We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 7 X0 ]; S' O4 b2 @; Finteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we! k3 \: m ]9 o0 N! r- L% w3 w. l% {
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. $ p3 P' a; Z O& O) |$ A- V% z- S; b% F m
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 1 b( ] A; w+ j. n. X( t8 ^7 S8 F30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in o, s i6 F E: a* K& P, k
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as3 T' p* v8 S: f+ r N" z( p
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort7 w+ j1 R) c& t- n# q& j3 p' T
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep # c+ k4 x. W* h. _, q2 }4 s3 P% \between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the8 c* c) S. x# I2 w
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 7 Q4 c: m2 e% a7 y% k) H. Y+ Xwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.9 R' e, \" b( A) W" S8 [/ y
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but " F+ \0 h1 I2 K9 M; `names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 6 @/ `0 J5 |. z% Zexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 2 K' M: a W X3 e8 lflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through! l) L7 `# M4 G5 L, Z2 [
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 2 S5 o# m( O- A7 j3 q4 y1 t% ^# { 3 Z. N$ k2 ]1 ?- \/ a8 O0 c$ ^# BThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, % v' A$ A* X f Plow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool) |, v) {+ {4 t/ q
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top & h N& j& [5 B0 x; wof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the! _/ v8 ~, b* K6 b5 B
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from. `6 E- r4 d0 S4 Q
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes0 x/ l- @4 h, i7 {3 V* [
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with & }: z; k H# u2 M; P- x* Afingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ) b. C; Y: Z% z; W0 z. Z2 F! ~: F# w$ y! P J3 t& N
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are1 o# x }! B' X# d- z- t
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made) y" e3 G* ~# l; J J5 V$ C
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba, a. G7 t# X$ X0 A
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 5 d: F* ^) ~9 M7 [) r. r+ V9 Ha staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China: _, ?7 L2 ]8 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, living 7 Q# F- [$ [" |" p- ]1 @standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went . v6 S" G) K9 g" C+ m, gon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 9 W" n3 q# I4 p9 M/ }: d1 T"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# ?6 \, y& g9 M
answers to our pointed questions. ! [& L) w' Y7 R- G+ d5 E/ ]0 D2 n2 y8 ?9 j# U% m
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 5 O n6 }( `. K1 G x4 Y- d9 Y4 {; m, I u45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand & f* `, ^( t! ^, b. R! Sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 f, A. i4 O. @. i! s- h/ x
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ) {* ~6 [8 Q4 Z+ w: w! M6 j2 qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are. m2 j9 Q$ Y3 ]: G# c A$ c( ^
medical schools. , B1 n; G4 Z0 `9 g0 X, g" {) F3 s8 P
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ T u+ ~1 q( @7 V' A& c {7 g
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 7 y# M5 w3 m6 Nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 5 [1 B" @6 x% _$ o8 tassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ; U- J4 {) R! P1 T, ?$ i' lis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ( t, r! w" Q* ]/ |% X" R$ H2 r) Nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There1 N8 t, n4 }& C0 i3 |$ e
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 \' l" \, _9 z9 G1 y( y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! Y; y g( r3 B" G# [
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some % B1 d+ ~) ~9 C$ K3 ^4 ~7 Zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. # A; p3 i4 [" T! L v8 Z8 s ! m# K n3 A9 h, ?( ~- X7 eThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no " d. A8 x0 v2 v9 q9 mprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 {! L+ o. E( k6 _- V6 ^7 C' s
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people $ q. }8 B) B% T5 bhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 C3 K- F4 E" K9 S. b
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby , v( B- Z# H. ?& j' U" hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" ^, ?3 N& F3 H, j
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. * J* t2 H. P O" FDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 3 `5 \ p4 \& k K6 r3 ]& F- la lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 0 Q. p4 x2 N) M9 {charge the fee defined by the state./ t) C, z0 z: p3 V
) H$ {) e3 D' u3 w9 V* rThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get5 D8 z( k# N" a6 T
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type % E: p3 F: c( Q( o$ E' E& ]of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 D* I: }5 d& A1 y1 U* X
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 7 c, v V1 P0 r9 ]; {0 yseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% G0 Q$ S& ^- g- I3 Z, }
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ' L: C! ^/ w- a2 {6 k: @) b" lschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ e0 S, k5 O# c$ G' _1 U
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people0 q' ~, p6 J$ E) N T% z8 D/ L
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' j* X; X+ Q7 c# y; }: p( f
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 3 p+ ~7 J1 m0 D1 p4 apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want - h ~) G3 }2 s- d+ bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or N) G9 O; ]5 S" G
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 4 L9 S7 U- u* @are spaces.$ {+ M2 a( d5 N( {" s' u
* O6 c; N# I0 q7 A G3 M3 a1 Q9 hThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 K0 y4 L+ D+ A( c0 _3 l: e
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 D6 S; ~/ z, b$ A
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the p4 Y1 t8 w$ m. P( i8 ~7 ?8 g0 c40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different, v. r) R+ }' r* t
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: c* z2 L# p& I+ ?6 p- g
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ \7 s0 i4 ?8 M- V5 O4 ~2 \
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of . D8 _; }% v% R* n: kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ~2 q! `$ y" R6 }! W0 |is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. * _7 N( M1 S: Q' V 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 3 E% ]" Q! e$ n0 e! y1 L6 vspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 9 _9 D9 M# @' c1 g) k' L4 [the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very p2 ^/ ^0 L7 m9 B7 n
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 4 v+ `' D: C8 j+ J# d2 }5 crecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day1 d' l$ A/ G/ z% L
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of& `9 w P/ y; y% c/ `: a
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms $ V: ^ ?8 [! i6 s' qhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the& Q( C* [" U) d q. M0 q1 m- O
tourist area. , u$ F/ H/ J0 l5 T U! ^) N6 O, t
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's1 t& q' }$ t- x/ c8 y
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).% Q/ Z3 t/ \4 k* E4 o% e
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 8 Y0 _2 t2 t, ~5 Meverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps % V3 M( o1 e& t- K2 I2 T% n+ g# W
less leader-religious.9 b$ l5 x. Y: Y/ P
2 A* i! U" \1 R3 {
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba; L4 B+ L/ H4 F7 z" E" o
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big * t( d0 V9 e2 g' T* Iblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ! k, Q% I- U$ Q# @4 g- q5 w! ~& cembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 3 T/ w" _' c8 _* L7 G) ` # l/ H. b$ W! y% BWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the , @$ v8 `* H) Sparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 9 I# N3 B0 _% ?9 g0 I. athe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 A$ A( H$ Z/ y }/ w' S) pconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for6 O M3 L) l4 j; ?) o" B3 z
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars$ `/ T0 y% W% [+ e- d& d
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we! b! U3 }' s$ w4 p8 {
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the3 J, o" Q9 E4 O: t8 h4 v
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.0 A" Y9 g4 f! f' N& B
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local " }& o5 h0 R! u% D. Sor visitors.; k$ Q/ }( K _4 n
V3 J4 [- ^3 E" S- ~-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
