We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 1 x9 T4 i- G8 A* A5 p& |interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we* R% E% | F/ i0 H8 R
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. / `7 T1 }) C3 f; p8 U% e 2 H+ Z) M4 i0 l- P& dIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, * m7 ~" c' p! o0 e0 }( u) h30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 0 A% u; M1 K2 u1 X) D' P8 G4 Q5 \a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as* u3 o. F1 r# N. H$ ?/ A: a
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort# |3 X/ K0 z- F9 S
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep2 O6 \6 v0 s( d( R# J* \' t9 G& W
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the' ?2 ?3 u, _& n$ B, q
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,7 T2 j7 C1 S, y
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 6 R7 A. @5 x4 k- j People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but # Y' [9 Y6 [3 R- ~$ Qnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not4 z+ U$ _5 J d) @! D& B! q8 A* v
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our1 n, ` f9 |1 |
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 4 G4 M& Y9 x2 o E+ L6 x; E% Ha roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 2 x( l& |, A) T/ Z9 {7 F 2 p4 I2 ]5 z3 `& x0 H8 mThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,8 S+ ?9 `( O+ O T0 a& i, k \
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool! o; v- O1 E3 | H0 `2 ~3 d8 Z
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 8 a# U4 X+ m1 z& D+ O: |of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the & K7 x9 s- T* n/ jstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ) @1 Q8 O) r- u. Y, ?, @49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes7 z# g( ]5 M1 G3 F
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with" X8 ^" x1 A, Z" h3 e; E% m6 g
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 6 }/ L; S4 p5 _% {9 A. p: p( v. ]) E& y& t& o
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are# G- k* L5 ]& Z8 d
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made1 X6 @) {! N5 z' U4 m' K# A
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba; a, P0 M# Z; d6 ~$ }2 c
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having: m9 Q! c1 L3 b/ M/ h8 r, H
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ! d) `/ O% l% Q S1 c1 M0 Qdaily 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 ! o6 i# p8 @- F9 r! ~5 xstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 9 g3 f& M; s- Bon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, * I* ~. G& r2 J/ I"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give L& U- p# n1 }6 G: A$ E sanswers to our pointed questions. ( H% t& s, Q- p; {- t6 F8 W; b; E/ r7 p# p, K; E
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, % V; J0 T* S& i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! H+ E* X" w+ s/ ?1 u- D
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 6 V1 }' e" O/ l/ `5 u$ l7 g9 hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams _+ `8 w2 S: hto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are h: ~! @+ m/ z; l( T
medical schools. ; h; q6 L- c, C$ u) I' \. i% \5 J" O9 P# ]
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% ]/ z* i: j- ~3 c. Z7 ?! m
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants# {( o6 A$ Z: `, \3 x
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" r6 c1 V" Y! P' Q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba - Q$ d( y- }$ n% Qis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 B# h J. E; a9 ^6 t0 t8 j
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& J9 Q: V1 {/ {
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 9 `1 d% l6 R+ W) Gmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ; F6 F8 S9 d: s+ y$ P! `shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 5 V1 T6 @) u. x0 {6 C* Psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. # H2 o* q( b+ W, R6 r+ d - U* d8 H* Y; f0 ^" g0 `The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ; h- ?- @2 k; O. E: |private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and . F9 [. H" L" G3 @. l5 \supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 2 @* P/ x1 k1 |0 R9 Nhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good, }2 o7 R' o( Q+ t/ b2 X: H5 f+ c" M
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 b1 O2 t; T$ m! w3 x
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ' I+ m* z1 w# T/ v+ h5 Q6 s3 Wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 1 x; j* B5 @ _; H! d3 MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' H; k4 D" A0 k3 M1 W
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 a: U# n# k! u* E, f. \% }
charge the fee defined by the state.4 v8 G7 }) {( e3 K$ h* ?. X8 T9 H
0 l0 }! ~8 z8 o9 c0 vThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ) W$ M( A. `7 D' | Lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 9 j2 q5 t: s* B8 eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 E) Q) M9 h% Y' q3 Q; Z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 k1 d+ F# A- ?: q( k7 x3 u
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ; f7 b% n: l. k. r' Kworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on % y8 j. e. l1 m+ Zschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 0 B0 A' D# }$ Syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people, {" X% ]( I7 N- T* d1 b! ~) R8 {+ P) p8 f
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch " B) |2 U4 X# o) U5 \* }2 Phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- J/ A1 ?' U: t* l% \
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 9 e4 J: M9 d, J2 m/ ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 1 \" B; g4 X1 x' @6 _6 Abuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there" I- Y( Y% |9 V
are spaces.7 u# f$ Q7 `5 ~4 E
' T8 I3 P& N6 Y+ W0 LThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi e+ s2 ~. S; ^/ U# _) i+ N6 m
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& n6 g' k5 J- [& a% j+ V
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* c' x8 q1 \6 [, B$ O
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different S3 u! l3 O, n2 Q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 9 B. F2 f a$ t* g) w$ |$ ^6 C* Bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 9 r7 P- C, i; D! v _9 pnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" O5 {. ?$ h9 p/ N+ B6 C8 w
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, x4 Y8 L$ ] v& x6 ^
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 y/ p5 R1 [& |+ |- N! d4 o
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 beautiful8 S6 P/ K" N- y; A
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all3 w0 o. F( [+ W2 {. W6 y+ a$ W: \2 e
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very * R$ @& G4 G3 s( J$ ^% tlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep $ X6 b' g5 u; J2 Y! ?0 Frecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day9 n% F1 n0 Z7 p& e0 \7 Z) k' U
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of) C* W5 R0 @2 K) {7 U* N2 |
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms - {3 [3 F; K2 M. x Zhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the1 i0 m8 i1 @, H2 u4 M+ [8 d, |
tourist area. : A8 M @4 q. N* {, C1 t 6 a+ J+ p% y' [9 \One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's* d5 t9 p' ?1 i' B8 H9 Y0 y1 f$ K
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 0 ]% p; f$ n, b% p, E6 dCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were5 g# g3 |/ N7 h5 x; p
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 0 d$ t: L% |3 @
less leader-religious. & Y5 r( Z+ V2 H% U' ^, }, G7 P+ k& n
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba6 t& v+ O5 B/ x1 z, Z& W
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big ) i D# M9 f- k9 ]" `0 q x5 u Q1 a0 zblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US % M$ s/ a6 f1 g( M% v# d5 cembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). " ]5 t# Z5 Z; b; S . i" @* |* L% O, w4 g% h! \We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the : ?7 z+ p- Q4 w' \* Zparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ' L/ S+ ?* k. ]5 j1 x3 @the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $10 u+ j" j* @9 R2 w u) L& K
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for+ q" ~: r$ K; R! r( a$ N; O& _
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars h* {$ b4 V2 L+ ](less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 9 K. |0 R) D \/ h* a& b5 u7 qprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 3 b) t `; W0 K+ j T" [% Ureal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.0 y3 U5 o& A" g2 h) `$ c- J
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 8 A: i, G" [1 e) ]# v2 i$ k* w6 Hor visitors.+ O& ~: F' X4 s% G/ [$ M
5 G2 ~- b9 W' h7 q. ^$ D% d- u, [-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
