The likelihood that you will soon bore him and he will start looking at other women is very high. You would say that most men are like that. But the problem is that Cuban machos have a weaker sense of responsibility for family and loyalty. In Cuba, even such songs are sung: "... This week I fell in love, and the next I fell out of love with her, because I met you ...". Most Cubans, especially the wealthy, have mistresses.
Each nation has its own mentality, its own traditions, its own attitude towards love and marriage. It is very simple for Cubans with love: they do it often and without any problems. A Cuban girl's love is a bright flash. Do not be surprised if two days after meeting she confesses her love to you. This means that on the first day she really liked you, and the stage “I like you” has already passed, now the second stage has come - she fell in love with you.
Russians and Europeans have a slightly different attitude to love. We say this word infrequently, and sometimes only to one person in our life. We may like many girls, but loving is a different order. Cubans have it differently, I want it means I love it, everything is very simple and you shouldn't think about it. Therefore, marriages here are not durable. Well, they are very loving and temperamental - these hot inhabitants of the island. Divorces are not as painful as ours: the flame of love goes out as quickly as it lights up. A woman reacts violently to her husband's infidelity and with a scandal, but not with a broken heart. Latin American women are emotional and hot-tempered in love and in life, but they fade just as quickly.
There is an opinion that Latin American men are unsurpassed lovers and no one can compare with them in this. In any case, the Cubans themselves do not doubt it. I can reassure you of this. And more often the opposite is true. Any Cuban prostitute will tell you that.
Cuban women are another matter entirely. They are more temperamental in sex than Russians and Europeans (if you are, of course, young enough, strong and healthy). Cuban women consider themselves unsurpassed mistresses and assure that foreigners married to Cubans do not go "to the left", they support their families, take care of children. It becomes clear why they are so eager to connect their lives with a foreigner: they want, in fact, like all women in the world, for their husband to be independent, reckless, responsible and caring. In general, for a Cuban woman, marrying a foreigner is a great success. Any Cuban woman dreams of it, but does not speak out loud. After all, a woman who had a relationship with a foreigner ceases to be of interest to a Cuban man, she is not respected, because there is an opinion that the Cuban goes to such a relationship for profit, and not for love. Conversely, it is very prestigious for a Cuban to have a relationship with a foreigner.
When I first came to Cuba, I got sick and went to the hospital. In the corridor I met pretty sisters, doctors.
As a foreigner, I was first invited to the accounting department to pay 20 CUC for a consultation. I struck up a conversation with the accountant and noted that they have very attractive women. She said nothing. Then I asked if they were married. The accountant looked up at me and said very seriously: "Don't worry, they will divorce for you." That said everything. I said nothing and thought. At this moment I was interested in "playing", not getting married.
By the way, I should note that Cubans are very similar to Soviet women: to cook, clean, wash, etc. for them. - this is an integral part of their life, and not an unpleasant duty. After all, Cubans live modestly and are not used to restaurants and McDonald's. It is considered a luxury to have a car here, as it was in the Soviet Union in the 80s. Such luck smiles on few.
Your wife will feel like a queen if you equip her with appliances that will make life easier for the hostess of the house: refrigerator, vacuum cleaner, washing machine, etc. And the queen is more pleasant to love than an ordinary housewife.
Human life is never without problems. Even if you take your Cuban woman home, even to a developed country, problems will catch up with you. Your spouse, like an exotic flower, will yearn for her native land, climate, relatives and friends. Finding a job will also be difficult for her. And every day she will miss her homeland. I am writing about this so that you, before you do something, take into account all these nuances of marriage with foreigners and weigh everything well, give your darling an opportunity to think. Now you will understand why some people choose another option: they just come to Cuba, if possible, spend time with their favorite girl and so it lasts as long as it lasts. This also has its own plus. After all, the relationship remains romantic, fresh, bright. Justifying such a solution to this issue, men say that marriage, obligations, everyday life kill mutual attraction, expression of relationships. I had to meet and talk with many male tourists here. Everyone's story is different: whothrown right at the airport, who was thrown after receiving documents in order to stay in the country, someone else met, etc.
Here is one of the most recent such stories. Over the past 15 years, this man had two Cuban wives, two Cuban girls, and now he is married to a Cuban, but they live in America. Maybe he was lucky this time. But don't be pessimistic. I have shared this information with you so that you have at least some idea of \u200b\u200bthe subject under discussion. there is there are a lot of happy couples where one of the spouses is a foreigner. They love, are loved, bring up their children and enjoy life.
I wish you the best. May your marriage be successful and strong!
But this is the end of the story. And I got here from Cuba. To the frequently asked question here, ambiguous and with a hint, to Russian women: "How did you get here?", I got used to boldly answer: "I flew by plane." Without details. Since the details take a long time and seem implausible to many.
The fact is that I flew to Luxembourg from Cuba on a flight Lima (Peru) -Havana-Luxembourg-Moscow-Havana. It cost me this trip from the "Island of Liberty" incredible effort, time and nerves, as well as tough conspiracy in front of the inhabitants of our small town Pinar del Rio. Not to mention the difficulties of obtaining a Schengen visa and permission to leave (!) From Cuba for my child, who was born not in Cuba, but in Russia. Now, living in Europe, I hardly believe that I was able to overcome all obstacles and prohibitions, and get not only a child, but also a Cuban husband out of the Island. And with even greater difficulty I believe that this same husband has changed his partner several times after our "escape" from Cuba, and that he lives with me almost at my side, with the nth woman in a row, and even managed to bring her to my house, without having received my permission to go up to my apartment. It’s terrible for his son: he doesn’t love his dad and tries to imitate him in everything and justify his every act. Here he will grow up Don Juan, the eater of hearts. The makings are already there.
And now, in order. I myself grew up in an exemplary Soviet family of engineers, in which education is valued more than money, and higher education is considered a mandatory minimum. She met her future husband at the Mining Institute, then still Leningrad. I saw a photo in a student newspaper - and hung it up in my room, having previously and firmly fallen in love with the image of a sultry southern guy in a sombrero, dancing with a luxurious young lady the El Zapateo dance in a student club. Soon, somehow, the girls-classmates invited him to my birthday, and a mutual spark flared at the sight of his own photo in my corner. Cuban Don Juan from the fifth year of the Mining Institute forgot about everything, even about the modest Kamchatka girl Lena, his bride, with whom he could connect his life after graduation. But I find out about this later, already bearing our son, and finding the girl Lena in tears in front of the guilty already married "groom" on the sidelines of the main building of the institute. And they had a year to study. However, this Lena did not pass the exam, went into depression and drove off to her Kamchatka. I was a stupid, in love and pregnant freshman provincial, rejoicing at such an easy deliverance from a rival. Naive fool out of town! My parents were in a trance, none of my relatives came to our modest student wedding on February 14 (Valentine's Day) and did not send congratulations. Mom tried to dissuade me, dad got angry for several years, he even stopped subsidies. Like, there is a husband, let him feed you.
My boy was born, honey, in the absence of dad, of course. A youngish grandmother met me from the hospital, and I was only 19 years old. And dad managed to go to Cuba, to prepare relatives for the arrival of his wife and child, without even asking my opinion: do I want to leave St. Petersburg at all (already St. Petersburg)? And I just didn't think about leaving, and didn't want to. On August 19, I was going through the coup in the maternity hospital, and my husband was in Cuba, while Fidel recalled all Cuban students from Gorny to "finish their studies" in Cuba, and ten days later our son was born. By some miracle, my husband managed to avoid being held in Cuba, and that summer, or rather in the fall, he miraculously returned to St. Petersburg. The birth of a boy, the successor of the family, is a joyful event in their family, devoted to the ideals of serving communism and Fidel. The boy is the future builder of an equal society and the defender of the achievements of the revolution. However, by the age of one and a half, the child had already learned to sing the Cuban anthem: a kind of family children's song, wake up, in the morning.
Neither tears, nor persuasion, nor cunning could force the proud Cuban husband (and Don Juan, as it turned out later) to stay in Russia, and even in Belarus - with my parents. And I was destined to learn the Cuban reality, with all its absurdity, provincial poverty and fiery music, with its cheerful people and stifling tropical climate. I went on a tourist visa with a child. My husband went there a couple of weeks earlier, leaving me a "thug" plane ticket with a transfer in Spain. I almost missed the plane, I started talking to some negro in the waiting room, but I didn't hear the Spanish announcer, because I didn't know Spanish. The Negro described the horrors of "banana paradise" and discouraged from going "THERE", from where it is difficult to return with a child. But I was still blind, deaf and in love ... Then, at the Madrid airport, after spending three days in chairs, with an unnatural one-year-old child in my arms, due to some language misunderstanding or due to the deliberate carelessness of a CUBANA AVIATION employee, who took my documents and a ticket and disappeared in an unknown direction, I had the opportunity to besiege back and return to Moscow. But for some reason I was eager to see Him, my beloved husband. Damn it, to be honest, after all that we've been through.
For three and a half years, living in Cuba, I fought for the right to take away "from there" my son, whom, due to my stupidity and inexperience, I did not leave with my grandmother in Belarus, but brought to Cuba, to be "torn apart" by need, worms, malnutrition and ideology ... According to Cuban laws, a child born of a Cuban father, no matter in whose territory (even on the moon) and who came to Cuba for permanent residence (which my husband issued to me in three accounts upon arrival, with all the impenetrability of the lazy bureaucracy) - this child is losing the right to freely leave Cuba. Even with a Russian (Japanese, American ...) mom, he will be able to go on vacation once every 5 years, and even then after issuing a CUBAN (? !!! here I am very indignant) passport, even if he, baby, is only a year old. The second, important, condition: the child's father must give written permission to leave and personally register the child for the plane at the airport. The task is one of the overwhelming for the father of my child, as well as for many others. However, this was in the 90s. Maybe it has changed now? I would like to know...
So, I twisted myself. She protested against the "forced" Cuban citizenship to her son. Then the emigration services call me and politely inform me: without Cuban documents, your son is not entitled to anything on the food card. I had to temporarily surrender. By that time, my husband had found a job in the mines (as an engineer), and visited the village a couple of times a month, and even then to his mistresses, not to me. I lived with my mother-in-law and with the family of his older brother, four daughters from two marriages (a normal occurrence), and my neighbor as a family member, with three children. In general, I became obsessed, joined the union of Cuban women, began to go on duty of vigilantes, to participate in meetings: either by digging a well (due to lack of water, in our four-story and three-entrance building), or by fulfilling Fidel's last directive. I got used to the absence of everything: bread, meat, eggs, butter and fat in any form, pasta, potatoes and other vegetables, soap, toothpaste, water, electricity, gas, trousers, real shoes, and only about a telephone conversation with my mother dream! A province is a province. True, bananas, mangoes, pineapples and rice - I ate plenty, got drunk with coffee and ate tobacco: finely grinding it into crumbs, I twisted cigarettes and exchanged them for rice, corn or half a liter of milk (the norm per child per day according to the card, and even then up to 9 years of age). But this is not happiness, take my word for it. It is about sharing these charms and difficulties with a LOVING man, whom my beloved (now he is already a "former" and "hated") husband never became.
Our women, the wives of the military, who arrived in the sweet Soviet times and live in Havana - live like a fairy tale, everything is there, thanks, of course, to long-standing connections. And their children are adults, they go to prestigious schools. But she arrived at an unfortunate time in 1992, and not in a military family. Then, in the early 90s, everyone who could, left the Island - some back to Russia, some to Canada, some to the States. But this is their life, not mine.
So, my husband seemed to give a damn about my life. Although, of course, I did not notice this, and the presence of mistresses was explained by family traditions and was approved by the mother-in-law. And I had to come to terms with it. Where are you going from the island? Yes, and I, naive, always found an excuse for my husband's actions, reproached only myself in everything. However, like my teenage son at the present time, he finds an excuse for all the actions of his immensely beloved daddy. This is very generous and correct on his part. Parents are sacred, whatever they are.
And then, in the 90s, in spite of all the difficulties of Cuban life, I still learned to spin: sewing, selling, speculating, making crafts for tourists. Joined the printing house on the recommendation of the Communist Party. Then she even enrolled the child in kindergarten, after exhausting walks, waiting in the waiting room, humiliation and - in the end - trauma that almost cost the boy half of his face. She was bitten by a dog in the yard of the nanny, whose son snatched from under his nose his piece of food that had fallen to the floor. They thought it would stay that way, with deep ragged scars on his face. But no, the old Cuban nanny cured, healed, started talking with herbs-conspiracies, tobacco smoke and cock's blood, pebble shells and other Afro-Cuban wisdom. And no drugs, no dressings. What a miracle so miracle! Straight some kind of shaman!
Collected money for a ticket. Big money in Cuban pesos. Yes, it was a bummer: if for a Cuban citizen a ticket to Moscow cost 800 pesos, for me, a Russian, it cost 800 dollars. And this with a salary of 126 pesos, which could illegally buy 3 dollars on the black market in Havana !!! And then, for all this "wealth" we bought piglets and little chickens - for divorce. The husband's elder brother began to breed, having left for the mountains, taking his family and mother-in-law there. Coffee began to grow. Build a hut. So I learned how to harvest coffee, carry bananas and water on mules, carry earned rations on my shoulders, on foot, to the village, with a child around my neck. It was difficult, but on the other hand - there was something to feed his son, and it was fun for him to live in a tropical mountain forest, with his brothers and sisters, with his grandmother, aunt and uncle.
I rushed between work, apartment and Sunday hikes in the mountains, for food. I must say that over the years I have lived in Cuba, I have experienced first hand what a natural exchange is. Money is nothing! Money is not edible. Stacking them in bundles in the chest of drawers, I felt panic before the evening at 8:00 pm, when all the neighbors would sit down at the table and eat together what God had given. And I still have to run around my relatives and friends in search of where to get something. Rarely will someone sell you something edible. They themselves have little. But swapping rice for beans or fruit for soap is a sweet thing! If in the evening there are fried bananas and red beans in the plate with rice, then the dinner has taken place. And if there are also green tomatoes (namely, green), but watered with something - then this is generally a class! And the hardest currency in our backwoods was, of course, soap and kerosene, or at worst - oil fuel. On it, darling, food is prepared. Well, you can still use coal, but it quickly turns the ceiling black.
The concepts of "expensive" and "cheap" did not exist in our village. There was only "is" and "no". To some, this life will seem like paradise. Someone will get used to it forever. And I adjusted it for myself, learned to live no worse than others and even enjoy life. All members of my husband's vast family, in all corners of the island, have become a part of my life, my dear people. Everyone except the husband himself. And oddly enough, they write letters to me to this day.
I had almost come to terms with my lifelong existence in Cuba, when suddenly an endlessly viscous melancholy, such a burning depression, from which it was impossible to hide for a minute, even in a dream, suddenly seized me. I looked at my son, who did not want to speak Russian at all, remembered the unfinished institute, and realized that I was not even 25, and I already knew the weight of the horns, and the sound of pig hooves on the stone floor of the balcony became my own sound. And what is all this for?
And again I collected money, and I bought a couple of hundred dollars from my hands (it was forbidden in the bank) - everything turned out to be a fake. I almost didn't get a heartbreak then! And it was already 1995.
So, I firmly decided: to leave for Havana closer to civilization. She learned Spanish, improved her English, and entered the Academy of Languages \u200b\u200bin Havana. The child settled again with the nanny. And I visited him as best I could. When I was three months old, I learned the basics of French, and the daughter of that "nanny" found me a part-time job as a translator at an international exhibition. There I found my Luxembourgish "grandfather", whom I immediately brought to the village - late in the evening and in great secrecy, I introduced my family and my husband (oh horror! A foreign capitalist in our area! Completely crazy!) And begged to take the three of us out from the "Island of Liberty". Grandfather, seeing how "modestly" we live, immediately agreed to make an invitation to all three. Everything seemed so simple: Adios, Cuba-mama! Yes, it was not so. The husband did not yet have a new passport, and Fidel's brother, Raul, had just arrived at the mine. And following his fresh footsteps, it was undesirable to leave the post received by state distribution. However, in Cuba it is very easy to earn a label for yourself, even without getting to know a foreigner, and without even sailing out of the country on a rubber boat into the shark's mouth ...Previous publications in the "Married Abroad" column:
ELENA (SWITZERLAND): ABOUT THE FRENCH, SWISS. ABOUT LOVE AND LOVE
CHANG:
TATIANA MAJERUS (LUXEMBOURG): FAVORITE Dwarf LUXEMBOURGGO TO THE SECTION "WOMEN'S CLUB" WOMEN'S CLUB
