We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 2 B" H1 t; _" P1 {2 m7 ninteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we * g; a# e. R; S6 `0 kwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. & Y% m0 G u$ Q7 J' m. P; R( J" c( \
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,) I' p* j! _" S4 b+ a- x0 P8 X: I
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in( y7 ]+ ~0 J0 e9 n# E
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 7 ~, s" ^& O6 W6 t) b* gpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort0 y# T1 N9 b4 w8 z; R
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 8 _+ I; f8 B8 bbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the& ]3 N# n) s' X6 g3 m
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 1 J$ S7 S: P9 \/ rwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. # z$ Q, Q$ B9 L2 |! X4 K People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 6 _# [: B3 z, |+ x0 F& H3 Z: [* ?names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not( h/ }8 w5 V& {$ s q
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 1 g( n8 j4 c' j+ q( F) L7 sflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through % u8 f6 a7 \' i2 Y; c; J5 na roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards., v" \' V4 @3 H: C6 k( E
$ \7 a$ m( O$ o, K& mThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, , Q; b7 U* [; ?* ?( ?9 Clow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool % R) E) C5 P; C9 R(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top7 L% c. k/ W3 W# i
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the/ |. s/ Q" Y* w K. C
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from* i# E4 z+ Y% J- w/ ^6 Z
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes1 d) F- I# U" p$ b! {
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with8 Y8 t- v" Y3 g7 z% @) [
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 9 B3 o6 _- f; U0 \1 V ^3 y; L6 i8 U4 c+ v
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are : l6 ]1 F1 w1 }; f, sjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made $ r# j; Y0 Z0 I- |9 X4 I2 Q+ Jfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ! ~: i5 a' ~; o0 [) V0 |tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having1 ?" _ n6 B/ ?' a/ ?4 G- F2 t; N
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China+ l9 o( L( i1 ]2 ^; o/ S
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, living0 n; Q4 Z7 C0 ]5 d" W8 `
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 6 I9 j. L" e# H0 u6 Non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, J+ U, v, c, M( ]& z6 E+ X& p
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 6 d1 F+ ?) z" f ~& S2 ianswers to our pointed questions.% ?$ P5 m5 u! ?% a6 y; W
# j4 o* V8 {) t( r1 I0 B9 m3 KThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. h7 q: D5 o: d6 |4 W7 }
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 d) F! g- g: v) E4 x
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is % u2 P$ K& T# qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams . N8 G' u2 f3 m7 ~' vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* ^! m& L. J- g3 f- w8 k+ A
medical schools.! n* h* l: z! ]0 [ E
S: N X$ n" F+ H& S
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the * f3 c9 T7 d$ F% u$ bgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ x( U8 w) A6 i$ N& r% s+ L; V( O
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years - X+ c3 ]6 y0 zassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba" ~+ s) O7 N f I8 _
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) d+ \: M: A# ~& ] U& {" E
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& f- g! J2 N5 j9 U& u
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' i3 f& m) W& T" u5 Y* ?
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" ]: c7 v# }) a5 a' F% {
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# z" @/ @4 m* k }$ }( `
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 c) v7 J$ N6 o3 I: I. a
) ` A2 ^& g6 c# ~) G6 V, D. @
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 3 E* V4 P+ c2 N; wprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( A1 [2 L2 R( F Z1 ~% ]4 s3 A
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people k( u3 I( [: khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good U% `* q" O( s l2 z
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ L# S8 j- p5 n( J' X2 N) l9 i
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 a" k0 w. Y5 O2 [ d
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. $ A6 T/ i$ a3 s5 b7 TDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When # b- q% M, t( C; V1 ca lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 3 t& j: F a* P K% {. J7 }& ^, @4 {charge the fee defined by the state. 6 e3 m7 j0 ]: b- X3 Y8 y! h9 k& P `" b7 c
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 N' n. ~/ u. A" b3 n# b- v
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 W3 S2 q- Q2 P8 o7 @; v
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& a- \$ O' S: t; Q/ v6 I# @
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% }! {9 u* U2 U) C6 e+ w G
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' R# j. G6 C" A2 q1 h
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: ~& l" u3 x; a- x e, }7 g4 i
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 7 Y$ g. m7 J9 u* Cyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: ^1 s) \: N' I& P
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch " l6 O% E' N$ f1 [hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that ' q* l- c' S# k" b8 h9 ypeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want ; u L7 b7 ~- T1 qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 Z" P! Z& O, e9 `$ i0 b5 |
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 x9 U9 k, E! j# B% c% Y6 k
are spaces. 9 ^' y( s2 ]9 e% r& N7 g5 G7 {/ h2 |7 M* ~0 }1 b: w' S
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' o# }- y! k4 P0 }
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ P" L9 ?. @8 M" H$ s- X
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" \5 y! Z" ~! W7 ^& V- X
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different8 O& i5 D6 @- W- Z* I4 y# B* S) Y# o9 o
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 9 V1 B& P: }; K9 b+ ?/ Q. _best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few, \* E- O! G2 t
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of- D+ a' X! A. B7 s& q8 _
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, a% I1 V* ]1 \5 w2 _8 L+ b
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned./ A3 m9 o# D. H" [2 y. e3 A# I
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 0 }: q; |8 p8 n3 |1 Wspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all - x7 B! g$ [& D4 K8 x3 w, |the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very% M: [: A; X) J: y7 D
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep8 w3 V, O' c1 a& Q
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day$ ^+ h$ y0 }) _, E! H$ c4 d
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of . X4 B+ t. d- a+ \, A) sthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms: o' Z+ v9 Y* W- m
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 3 }: a8 p- H P) J, I$ X1 w0 O4 F" ctourist area. , X0 r. X6 R/ p" Y1 B & |- i1 C! c0 ^! k$ g4 oOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's $ z$ D! J4 l, T+ B" {pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ) Z& l3 N& a/ X0 eCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were( ^2 j! h5 `9 T; v( k0 y( y
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps \2 S, D! f6 G3 d( m" w$ Aless leader-religious.6 H; e% Y8 J! ]" |+ g( \! S8 u
, v0 Q* L( r; ]$ {" }3 {
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba( ? d" |# \- J2 F1 R9 x
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big8 u# M+ } H6 `
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US3 e5 a1 K0 t( @3 ]! g
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). # O. Y7 j* N4 l9 B, P2 F/ ^2 e) s) E' V" U" j& w5 m
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the / Q! u( V2 y) ^: {; K+ Oparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 4 g: \4 m& ?% d, }6 ~8 N" Dthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 % f7 H6 w0 m( k ]/ Y Z2 iconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for: P# y- I% R& k8 f8 |
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars - q2 L# L5 r0 H, c7 t(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we6 \0 }6 D$ q. Y% e5 X- K
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the( j4 x. j+ ~# e: X- k6 U5 |
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.' _# ?* C! y6 \0 z
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local9 A# C& K; ^' A7 f: F
or visitors. ! t# d1 C: O( H: u& n G M' O" y0 X' Z
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
