I was loving how social Cubans were
You couldn't go one minute without someone striking up a conversation with you
Most of the time it was to tell you how beautiful
Incredible etc
you were with an offer to go on a date and
while it did get quite annoying, at least I appreciated the fact that no one seemed to need a dating app here
For me is really interesting like how people meet in other countries
through an app. I don't know - it's weird
We cannot use Tinder because we need to use VPN
we need to go to different factors
So I didn't know even that we can use it here in Cuba
Then we are losing this that we are doing that
Just see you sitting there and I'm like - is she alone? Let's go and say something. You or me.
Who's going?
I'm really bad at it by the way
So you like the experience?
Of course! It's a little awkward sometimes. You are making mistakes. Yes, of course I want it.
Jason (the videographer's) brilliant idea was to send me on a date here. And Tinder seemed like the easiest option
until it wasn't
Hey! You, you, you..
As it turned out I was not used to meeting someone in real life anymore
So it seemed the easiest thing to do was to approach the owner
of my casa particular and ask her for help
As in any country, relationships with foreigners are seen as exotic and desirable. But even more so here in Cuba
it is only since
2013 that a small percentage of Cubans got the ability to travel abroad and
even that is a huge stretch for many who have no funds to do so
Closed off from the rest of the world, the fascination with foreigners grew and even more the need to leave the country
Long distance relationships are tough in general, but Cuban foreigner relationships are a whole other story
We're heading to Romeria do right now, which is where my husband lives
Where is the husband?
Oh, he's back there
Hanging out listening to the music as he always does
Julia is a friend from Canada while met her husband while living in Havana
They're trying to make their long-distance relationship work given the fact that they have a kid together
I met him at a market where he works and him selling eggs and fruits and vegetables
and there was a time where there was no eggs and so he tried to sell me eggs for a price
That wasn't the right price
we've been dealing with this about three years now of our
relationship in dealing with immigration and trying to get him even if not to live in Canada, just to visit
What is the hardest thing about living with a Cuban?
Dealing with the differences in culture
whereas he thinks the woman has to cook and clean and take care of the baby and while he works which obviously in our
country (in Canada) we don't see it as that
This is the official beer place here
The Cuban man knows what he is doing
He satisfies all my needs
It's more sexual here
It's absolutely sexual. These men - they know what they're doing
They know about pleasing the woman and that's what it's all about
I've never found anybody else that's given me such pleasure. Like my husband has for example.
Did you know when you left Norway that you were gonna meet someone in Cuba?
Instagram @Cuba_Discovered
No. Not at all. At all!
The second hour, of like feelings. We're talking about feelings, future..
Very gentleman-like. In Norway it's like a game
"You tell me too much I love you"
I tell her "I cannot love you now and not love you later. If I love you, I love you all the time.
Long distance relationships here are very hard
Crappy wifi
They don't have money for going to the Wi-Fi 3G
So you have to pay for everything basically. I didn't.
Still kind of testing you
Anywhere you see a door somebody lives there, so right behind you for example
This is typical living
There is a guy in the window
That's their TV but they're just playing music on it
Because what the Cuban government puts on TV is very very very scarce
But whatever dollar that they do have, even if they don't have chicken for dinner
They'll take that dollar and they'll combine it with somebody else's dollar
they'll buy a bottle of rum and then we have a happy party
And then at least they have a party
We eat our damn chicken by ourselves
She came at the end of September and beginning of October and I paid everything
You did that to prove...
that he wasn't a jinetero
Even though has been a tough thing because I know she have this subliminal thought sometimes
that he could be tricking me.. That's the Cuban fame
I want to pay because I know I have the money, it's easier for me
But I think the Cuban who doesn't do the scamming, they're very proud. They don't want to take that help
These people build houses here for their mistresses
because they have wives in the other country
"My mom is very sick and you know we live with my 16 brothers in the same home"
And because she rocks his world in bed, of course he's gonna say yes
The hard question - what are you guys gonna do now?
Are you gonna stay here or not?
We haven't decided yet. Yeah, we want to stay
As long as we can live here
For me, traveling out of Cuba is not like a dream or anything like that. If it happens, it happens.
But I had a date to plan for
One that I wasn't really looking forward to given the fact that I was gonna be miked up the entire time
With a videographer on the other end. Not my idea of fun
Let's stop this
That was the most awkward thing I've ever experienced
toppled by the fact that it was on camera
We stopped filming and he's like "Ok, so you're gonna go to my room? I really wanna make you my girlfriend."
I'm sorry but in the name of science
I hope everyone else enjoys this because
this was literally the hardest part of everything I did here in Cuba
Every day, walking down the street
I came face to face with daily limitations: bad housing, rationed food
Expensive, slow internet and the salary of $20 a month driving people to unimaginable lows
With the inability to move ahead
majority stay behind, but with that comes the basic happiness many of us seem to lack
Striking up a conversation with anyone anywhere
Turning on the music and having a random party, turning off the internet connection and getting on with your day
Flirting just a flirt. Voicing your true intentions with no fear of rejection
So take that moment to smile at a stranger, to flirt, to get rejected
If not for anything more, than just to feel a connection. To feel fully alive