We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ' P# Q8 D' _3 C8 z6 M+ Pinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we - ^% R6 r9 J( |0 _. {) j# |& C3 Dwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.6 T$ D2 a# `: p. R/ ^" L
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,# C; \9 H+ x5 h+ u+ R$ @" f+ P' _3 x
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in ( Y/ K; L3 m! na very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as2 [! S# E K: x8 Y8 t0 \2 z! n
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort * i3 ?5 H8 J7 |& e2 `; u4 v, mshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep `+ G# q) V8 i+ o* @: q
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the# l; w, |3 y; h g6 b
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,1 b) _: K4 r/ ~5 B) ]0 `) g
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.0 @4 n3 T+ R) G
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but / j+ S2 H x& Q3 rnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not) r3 S& H( `: {: ^ c
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our0 Z* N$ y* K2 W( P, c$ M7 w
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 2 m. e6 ]5 L* P. w, n8 @* Qa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.( h4 p4 y. c, H3 {
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, # g0 ?- @& c: Mlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool+ o( K# C( P( ^; Y* y# X$ y
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top, l9 g# z/ o u( o9 Q: g
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ; U/ e; m" V) `8 l( q$ R7 }stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from # ]8 j6 q& ~1 t! k7 U49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 8 ]9 w, }+ r, r! y7 A% r% v4 sCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 6 x# Y& ?- t& yfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ! m! B' @: C% p" \( f" t ) G$ a! m" g9 s, b8 mThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are, E+ N8 ^9 [/ e+ O3 r8 D; ?4 t W
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 6 c# d; G) L) V+ b: \for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba) ^2 E! d& p" {
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having- w* U I7 O- P. P3 O
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China / N% t8 d" Q* ydaily 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) N- [4 V, G3 M1 z1 A
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went F2 x* F* I) `" \7 ]
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- }! W- g. U- [; t+ G
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% Z& m3 V* Z" M }8 K
answers to our pointed questions./ u w% ~ p' j4 A' |6 g, q% Q
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ( O) q5 I- Q6 M# R* [) K; G: o45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 6 k; c. _& |2 d# Qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is x. X! Z0 d* O4 |) c# f* `9 h
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: @ a7 m" q, h% l( Y7 F
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" s; F) o4 |; H
medical schools. ; t4 D1 W% f8 ]0 E0 V: _; \# C- O& y2 C6 I' D% w4 b! I" E3 k' ]/ Y
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the. T$ o8 W+ u# I' n# i1 l4 b1 i
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants : w' q" g/ H7 n' m' Y4 yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% ]6 T8 v5 d/ }/ z+ w$ m
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba& R( a' e# ~' h
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 ]3 t; ?% G' F
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- p( S% {& ]9 m, J# `
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 9 }9 U% K; d- l/ r- nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk - o. @2 C# ^9 J& T( tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some + m. P4 h* G9 L: ^8 L" \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. : r) D% O" j+ L" X+ ]2 T $ C- S( T: W# {$ R2 o" } f: fThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no * R! f/ F" _" ?: f) s: p4 \- `private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 y3 `; t8 x Y" D7 r
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people $ l) x) ]. P7 H) ^3 q( D- Xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good& ]; T, G: G5 Z2 M7 ~, I
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 8 J$ R4 k: S! |6 F4 `: asitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 z( x5 i6 ]. u! m) m# D
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. e0 E: W, g) l6 v1 g
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When : q! o3 e6 v# c E; J/ na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only - I0 r' }. v/ j' ]/ @7 @$ xcharge the fee defined by the state.& D- T8 Z# i! E9 h0 G6 q3 D
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ( |! e* X2 E9 J3 {on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 0 q4 |- X$ l1 t: Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 6 \6 b+ C+ l7 a9 rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel " r3 J' F) X6 D8 Vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: P7 I4 l, A9 p# C4 T
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on% j9 I5 o: L3 p5 M
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 k- b0 A! M' `
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 4 A: I! Y$ A# G+ J0 p/ gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch N; Q* g* m' I
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that ( n/ Q$ P, B1 R, y0 U6 upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want! C# w4 _- F* E2 G) n0 q# Q, k# W
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* k9 ~! v0 V; ^4 q; J3 |1 j% F
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) J$ |4 x3 Z- x8 ^ H1 Z' u. O
are spaces.) @; t/ ?) L& S3 |6 f+ |+ I+ F) d
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 2 `/ N2 t3 Z vto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they " `4 x' A) q+ i9 ]* v' |5 ]own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 E3 R9 B( k- u$ z5 w
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different0 r3 Y u2 {3 E! t) `4 c
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ @4 q _6 \/ ]7 {2 o/ X/ `) K
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 7 I0 a8 P+ S. z. e, k! T% Dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 k+ v5 r. X7 z7 [8 u
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it - R. W `6 l$ S4 w6 m' |0 E3 ~is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. $ ?' a) X2 B8 M6 Z& ? 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; V/ A' _" l, H/ E; t" i: X
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all/ ~) ~# p" X, J9 D
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very J4 b% i* W% R0 @
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep + w5 }) B2 I. ^) u, n1 I6 w$ brecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 6 `3 `2 a- T2 a: ^' h2 [supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of T& M2 s% x, j/ D
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 3 U. C! T3 V; J) G: y9 Rhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the& J [3 }0 v3 }( M l: O! H
tourist area.: N2 ]: ]' _! g# C& `
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 9 o- D9 }$ n9 F4 b6 Ipictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). / o( L7 [& u" K0 yCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were2 m( }; i U1 j7 ~ o2 _5 {9 d
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps - F. S6 P/ w- T2 _less leader-religious. & v# Y- r# b! w+ o: ^5 I8 k0 t, }0 K# i" x2 P5 F) q
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba) _3 z9 L& U6 _. U/ [0 Y1 a# V0 T3 X
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 1 v* x Y9 [3 D Fblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US( P! ~" p/ ^5 u, ^
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).5 d# Y- D/ @1 j5 J# k
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the C+ s% l( i" k. ]
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not1 s+ D1 V8 v" l4 m+ G$ g, S
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $16 @0 Z( k3 C6 \; C
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for: `' `! B- x. D7 w
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars$ n5 P% p; p( K% O5 e. t# o _+ i
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we : N1 ], f* G4 F4 z( Vprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 8 h& |1 e q) y2 n E1 Ireal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going." Z% \ Y; l; L9 F- m
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local1 R- y: N1 n W- M$ |& z7 `3 M
or visitors. " x6 J' L0 V) u# y* P1 ?3 n2 W$ i- Y7 l
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
