We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very r% F2 b* G9 j/ c9 d
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we* M& y, e$ C4 \' ^8 {+ t( D
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.- N" `3 G. v& Z
/ N* `7 v; @$ M: C8 |9 ]# c; MIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, ! P1 x/ Z9 I3 Z0 n30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 7 P+ o9 c7 h1 S+ U! w. Aa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as, A* V# q. @# d; t8 e7 y
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort% o3 E; }8 p9 a0 ]7 z1 Q# K. d
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ; E; m2 l$ S5 o; zbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the * E/ F) ?& ^, b( _( ]( |. slobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,$ _9 x- A2 h4 R7 c# X: n
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ( \4 ~9 J/ r& M: h3 ~ People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but1 @ H( [0 Q$ o& o! _9 m
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not( e7 ^( y. z, j( S$ E, T- U6 n; Y& z
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our' N# k- ~1 n! s7 c! A2 I: T
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through d- S5 L- H5 E2 e8 l" B! P
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. & b, y0 b' D2 Q ( o0 i6 p' u0 g$ IThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 9 @2 n% c, J" I7 o1 @low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool; o, a0 v2 C5 j+ l5 e
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top) L! u4 c, Q8 S1 W2 {* {6 l) D5 ?* |
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the) H# Y: b/ s# p( K$ W
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from; u9 F5 c1 R+ ^- [% {2 u" I
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes3 c/ w& C/ u( z. B+ ~6 g# r2 u
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with h; `% V8 Z$ {& Ofingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.! o9 _6 v, w& o( u
, p' l7 \9 e! z) i/ a LThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are$ K+ c& N2 f% x' C# M
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 5 ^: B$ X! c: K8 h% kfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba2 s8 Z. n3 D0 l* |
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having6 C6 O% I p8 v9 i0 P5 H4 ]
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China7 [7 U: c( ]8 | N7 j
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, living2 r6 L, s5 v$ l+ p* n
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 l# ~ ~+ u2 r* A$ b% y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 3 y, q' d8 [4 Z }' U$ }) T"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give( m2 r1 { L- O* U5 ?" d
answers to our pointed questions./ y/ I* g1 f1 |$ |- u, t! x, K
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 4 j( y- j2 @; c5 L4 a0 N45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- ]- |9 @ ]/ n2 F
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" {" Y1 p0 \, J |( B/ n: q
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams * z2 `' U9 p) Z* Q0 a4 U+ D4 J, nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are " k$ t- u+ u: ]' S0 Z7 bmedical schools. 3 s, x* ?7 ^: b! N& P: m8 Q 4 n6 L3 {+ E6 _) VEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ {9 w" ^- Z" v9 K( Z
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 {, O$ _9 x7 |" L
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 2 z# C' A0 P' J d3 Kassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# e* `8 ?1 v/ c1 M% o% n9 g6 D' l
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ) N9 X% T" a! Q' R& h% |, X" Pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ ^% R# S7 X, [: [( O7 Z3 \
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and( O! t; P6 ~- a6 o" `- \
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 1 c) H- f0 G* J, h8 i! \6 T9 h) d* ~shortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 n0 @- u$ O3 G# I( b
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 a. ~, W8 `3 D0 ^' C' W( o' E7 ^
( i) e- h7 s3 _( Y; i
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ( A, n) M( _& F3 z1 J9 kprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; }$ k6 _; E/ g% w* k! w; |+ m
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 6 X" Z! w+ G& x; U' K0 khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good . B& P2 G+ L. O& Vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby; ^) X2 K; J i2 x1 m' L% W6 Q
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. r2 G" r$ R: L9 e7 h7 p
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. , \ m+ K) \4 V3 ]Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 j: ~9 |( a5 l
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& n5 s5 n8 ?0 D, l" a
charge the fee defined by the state. [; ]/ ?3 c# O% U
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get9 o u6 o7 O7 C7 [5 m: l
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type `% h/ G: n* p9 B7 R. C
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 4 j s; u6 f8 y% R6 ]* y% ptruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel7 K/ t' P5 F' \3 L6 l+ ~5 Z N
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the/ f4 g6 {2 ]' i0 H. M8 S6 l7 n
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! O- ?' @! E, I! M i# `
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if : s8 A; [% V' h) \you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. w7 y. R0 [9 J8 b8 {& A0 I
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. A4 b1 ^5 P! E
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that ) O+ I7 x, B) W1 Opeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want* l1 Z b4 x" \5 a& Q3 n" }7 f) X
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or & ?$ |2 Q# k( H* ~buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 3 i; p4 k0 N( C) eare spaces.) J, \0 V# ~7 x0 b" S
1 d! F# M" H' D- u
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi$ h) N0 r w7 S& L! S3 b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they # u% D# ~5 E4 j' t6 Q! _5 t* a8 V; sown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' d2 [ \9 Z* I/ y5 j) D; n
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different . B& T# _0 [1 f- B5 @/ r! }parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" v. s& k, v9 G2 ?
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 6 u0 F, V4 @# ~* pnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, N3 z3 D$ O, O& z( M+ t; R. p4 D
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it0 c& r) g8 s/ y$ S. j7 j
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 8 Q; K% x8 B4 k* H6 f% k7 @ 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 beautiful6 z* d8 ^. p5 b
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 4 V5 L6 i0 [& A( a) Cthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very , m0 g7 f% t9 K* U& }2 Qlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep8 S( m( \1 q1 c+ n+ V
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day' J1 p. B) f' j6 j8 W7 a( M1 m
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of, F" R. N F: O
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 3 o6 o( o7 C H0 u7 u+ Y' Chave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the2 o9 N0 A: s: u
tourist area.7 U! x" B0 H) f$ F. m4 Q
: K1 `7 u- A- G/ G% L. HOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's & F& K$ L; R+ v" i- }' |6 S' Spictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ( b' X/ O w$ i, e" b8 ` vCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 0 m1 w# \) K" ^) U9 N8 K( ^: zeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps - [% n, \0 C/ w* Z9 ^less leader-religious. & N2 p# a) B8 @6 F$ |6 V( Y! ~' R4 ^) F+ [( T+ a, X( v9 D4 i! v
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ( v% k6 K, W) [! g6 G) A/ r* W" egovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big' F: X! e% y: E* ?$ ~) G: t- l" h
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US' m* s$ q/ K f: i
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). " d; \" g. y, R! ]! h! N 9 B C( w" E8 n9 d3 R! PWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 1 _8 i( a* a8 W. ?$ hparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ( x; _7 y- T" b; ^the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 . N5 z8 p b8 @% U( N6 Wconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for + i; W/ n6 Z7 l6 R) c3 l+ q( Iforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars3 f8 ]% C/ V) m& W0 [$ S& J
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we & P3 }3 t& ^. D$ `( }. D6 lprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 1 x4 x' A. _: o, r1 Ereal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 6 G( |$ e& C9 ]( I3 G+ hAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local1 ?8 V; v8 {4 b7 R% @
or visitors. ' y" m1 r) ~; |+ ^- b" G# B- ?. a- c$ Y' z6 r
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
