We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very. |# r( \! o! y2 y; r) w% |
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we # U0 d+ A# I; O- W+ [5 ]$ dwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 5 D& K5 h$ Z- S6 q' k( ^% L& w, V7 l- C
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,0 q, N; t) b2 j$ P3 u) j
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in: |* U, N9 E5 |4 i; f
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as; ?& ~: E" x) b F4 o) I6 m' T
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort2 h8 M/ M& C I- y5 A8 X! w+ ^
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep3 }2 g& l8 v* t1 _. a$ r
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the * M2 q' G4 V$ x$ nlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,9 j% Z! K* P6 J. k
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ; b% m4 V% e5 d% s, G* h8 g* W People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but. D1 Q5 f# B& c( x# Q/ {9 |: V8 G/ O
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not. |) ^, ?4 l# y; ~# |4 e
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our- v5 L' A. k/ j1 G% E+ ~
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through ; ]8 g3 w' I' M- Pa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.. \+ O7 `* A3 |
; M; }5 _& m' A k: m9 l
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 4 N! a' L& ]. T7 Y! ]) w/ Dlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool2 s6 V" i2 ], p) [
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top . G- c/ ?% y9 u% W- d# tof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the5 ~/ U# d* Y$ A8 a( F% e' q
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from" j6 R: {; W2 U. N4 x+ Y
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes9 l3 k; e! D% o% B1 ]: Q% t
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with % {- { O, C# A6 B" o# Vfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.+ X+ v. F- P5 J
0 w6 L+ \" P* T9 b- BThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are/ X, E* `8 \! Y4 p5 f1 \
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made' D \ q8 f) [) W9 B
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba . z2 U4 J1 s" ctourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 9 z8 R4 f3 I; c1 Na staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China + R: L1 m2 r0 e) Tdaily 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, living0 k+ l0 ?3 }+ `2 e
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ) M" Q* I0 [6 ~% X z/ @$ Zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) v. j9 s& n+ o" D6 }4 ^$ M3 d- x# `
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# E( ~: B1 C% N' s( T
answers to our pointed questions.$ R* ?7 T& g' b8 W! ]
5 p( q! p" h3 ~8 x, L
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, / L- d3 m; ?2 a8 r45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 v% Y: s. k2 t& Y) H3 ^1 ]$ E+ y& f
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is % L/ h$ z/ }, u, U1 Qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ) V0 A( }6 O; p# Z% Eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are " Y- k5 ^. X7 l( {& E Cmedical schools. G, |" o" Y" B. M' K! X- S
& n8 g- m/ f2 D8 O
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ) K; Z) x! o$ r) @government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants: I' V: _5 {. w2 y# y& n' [
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ V4 v4 f Y$ k4 l# L4 ?
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ U: y7 l! g1 I4 d) ^& Y' M6 p
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to * `5 F4 r, @) ]: Z0 pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, C4 f" e5 _( z; Q
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 J0 P% D+ f6 T2 b4 p
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ; k& w/ d3 }+ ]! N5 r) Kshortage which the government is addressing by converting some) O, m6 o2 f( w% ]' }$ c6 r
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 r7 F- [6 e0 Z& ^1 o) I2 b L
; `, G& I9 `% b0 G: Q
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no - |! T; A s( w$ B/ }# dprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: K3 H6 O& F, p8 T( a2 r
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people : w7 C) E( V; H% E! {3 Thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 |/ y& J* A; j8 o8 a) e
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# n$ B; L9 g9 ^$ Y% U
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high % W8 W& o6 e7 y4 j7 \divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 2 V) i' L+ W8 |/ ~Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When , Z/ A" k4 H$ z% M6 E0 ta lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only; _7 P: n2 w6 R B3 o
charge the fee defined by the state. 1 E' x/ f' F6 l* n- W7 q ( m% X' }$ Z/ y* j1 FThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get # ~& U1 h9 O- g/ o7 ~on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& |5 S% x9 ?7 I9 R& z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ( o: D1 [8 u j- i1 n, c8 i0 Y) wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ' y' l; ?% }' s" \: A3 i( ^/ bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! ~5 a. b* N. z4 p
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 0 a& i r: S; N9 a, P7 Sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: f# H1 s# O* W# _8 d) x, q& F& }
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) H" r5 o1 n/ X( {9 E4 M
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch ) j8 E* X2 T7 i! b6 E4 N# q; L, bhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ {, Y. e/ P4 u2 G" i5 U/ A( F: b
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( g4 s1 {9 ^& D" x, `3 t- A
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' y4 d! J Z1 J8 `$ _# }
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there. C4 ?7 i+ k, Z
are spaces.. q5 l! y$ _7 k; N# ]- T
) b6 }0 k" L& ?, O# m% S4 U
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi + J! F0 \4 t. C$ X( Kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they ' J( N4 c/ j0 a4 J) _3 K# W; ?3 Xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the ' L* s+ M1 i- k4 n6 t! [$ |40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 7 ~# y* m4 A) \1 @! ]8 ?, ^parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. x+ t, D& K/ ]- W G5 e
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ ~4 x% K0 U6 U3 F
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of ( f) B/ u6 q, z& D4 z. Ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 8 `; P, a( ?/ i# l: l* |- Xis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.9 o6 Q9 K4 s* y- Q. `0 e m
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 beautiful4 G' r$ R8 g+ y/ V; ^# _3 b
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all: ?' B' _$ @1 \" g( j
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 8 Q8 D+ y" z ?* hlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep . v5 T7 @. w6 D5 ^' Orecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day6 B" [' y/ u$ y& B; y$ J
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of$ \# h0 \' w" C, Y+ F4 G
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms : D2 L& z" F& t+ N# U7 K ` Rhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 4 G3 j0 N# p$ r, otourist area. , e B: M* C& A& M! ^8 m8 O0 ?: S, Z3 p r" t
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's4 [5 ?8 r2 |- @. ~& a _
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ( m: B9 \0 d n! n$ p/ rCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were + y @9 H9 N4 n- Q* v) `everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 4 \2 r! }2 s4 T c2 m8 @, J3 T
less leader-religious.! }8 K j) N, k9 Y8 l
" f0 o4 l/ {6 t P2 UAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba% d5 Z# J5 b! [% d
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big " I3 O' a* M- l1 v6 S" \$ u* B+ w7 iblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US0 V* l* H4 l, g# ^) N% i0 Y
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 7 v3 V9 `) @! K3 i# i1 s: K# s! f- n) R+ \# ~/ [
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 2 r9 U" w1 ^/ {# b3 nparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not " Y& v* u! n) z0 b, a2 ?8 Bthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 6 [6 _* [$ M0 b/ u6 T& Qconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for1 c, c' P0 x2 i1 X( V) J
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars " o& \ J! T; a, |, I(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we / A% S( r0 c b$ d* mprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the& ?1 R, x) C: h, t
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.- g: p- G. b( W# U
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local0 f4 J2 z5 z0 L
or visitors. & q' r: f' U7 o' h! I& P0 F4 R2 t- ]' M" X5 g2 V/ X3 x8 n
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
