We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very # v$ a( ^ Y6 Cinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we! V/ i4 o3 m$ p" @9 r2 _
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.! m! l: w0 D. @5 @
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,' Y( V6 h Q1 W8 E/ E
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 0 F8 g" T ~3 E8 l& C1 v1 ra very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as/ N8 u6 B* @. J4 r8 N
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort ( n/ N7 p# P# Xshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep8 x1 B" K% Y6 s+ V9 p- e/ `
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the - f6 m+ d3 }0 n5 R' [lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, + @$ F z+ R2 f1 I8 lwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.' a2 X5 ^7 n. p$ g' _/ g# l4 Z
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but6 h0 M: k1 J, Y# t5 V, \
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not; A5 {6 C; W) ]: j" p0 o2 b2 F/ b, x
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our: w0 a9 w1 t' N" T4 C
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through- U0 v* F2 j* y9 v0 ^, Q& ^
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. * `% P+ @( x- P; M; F0 u4 i" \/ y8 y- I3 W6 f' _. q
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 1 N2 h8 K7 s4 n1 @9 e4 elow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool - q, u; L0 O. f(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ( |3 [; ?4 @0 T7 X: ]; H+ V- Iof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 2 ^. v/ {/ {( L; gstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from + Z. P6 n, v, w. N' r' c49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes# q- G6 F F: }$ x
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with B2 s% ]7 A6 R3 v' z
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. - c: Z/ W: }5 D8 U6 { $ N% B p. U& A3 y7 mThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 2 i7 g% q0 d2 Ejust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made: f" c+ F6 B6 b& M6 ]* Z
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 5 [- G! o" \! ~9 W5 W+ \. Vtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having. C* Q' w" S. I6 J; w; ?: D0 ^
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ; q3 I5 V/ O5 |+ u s4 x: ~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 V* a: P( Y$ R* {/ v* N: D* `1 U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 0 p, a) L: O( ^: k: y/ m1 B+ z0 z& @on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 8 R7 `2 G. q+ @# F5 n"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, s. O/ v/ h' {
answers to our pointed questions.9 u) q2 N3 j: p; u- S
% k9 F% l- G1 g, P# ]The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, , L! F- P) i5 g8 G, s45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; b8 W$ ]/ |" I( p$ b
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 ~) P7 j' k5 v/ Q* H; `
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 k/ g0 E1 ?) A; r6 b1 V* O4 f
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are ( g8 U. b r; Z( R' n! pmedical schools.& p9 S9 A0 |% A* {, {6 M% ~
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 0 Y8 M1 k5 m. a- q5 l2 F0 S, ^' Wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. X" ~/ C8 I/ z6 Q& T2 H
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, R" m, G1 L7 u8 t0 W4 d5 D! g
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 7 g5 o6 l1 V0 Kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! I" U- Y; X, f& U% j3 s
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ S# P# v; L. W* e& S
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, d U% ^7 V$ _# p1 f- i: V+ `6 c% ]
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 G% y W5 U$ L$ k5 p" X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 Q) P2 o6 d) c5 H9 f2 H
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 E/ O& \" X$ F' |
/ V. ~1 p% Q( h
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 U. j. m/ F3 n. @( a, U
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 7 x0 j- o: J$ g6 X ~1 h% {supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& S. A# J* y5 V/ `8 @2 e: J
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good - W8 G+ r7 ~0 [thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 i2 j# m+ }( S2 Z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; I: a. a7 U% y+ s9 X" n
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# \; K; M* @1 b( g+ Z) c) ^
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 X, N1 q: ~1 ^4 g L2 Z( b7 V
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* Q2 ~/ ^# Q. ?# f1 `9 r% F
charge the fee defined by the state.$ `7 K0 d% O9 ]/ l7 `; f
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 0 A9 O" E' x- M2 @2 B% n6 @* m" s. qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 0 h4 j" _5 k8 h, }. d: ~3 c$ f+ i( }5 Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 0 @ v: r% b: q1 s) [5 mtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: [) o0 Y3 A, R- O% }
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ! y: M+ }* P% J" dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on5 o# F/ e, B. r: w/ U8 B7 a/ F
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if + {0 \, u" }# C, B. a/ J& Qyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( [0 r% D# t+ o) G; z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch / H# }, ]5 c& v% zhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 K. {! E8 Q' J+ I" T
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 0 f: I% T& X* p6 eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) z1 v& r7 c& b6 v/ J2 [
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 8 s: w* V, {: a+ e& s% kare spaces. m9 A0 M' P7 l& k. m0 M1 `: f( W! T# o6 e# S5 a
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 6 K* K' S3 a; K, h8 r; jto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ \6 J/ [" \$ |+ o# f+ D" W! A' e
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the ( }% e- Y6 b6 N) s' E, V40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 7 i/ I8 P, `2 @6 mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 1 H3 }7 M/ L2 A& j" c7 N) K/ wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few + I2 m" e$ g- k' G: h% T/ }2 Wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 r4 [. G3 \; Q5 `3 A. b. U- @
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( a# ]/ y x$ n5 F. S
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: Z% s6 {) i7 z/ p1 A
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 beautiful1 G* o1 Z$ O' ~- c) H: R
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all, p# w. i' A9 B' z* L
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ~3 D$ F: a2 a7 I) h( f- n0 O3 c
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 6 D) |' R& w9 |recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 4 A5 {: E; V( \& Lsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 1 f, v/ T2 |3 v) `) t$ Sthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms ( b, e' v% U. p4 g8 {/ s1 S4 M Khave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the2 e) o. q& E `# D# P9 [! V6 }
tourist area.! R1 {0 ^% n0 R9 f- Z: t0 @
& e& W2 u3 h, V& iOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's. j# n K& f0 z$ R2 U
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).! \; _% F6 M" A" `. q. K
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ' _5 c/ b* H$ teverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps - l% \; L" j3 yless leader-religious. + b4 l3 ~) U- I6 g* c3 Z ^% Z8 h- U. f. x, X m- S! @% H
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 1 v1 K, q. b Q4 Lgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big + m6 W2 P" z6 w" F% b2 V3 Eblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 9 @3 R* f1 ]" ]+ V6 Eembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).. f9 B w1 u9 c% \
; h0 O9 r1 V7 I8 K& zWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the( t2 v. T" e5 J) T3 m( H9 S8 Y* H$ z
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not8 q, J2 Q9 d) n
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1, e) l* G. c7 v
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for/ A; |6 n m, O3 Z! n$ q
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars " d5 w% u) x$ K/ I(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 6 {! M. H4 d' j8 }3 H: ~! Oprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the' ]( a0 ]) t- g5 X) o+ n
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.# s7 i$ i/ ]8 L! [
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local % c$ O' h2 M; [2 Z3 ior visitors.5 D3 |! R& m9 }5 V+ O" {
6 [# _9 l, k2 P) y0 D6 v7 g& Z
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
