We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very- i: K$ A* B, M" G5 T' g: d6 z; \# @; m
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ! g& c4 \1 K6 a5 {9 v7 V7 r! q. owanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. - V/ D1 m: b$ r4 b+ R5 y( K6 j4 A) s' w4 a8 H
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,0 C6 P, f' f- I6 ~
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in h; F8 h: C$ c& va very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as % A5 `$ X7 |! f6 {possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort& L7 a, ~3 w% x4 @: ~# B3 y
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep, v; j# q3 D' I/ A
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the, l% f# d( z% k8 O1 c
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,( b6 m J% E! u" @. d
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.% q- Q* v& H6 x% |
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but % N! n* j# Z9 v4 Z. _9 D5 Hnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not2 L/ O* l0 J+ \8 v, Q% [8 @2 H
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our: u+ S8 o+ S# B
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through # C* h3 k4 K/ b/ _+ Fa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards., J6 a" n3 G# {! }1 O9 C* N
/ I1 A- F) I2 m8 x' I, N
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 4 z% h. N" h! G$ H1 B6 Ylow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool & a5 i' Q1 ~( W, \% a(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top$ i2 M3 K: C6 ~% `6 i% i; G; |
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the % I+ q1 L: l* Lstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from% w2 t1 H6 X9 ^
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes# r: o0 B1 ?( ?4 R' ^: G
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with - w" L( s5 ]4 s" Wfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. / f, t6 y A. } P1 T& g% |7 T9 L
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are1 W$ h, c7 `' |4 _# Y
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ! q$ ?% J3 Z9 a, ]$ G% {) wfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 6 Q# J7 e# ~# ~! ?6 Etourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having- E2 ^9 U3 o% M8 x6 c5 V
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China4 N* {, a. R! n/ |. I% P2 d
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, living V! e' @. @4 X( F$ _2 I4 U$ Bstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% e* ^5 M5 `" X2 K+ K+ ~3 Q& B
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, + b; a/ j3 D% o: s% P"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give $ R" h7 T2 o- o" Eanswers to our pointed questions. 1 s4 g8 }! C* \5 Z! \ $ u4 u6 b. ]; E+ X! P+ n6 \: \/ aThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 0 v: R; h; v, P) P0 C' g45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 `; k6 ?; z" [. C, n8 Z) F( h& [% S
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is , w- ?3 w- u* w' h0 [free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ }, g9 w; F! W% {: a' x5 V
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ z, E {; x3 J2 p- ?$ c
medical schools.- c/ {5 @0 C8 _5 T3 r" U
, m( S- c/ g; A; U
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- Z3 h& A7 i Q3 U
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 1 `) h; `9 ?5 @: Sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years # l) K3 z$ Q* P/ @0 Rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ( z9 |5 i0 {$ U) a6 a+ E7 nis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 4 A6 i ]3 W6 y% m! o$ F8 i: _: ~over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 1 v: I [ o+ M' ?- j; O2 useems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) X0 c- ^/ T: s8 R$ q- p
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk0 P- x. H1 V' q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some x" K% i' e$ e5 \3 c$ y) O4 q
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. f1 [, O4 S; n& P( M) p+ V( o
" M/ ]; N3 @' _0 X# t4 _The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 5 o; }2 c. ?6 V( ~0 {# q, I0 cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and , V& V3 z3 h* w8 D! bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 3 L y: s4 o1 N8 Q% Uhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good/ V W$ N" |( v
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 0 y8 d4 |* F( [1 a0 ]sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& R/ S5 n) Q. w9 B( M
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 2 t6 X4 J: q7 ^$ j0 t- a7 wDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 8 R- X& ^" p& Q2 d9 c( Z7 @6 ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only : b9 m& P3 X1 Y+ \9 hcharge the fee defined by the state.- x F# k, M- }5 Q Z0 O
) y8 }: L! k# {0 ?There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 5 |( {# P7 O9 W3 a7 z/ H1 ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- O; G/ t3 z' u% s. Q
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 6 i( {. q K4 { S Ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 5 G% c3 x' T9 b: `! nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the2 @ K f( Z' ~! i' T2 e: S' O1 \
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on , w" @4 a& a8 F7 a0 _8 z# u. C# {schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 7 x9 V& N) {# }9 jyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people $ ^8 g1 ?! J: gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 2 T7 I1 x5 c: c# r! xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. K0 y1 J+ N9 M* @+ a2 ^) m# N
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want . @& D- `7 x1 x0 b/ V% uto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or # v; Q0 o2 F. w3 ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there , ?0 b; k }( g3 @6 B, _are spaces. 7 j5 ]9 K/ x, I" ` 5 K& u. y u( n$ _There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 8 t/ b- S. q$ j; z' Oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 C$ n% J- B" V7 k
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the " n5 h. J' \5 x- K+ _40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" [, y! l& R/ [; {$ l& H
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: z/ |/ v I& P; _6 {% V/ U3 j
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few , R. a/ x6 ]& enice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of- r; y- p6 ~7 h: Q& `
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 d* F t8 K$ d2 h- |/ H; `
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. " q7 J% r7 ?9 j+ ~ 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 {. X2 s" L, o
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all! n( J5 o( m7 u9 L
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ' I1 o6 e" \6 s$ Z$ Ilimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep3 O( ]! \4 |6 q8 J m
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day & Z2 p$ i* d9 } O4 Ssupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of4 _& h* A5 h T0 S3 S: e( p1 i; w
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms. F9 L$ {0 Z3 ]9 J8 E! {
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the8 k: L1 j; V: X2 z3 q5 P
tourist area. 5 `: k3 R- j, s( T' z5 y7 m. p0 p# @# V9 w( G
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's5 @: G$ x" N6 d" l
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).5 M8 U7 L# S0 Y+ J& P3 @
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were) a8 _2 \/ P; _# J) ?. E7 y
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps " X; g1 V9 D7 v% n9 h" x
less leader-religious. + l0 l) R2 F3 p 7 V9 A- g6 k7 \2 u/ s% M+ Q3 x5 gAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba / `! R% `: d; z7 g+ f4 n0 i6 igovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big ; d. r: w; a) l6 W# Cblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 4 v8 ?, x* W9 v# S& W0 p* Wembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).$ B- [: d# l) E" w Z, J9 n1 ?* W
8 }6 p* _. A8 tWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the9 _% m4 a7 ]; H6 P) Y/ {4 g
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not8 |5 j& L7 W; y C: c
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1, l+ I& {0 J7 n
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ; g5 ~) n) I. s gforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars ) `1 U6 f1 l" s/ n(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we/ x# f! O5 ]# D" Q- X& ~
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the! v2 f1 y, C! _" l# C! B9 X
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. / I9 C" f, H8 d0 |4 SAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 1 T+ M h, i2 ~ F# For visitors. 5 ]- ]" H7 J! i6 M; B% n; u! l ) B5 D8 c& e% M, F; C. j/ i-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
