We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very) K/ F8 g- E* }% V' D/ H
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 7 |; P7 k% U4 M- k/ Gwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. " r9 d- m& D: W1 v& [* s 2 y Q3 `% f( o. y; L0 e; f6 B1 EIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,: u- X# w" q! P5 L( h. `
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 0 f" F3 B3 N' K( A. w6 xa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as # h" m1 u s) Z' U% Qpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort ) E; i7 y' d1 E" v1 eshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep + R% n7 D% I& Pbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the , v. x3 i3 M) T8 s8 ]2 ~5 Elobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, + y2 i9 U. G' `9 gwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.& c6 h" R x: p& v! b; |
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but) |) T+ ~, J% ` \% n5 L9 N
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 4 M: O8 E( @& k9 B1 Zexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 4 q/ O0 p7 \7 Fflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through) Q0 V* L* a4 t
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. + {& x; ^* p. I" p1 X 1 k( a- I* B( E4 X3 J! b5 uThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 9 E; a7 Y, L' }2 m2 j0 {# ulow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool . O0 Z3 U3 W/ L(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top' {" q& }9 a5 T7 Q4 I
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the. t/ K4 ?0 d1 Z
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from# X* \- a/ z+ I* J1 o
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes " @8 e- Q4 s1 P! DCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with ; V( I z) s3 F% x- \fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.$ U8 q& W8 [ l+ v/ I: d
5 K/ x% r* r/ X$ z {8 t! @9 m
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are; [0 n P C5 P+ {1 ~7 Y$ P c1 x u
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made! ~" {+ S5 H" V& ]$ i& f/ C
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba * ^4 x$ g2 k! k% y ]$ vtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having# Z5 q' s; g( {2 r( [
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China - @ ], A. k% ?! w2 B zdaily political studies. 作者: freedom_2008 时间: 2011-1-15 13:28 标题: 我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living# v7 k+ X" ^' ]. X4 k
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went & Z# x1 @' C5 ]9 U( son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, / ]2 i8 \# I7 n"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) f- |. \0 Y. }! H) T
answers to our pointed questions. ) g0 N9 u7 {5 }, ~2 P1 d( E9 _; Y8 e! ~" R5 p- _ v; Y
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, , Y$ H! V5 o+ d- K% a4 m! i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand * V& A! C! L2 Y* wout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 h# S, v% j/ B- G3 Q7 ^& z
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' G+ Q- g' m: V5 n7 Y+ w
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are # t5 h, ?0 E. |4 Kmedical schools. " ~' ^3 I9 V5 F- q% X0 p6 h$ Z! `1 H) ^
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 |3 q) ~% d) b5 c6 M( }
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants ) t5 z+ Z( u8 D9 r' w: ?, V# k% ito go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years: g, K! A, M ]9 l8 n1 B
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- F, P* b/ T- F' k f
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( r; H7 x% [& _& M# h9 c$ e# t
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There$ K7 I1 v2 J8 ]# v1 `7 s4 j+ c9 _) _
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ( ^: Y, f6 L& I( [/ {mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ; i4 B" f/ ?, bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 F9 ?/ w$ y9 x- v7 w
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. # ?# v, w5 s+ c8 ` 7 n0 } d( V( U$ A1 B7 I6 k0 v: h1 }The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no # L' ?, l% P% }0 C6 A1 j& fprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and & ^% g S; P, B2 X) x: \supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 8 R6 v9 h; w+ i) Bhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good/ d- N# J0 A3 {& z% H# E$ a
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 C# ~# n$ M+ O9 _- @6 X
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high8 n) _2 D0 j( M; @6 I
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- G& N( _$ h: d% Q: r; }
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) Q$ l) _/ \/ |) j% y2 a( C: \
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ' q c1 X% x( k" a$ G8 E2 [6 ?charge the fee defined by the state.( a$ i" k' j* ]1 i. l( x# w" a
% Q# ?1 t7 q, u8 b' Z {: ?
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% c6 [" j2 p- f5 f- q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 l* P& u- I# T) D- G+ b0 O% r7 _
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big - l+ W3 X. `$ Y Btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel) k. z# P/ n( ]2 r0 y. @( o! A) r8 h
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the w7 j% ]7 V% s
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ `) R9 z2 U; _; ^- ]) O3 Y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 2 Q' F' ^* C3 vyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 8 E7 g' `0 Z1 G. B7 ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" S9 n- H, Q3 H7 @
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that # W' N3 ]' z( e- d/ Q) Ipeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" P$ l. ]& k2 Z! V* T
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or . S5 K/ M7 x# Fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there/ a2 v. Z E8 f+ V3 U4 I
are spaces. ! e, F8 x1 U! X! ?+ v) R $ P* h% D @9 z7 ^ {There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 a+ h* n1 e% R: ]- v* k8 X! j
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 Y! P+ j' e4 G( X% O& M" A
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: M9 L" W. f9 b* e) U# F
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different . W# [. Z0 J$ ~6 E/ H# Fparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the* X! i8 d4 i5 f( u9 q" U$ V3 G
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few ! i1 S$ G2 A5 i0 [nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of! y* v6 t% k2 g# ^0 R! _" `" Q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it , N) b9 k8 J1 s5 [$ Ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 5 V4 O r R" B* {. U5 t9 P* ~# ]4 w We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate. 作者: freedom_2008 时间: 2011-1-15 13:29 标题: 我们2006年的古巴游记 (三)
Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful ' A* B ^8 X; \# n% ^2 u4 Vspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ; P6 v# o3 G; p4 Mthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 0 s( m1 r2 V& olimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep - }; m# o$ F4 U$ G5 Krecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 1 B9 T' {3 b/ o9 r' @, P% ]. g1 u* isupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of : c1 M0 |& ^% t- |, Uthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms/ a( N% b7 [* _) c
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the8 ?2 t2 n4 D7 Y! @+ J4 o
tourist area. / ~, M' V: l, C4 L9 l8 j' N8 Z( Q. [* L0 p( L/ Z
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's : }" [3 b! P1 p! R H2 N# Q( spictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). - [3 M2 X5 A) _" M: T: c0 y' i: lCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 4 x' D7 h7 \( d8 g5 J$ q* t/ z2 s! weverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps % G( d. C9 q$ }8 v+ m* u. o3 n3 j
less leader-religious. 8 m; p1 @" h4 m 5 ?7 Q4 x: d" E b2 w5 iAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba% f* e* h$ A1 n2 D- x @( T
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big + j" f& ]' _ _9 k# nblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US5 a8 ]. P/ a4 ?9 X8 ~. C$ O
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).$ ^& x0 U) R# a; i! p" f2 x' o- j
0 p# D/ R! @: Z; C/ D6 T5 eWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 0 t! l- ^) q* A) P M) dparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not # ~2 U! X- I: t% j4 \the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $15 ]7 F! |- h* ]# z W
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for3 @5 K# V; h( g( d: s% S! g
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars, R; f8 U2 d$ o+ T/ ~
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we8 a) A' ~" ^. d: U2 b
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the7 ^/ v- a& K3 m C
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.1 a6 R% r. m7 @
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local * n/ y ~' l! w# eor visitors. " T# L2 n3 A) V U- _$ {4 i: q7 o4 e/ G: k* k9 @
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
