We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very7 W# b0 o1 F. X+ `: I$ B! M" m
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ) L# A4 P6 R* M4 t5 \; swanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible." H( g$ r- e0 f& o+ `1 y
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,# e( E% u& X( f
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in4 [0 { h! l! g4 U
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as . o2 C2 P( k3 s" e& U8 Ppossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort1 r6 x9 O' T: i9 ~8 v: u9 z
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep1 I$ E9 B. D1 s% J4 R
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 1 `2 Y3 Q6 X n( O: D; T. ilobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 7 C) `. B6 _0 g3 t, x* pwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. J! t( s7 n/ w: e. |
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but# T: ?6 i4 C& O( W# t
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not/ G! [; Z! e$ w2 p2 O. m
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our$ ?: {% c) e# G
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through + W7 U$ \; d1 h7 s }a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.2 ?5 @8 ~" y' i9 S) {% `
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, . k$ {& N9 N; s( Tlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool ~, V! @5 Q3 @1 f0 U- R(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ) F+ D; l% e u8 u, |4 i3 _of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the# [, j1 Q- I# F4 k2 z/ A
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from8 L+ w0 E$ o/ R9 g, {1 b
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes) T( L5 S Y' h
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with/ l1 H1 o" g. V% n; t
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.; s* H3 e9 z' a+ u, g
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are / z2 b0 C. U2 y" {4 ], p3 d, rjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 3 C+ F% p$ R, q/ K* U# v/ Wfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba) b# n) P, O. `7 o1 n2 s
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having, D# K+ D+ o1 m- v% d3 u
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China" S9 a6 n3 {# P" Z& G
daily 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, living0 s% }' C4 \" a0 W o
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 f7 @2 h! ?1 X4 Y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* l3 |4 c' Q T0 X; |
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ v$ v) o, n6 e9 w) n# b8 Y) T
answers to our pointed questions.( ~* H' n; J2 e
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) n4 |0 S O5 k! Q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# B/ ]$ H- f4 t5 E$ G H# G6 |& n
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is , N( |' m6 D' X; ?, S9 R5 Efree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams , X1 T4 m4 r6 `- Y' Lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are7 r! K3 V; u) m2 o$ r1 U( P
medical schools. B- l! i1 m) |: f* o; x$ t
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 5 d9 o4 I: e7 b! G- igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants ; g/ s$ z. E- e8 jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years+ Q* j4 M. s0 L% n5 P
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ) O: @: `4 a9 n- e( b0 t, {is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to . K# z4 H2 A$ ]1 \6 G# Qover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 3 B' G, p8 |1 f0 A3 F6 L" |2 Lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ' U5 X( x3 Z+ mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# [* y( D) q' `, O
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some : C% |, G2 V- g- _4 Q4 B$ _sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 1 K4 I5 `/ q$ ]% \ % C6 J* P' z* kThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 8 L. ?6 q- `+ a% z! hprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; _* _/ n6 c/ L* M/ Z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 Q! i1 O; @: g2 Z: y* Y" Y, M# f
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good. G- \" r& B7 c L% y1 U
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 v: X$ ^0 r3 H6 b. |) b
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 O0 @; I. _* Q; t0 q8 Z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. a2 W7 j+ K3 a- S( u+ g
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: t7 S# C, _( u6 R4 i) \
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 s% B- E3 C' ~1 X
charge the fee defined by the state.( U- W1 l( `! t
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get- M0 Z8 A$ I/ t9 \; k
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type # ?9 J8 |; J$ sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ' s) i- A; n8 z" U$ F- Ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- T# c/ N: y" B H4 h
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 t! B- k1 D1 B0 |$ |1 n& b
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on , m0 S" d% O- G* s/ Sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if " q2 r9 V1 [# x+ T5 `1 o% ^- x8 E9 eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people$ x/ Z+ E1 _' L& @( ?. k
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch$ X/ ]- T$ S5 K; L- m a
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* J$ h1 A3 t" G) Z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 `7 }/ L/ q0 l7 g
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 m" I a, T* m2 k
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 6 {* V" v0 O9 ~6 Q+ E- ]are spaces.% o0 c, A5 W5 J- r% q A" a, q
# J; r h3 K% Q( UThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 9 y/ k8 N' Q W" e) b3 {4 Lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# Y* R# J% D3 Z0 L2 n
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" P' w/ ]9 `& G# R: h& y" k
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different . O8 ^6 n/ p/ uparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the . u J; _/ N" M7 x9 ?% V9 r* H7 lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 W( E H8 h [( v0 d
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of + |4 A: M% P! K/ C8 p$ X! Zcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 8 f9 F# ^9 t0 z3 V$ F/ I4 Qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. # c- W r% I% X M" w' d7 U4 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 ) v' B# ^- y% L$ i' Q. o, mspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all2 p# n2 K4 v. z2 }- e; ~
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very : k% M; C3 a/ ^0 ^limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep& t6 ~9 a+ G1 C
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 2 N' v m( h U2 w. {supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of2 a" J9 X/ o; P7 L; [3 T/ C4 _8 ?1 r1 K
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms ! [- V* J: E( @# [& khave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the ) t. F) B+ e5 P' B& W1 Jtourist area. - K0 s5 k& j/ n* B. c$ q& W8 |; B( m8 c
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 2 n+ N% |# D; J! p# o8 x8 s; E# o; Mpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). y/ |& B9 o( X7 F+ x4 o
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were - [7 w! r- p$ i4 d) Reverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps * @- x# Y8 M# cless leader-religious. . h( Q4 V6 `' Z9 H% y1 o! `3 \) z. ]7 ~
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba4 S. m$ U$ r1 x+ Q5 [2 K" {& ]; n4 v/ m
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big! g# X' Y; t' F; N+ M& W
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US8 W- C1 s2 s: _0 w) @1 b' h# O; V
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 6 s5 C ~1 C# w% S4 K( H% O/ h2 n' C+ ]! p) W8 ~7 Y" i
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the : r3 `9 i& E1 B2 n4 uparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not3 t1 K1 }/ m6 o, y) d2 y
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1/ e: @! Y% ]* h4 A! ~. y: t
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ) R% p, O. y# k4 h3 M% Mforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 7 z' E' U) Y7 N4 B(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we& s6 E1 s! b3 X; `
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the- n3 P7 y- C# N) V/ g. X2 s9 q
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.! O6 k2 I3 k9 H9 {! f7 n+ H
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 4 m! g, `& l- w0 ]$ Vor visitors.* N2 i2 J& R! V1 A4 u9 z, f9 [: T
7 m+ ~) l( t7 k" ^$ o( i1 `-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
