We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very# [2 W( f; D; C1 i7 H" f% z
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 0 s. B' Z( q9 w& X* jwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.9 k7 Z Z, F3 a& R4 V9 ?
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, i0 I4 r2 g3 |& g1 ]
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 6 l( }' X% `" J2 O& `# ^% Na very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 4 c. D- L" n3 b z" H% M4 qpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort0 i' Z6 P& r) p; E/ w" F% p& J! e
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep: M, B0 V7 M5 i7 y" |( V' y- j6 F
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the. x; w8 [" p/ U! K
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 6 I- i9 p8 U& s9 ^with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.3 l5 l. H: W5 f3 b1 P! P
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but2 a/ y3 U: j9 H( o4 T! d2 R# H- G
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not + f! b+ m, D5 V) hexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our / s! L, J2 }. c+ C* c: ^flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through$ w0 Y: ~/ p8 J X" ^
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.7 g$ \' P; C0 W) O" e
2 K/ I- L/ {+ t, d9 c9 H4 fThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,# J- c# o- y7 p/ ]% @# [: W
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool ! ^. k2 A+ T9 ~0 B! X- }4 x(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top, s4 H: O3 \5 d+ W
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the6 G1 J. t7 i+ N6 B* _: h3 f
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from/ l3 E0 c8 ?: M7 R; e( [4 v5 [# n
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes " P4 ]' q( t' C& f9 \ ]Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with" `& t8 f4 b7 P6 A/ {
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.# [: X+ A6 X" K) M( L
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are % P' w; L; n* H( Wjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 4 v2 d# |4 n' \' q! c( P! Efor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba/ b: N. v9 c" E6 n2 D# ~4 A% J
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having' p% t8 F: G8 V4 E& {
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 2 J1 }+ l% {/ a0 d; ddaily 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 b! T! e( |$ jstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went . \- o/ z* s5 _4 X! i1 g u2 xon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 7 j6 ^2 s3 ]2 R# V- j"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give' K8 `0 f' f: y
answers to our pointed questions. 8 o" J7 s. B$ G+ ?- J" j4 D7 O% D( W: c9 L( \1 u
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 3 ~, W- L2 Q4 w) J; P5 l3 g45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand / x! `1 a! i- J6 ~ qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is ! U8 a& Q/ c- h' |6 ^free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ]! j7 O4 o, m0 T( H9 y* Mto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are N8 `- z% {7 W5 Lmedical schools. 4 J9 l& h, o* T T% r ; p# L j& W$ s. X/ {) IEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ( z1 @; C3 B5 u, j: agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 2 i1 V, n1 F ~9 D5 Wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( `+ N0 Z( M+ z
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 7 r7 J/ `5 ]1 v4 h$ a# B2 V5 Q. sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 f% ^* T; O7 S7 b/ Y; e
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 2 P( _( h" A# ~4 Q* v1 Z$ n6 A% W# t& lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, r. ~2 P" H% C' o$ p
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" B; b8 Z; C$ \2 |5 K
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 6 E) U; |7 w; D ]% o# |3 A. @sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 q5 A5 [9 t' ~
8 K! @) ]5 ~# D2 P6 J5 P$ qThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no , @* f" a+ D$ Y' xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 9 }. H. Q6 M: ]( `% G" ]! w) B# I9 Ssupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people ) [1 g* `$ ~- J2 i( y0 }5 m6 ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) z1 k) y3 X3 n
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby" ?0 x2 o3 i2 S6 D/ V
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- g& U0 d$ z$ M8 `- {- z. Z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.8 D- u1 X6 @ `% Z7 w3 g& w$ j
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 4 {/ t s, G+ ta lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 3 \5 H/ G8 i1 i# M! v1 X" \9 Tcharge the fee defined by the state. 8 I2 m7 i" k' U! S9 d% [: y$ l7 x h7 k1 x6 C
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get $ D6 c* v, |) I( r% w" v$ uon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" _/ ]1 z8 g" z( f* B/ ]0 z; d* P
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 1 i' R* i [* atruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, w: [) |4 y3 Y2 o" J K6 ]" k z
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* B- {) P9 I6 _3 p" |8 n
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on * ~& s3 a4 A" E' k6 Oschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: G4 m" N# D- o* z) \9 x
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! e' x4 ]8 x# a# f, o
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch ' o; z) m) K1 ~" n$ s2 ~( @9 x. \hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 3 V+ G ~; b2 j0 O# y% U0 P' _ _' |+ c8 Opeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want* Z% R, i8 w7 n0 q% a$ d3 k: _8 d+ [
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or , P! q% `1 r, Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there . f# ?: H# [7 { s& z! Lare spaces.8 H% ~6 d& H9 N0 A
( ~. Z2 t. D4 m- C* T1 q9 SThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi. J+ d! h4 [; n: N' c
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they7 a2 b( G* P4 L* g
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 @* ~6 ?- S" c. {* u2 ~
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 7 N# }3 B6 E; \( ]. `; z- M: b) Fparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the+ [' Z5 t8 o; V5 ?! a6 C& o
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; Y: E: n" Y) L
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( i& t) p# O' f& `0 f+ @
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it % @& a' k- u2 u- J- e# P4 [is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 5 v3 a' H# `" l 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 ; ~& S9 A% H7 m! m, G6 ]spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all) f" Z+ I, k, f# b! P/ S& d, E
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very3 k6 C1 K( x V* ^, l* O( P3 F0 u1 b
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep5 k$ j! ] m1 `: l2 y+ A
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 0 c# B6 ~( X" N5 U1 Msupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 9 J& T( h3 ]6 kthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms & W# k6 O( V. |- n$ N; O1 n4 Vhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the6 a( R" V' r% g, t6 H: @
tourist area. ! Q8 ]/ \& R: T" r2 L* t7 F) v/ g1 C( \. {
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's # S! I* p8 x* c( l4 W7 spictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).' V) B8 n$ t& i0 w
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 2 _% t* S! x0 T0 J) C1 k |everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 6 z) V& i) D- x5 b5 j
less leader-religious. & W# Q+ ~3 m- K0 [4 i : Y v; ]9 C# a. u# e' G0 LAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba , `7 h2 P+ c7 x- @3 ugovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big , Y' I3 t. G) H! H' `2 D4 n6 dblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US T) f8 E- r/ ~: ]. F2 ], L, l6 V
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). ; R& t: C/ N9 K* _# V 7 E: W5 ?- v! \* D, i5 rWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the- v$ a# N9 Z$ z' a/ X1 d
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not8 S z. q# V% `& m+ U; Y# F! h5 A
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1# C9 ?. h+ A7 F3 ~( T* e7 `
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 6 [/ e% c9 _1 e0 R/ ~foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars# B4 K3 R0 v( q; {5 q: g
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 9 v. a( ]! y7 p* B( qprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the" u. E# F) B/ p( _5 n8 Q+ r
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. ; S( p/ n; q- Z1 k6 D FAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local + s$ L$ `+ X( s3 |* tor visitors.( J5 T+ ~5 q S e! [
6 `8 V. c# e) Y* @$ |. U" E4 B% G+ \7 f
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
