We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very( {$ r+ l/ C0 c
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we : c# T, ]" f4 `' w5 u' Ewanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.- Y" U$ K; J. C# e( v' P
P) D w5 h |! A" V1 n; ^
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,: D: Y! X7 z$ j7 E
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in" c' _3 `! a' D/ J' K1 g c
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as! V4 p: B/ o1 _# g
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort : H( E6 }# V8 x3 b, `show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep8 v% I- j! X" O2 \; x9 e
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 3 Q8 O/ q4 o, L1 ~7 Vlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,2 M* q+ H* @5 X
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ; s* r5 D; |# }' \( A1 y People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but" z5 o9 d" O% l) l& a
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not$ [ f. p* d4 J: L2 }- G
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our' ^ b3 b' O& W1 }2 V4 g+ Z
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through9 H1 B: b+ O( V' c4 }, a- a
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.( n6 j1 G- k( u
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,: A9 {1 O, d4 R( J
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool8 ~' Y5 E( Z- j# K/ |
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 7 V' N1 {* p. d+ \6 x/ _$ [2 Mof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the {: y+ `# ^2 ~- Z: l6 Ystars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 4 M: a( i- N& z49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 2 p: o% c9 U: Q+ n+ ]0 w7 b* Z- u XCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 5 ?, `: o- ?4 H8 O6 u/ ufingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ) H X+ @8 g# Y! u1 r* [1 y ) V1 {7 H( l" J7 fThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are ; R: R+ D! q1 Qjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made# }0 L0 N- @8 T$ V! o2 J1 ~% \8 J
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba( K6 k/ N2 ` ?8 V' O5 b3 I
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having6 ~, O v' f$ ]+ V/ f3 c! Y
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 0 v5 B. r6 P7 m, [: edaily 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( Q/ j b" u8 L# v
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went" ~# U4 y; N" ?
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, ) b+ c3 l$ c5 a+ }0 z) @; }5 M) L"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give- E& u+ r6 {' g3 G- Y
answers to our pointed questions. + w, v5 C- Z; A * a% b# f$ E( n, v8 VThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 \8 `4 }" ]: Q: l; g4 @0 z. c
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( y: _% Y+ H Z& T0 H( D1 G6 m. S
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ k& U# M r' q
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams * I; c- q! D) e0 bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are ' c p7 U J% C; x3 r! m/ W1 Omedical schools.0 }0 Z- r1 G+ c) X9 O3 }1 {2 ~
" ^, @7 S: ~9 E5 D+ l: |Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ! y2 U. ^3 a3 _6 b1 Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 3 z! W2 e3 T& G+ P' ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 6 D- a _" p+ q O" K+ Y8 P( y/ A- [assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba d; o, O# V7 Z. I
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 \& ?$ P! q# G/ R1 {, j
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 W' h9 X! ?* l" R% A: O6 u. [
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 `, @* x7 H( |9 P& b9 `' K7 G( J
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk " ~: ~$ k, [3 k. s8 H+ @shortage which the government is addressing by converting some. _; R3 R3 k2 M
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ^6 q, s" d% G! m" b0 E5 {% @; \5 ]$ _2 _' [
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ( `* k: V/ Z J3 [! [. D1 }3 k" Nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; W7 Y9 r2 j0 E3 M3 b4 l
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' Q v D+ p% l0 C2 t8 X
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 3 E5 v5 S9 Z, Xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 e9 N8 t, F5 d! f0 h0 ~
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high - C$ X) j9 p- P* Zdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. _+ t- C0 J4 w* q3 L
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When % f0 P+ N# `2 ]7 m# P2 {* q/ @a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ! q& E) {7 ~0 I9 p, Echarge the fee defined by the state. $ g0 p$ ^+ w: {9 W' i- [" c& @; Z" U( s6 @) w
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 2 d; ?; g5 N( |! zon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type " _$ |" p) p/ K4 k# @of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big1 B' X/ ^) v8 O9 o9 o
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel * V: o8 @; }9 u1 p, ?7 X1 D5 Iseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 A) F6 q! k( W, H
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) [- P" V r: J! c: G( k6 R. E. F
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if0 ?3 ^* f; a( U6 \
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people- E G# r( o4 g8 D8 Z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch - Q8 ~4 y% ~; Shiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 3 U4 s6 _! S' }8 e, i fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 3 H5 v! {4 B6 o* K' ?2 d, o* X) T0 \to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or & }4 C3 A1 }8 ~; A8 hbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there " K7 ~3 \% i* @& M& v0 mare spaces. V# r$ J8 j) }8 } , F! p, X& }& v3 r# O @There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: `5 {6 n- P! |4 x1 A
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they5 \' b7 f! q3 U+ _
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& |* [- d+ L y9 \4 }
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ f3 }$ M" r% W, U2 w2 |+ Z# t
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 1 Q0 A: ]. W( M6 Ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few1 I( V# b, x0 Y0 Q
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of : y# H y" `! n. O, Rcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 h R2 Q/ @, c# x- ^! q, }
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. , [" m' F" S. | 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$ c& B' u4 X/ }
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all9 s: F: Y" Y0 V3 k1 a; g
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 8 X7 v" K: l4 q4 t, olimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep3 P3 Z+ a$ X1 y$ S( V$ O
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day / l# F8 |8 t1 _3 v' qsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of) m$ f4 J0 u* S( [ _( P& ~
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 5 ?3 J0 n7 H- Chave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the; ^+ J' X- h9 U3 P2 H& H
tourist area. - p4 z3 Z( v" b# L9 y' B8 K : y( V6 |+ Y3 u' ~/ [3 V% u$ KOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's$ b( |+ X$ s* g7 f( p2 P
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).+ L( [; q- D% P; E# e( V) M
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 6 z" {- P9 [: \everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps & T" \( B/ Q/ @3 N! jless leader-religious. , k' }% e% {. @9 V3 m/ t7 w ^6 C, ~
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba / S+ q9 a+ j, Y* |government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big* E j+ p( C B9 i2 r" d
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 0 [! N. I+ f Qembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).. s* A* `, _/ S* {. r0 K
! `0 ^/ H- F9 T+ t+ YWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the6 r! r" x& |# Z" y/ N9 N: ]4 [
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 8 M% t4 {: F ^' X! l& ^the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 # i6 G4 f7 _$ G& Q3 sconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for9 u8 o9 l7 F) p) z& X
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars2 R1 ]" S1 a5 N0 v9 ^
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we+ C" h# D# u( n6 C
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the/ m, u, I. n+ ]; C
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. {7 m7 J. j" JAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local - Q( v: K$ O5 ?* Eor visitors. . R6 Z. y5 ^1 C# x7 e1 e& a" L1 X
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
