We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very6 I9 y/ G9 U0 Y/ Q5 ^
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we . {% R% M0 R1 W/ pwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.$ A5 b- Q0 h" L& q6 e# H$ {
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, ; k5 R* q- G( D30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in8 }+ o$ b5 k' W$ \( X! q; e+ ~
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as : y* v3 U: ?% N$ _6 c7 E! P+ Jpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort4 S4 y4 E T; _9 u9 C7 y7 X5 }
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ' b2 C4 N* A& J; v \0 y0 V1 v7 B- ]+ d# Qbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the : J( S0 ?! h, Globby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,4 j1 T4 K( I# `; i; v S, K
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.& O( W) `) I) m
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 3 c: D/ S& S8 W: X g1 Y# I6 x& Inames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not8 L% q0 V9 l; c* c
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our7 Z/ I C: e" @" D# E
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through + K7 Z& n+ a; M( c+ Xa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.' N) J1 g) `! Q' E6 p
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, # b7 S% w: V8 P, Alow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool5 x$ A# u/ t. S3 [, G
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top & j1 n* w( S$ n" C* N* m; xof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the* L" z0 Y5 w4 B @4 H! L
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from0 i2 `5 K! R& r2 i0 a
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes+ A3 h: w: f: ^# D3 V9 C+ O2 f
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with+ }7 Z% m% Q5 V" Z
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 4 g1 i! ^" \8 ]; i8 d; E P# @! W( C) ~2 W3 E
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 9 `& h- @4 X8 P/ o( Ujust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 4 Y' q& h1 i3 E7 Z; w4 m! L7 I. vfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba$ R0 n7 y- v# V7 [- X
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having8 O9 n1 }, s$ g* P+ T
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China) a: b4 l+ D7 |6 N, y
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, living ) a6 H" r) g- N8 L( v! }. ?standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ) g% a7 }, }: Y. Zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, M/ X0 f( _0 ~9 _; s a. ["George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% S* Z+ A- |8 Z. u1 q9 i
answers to our pointed questions. P3 E* R) _; j% `
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) d4 h9 L- G! r: U9 E
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 w$ w0 @$ O% n" G. T, ~4 F
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 0 O; H: d0 v# Y; @( R* Xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams " k+ N3 W b/ j( f8 Ito get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are % R: u, O8 y) [: F" ?medical schools. $ A! ?5 C9 v+ Q/ R% [6 u 1 S, O" f, ^8 D: R) GEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the # T$ v- l$ I3 c2 d: F% {government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants [. f3 b, c e, M5 ] k9 D1 F' X7 l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years / @/ E$ f1 z5 o2 ~0 F7 [assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba7 @* o7 @5 k) Q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to7 J* @2 ~9 g' O) z9 |! u/ R$ k
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 6 n9 s( \4 E, E+ Z3 B: cseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and; E0 p( i% l2 z d
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 4 D5 n! R' f1 C' {: S2 ^- Qshortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 j* s* P7 u6 x l1 W; Q+ }
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. - H9 h- @$ E1 P4 Z 7 {# Z% u; v; M/ i% q) m5 k2 UThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no i/ g& Y2 s- Oprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 3 B6 B% @; w, D( k: @supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& o7 i& ~7 ]5 [
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 4 R4 l0 n( }0 ~& B+ @# w5 p$ X* r* gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby3 |& \9 r* r5 d
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 T) A; v& ?/ x
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. & x- x$ H. p6 ?# W% FDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' w+ ~4 x, V( L
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) q& q' R6 i$ j" t4 }
charge the fee defined by the state.1 U1 |6 O& ? l/ K
. q! B B) j6 \% s" ^; |) Y0 Q& aThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 b9 }5 p- O" t9 T" ^5 q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 9 e9 l( @+ C4 C% k2 wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 0 Z) z0 a) ?; T% B3 }/ otruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& Z/ }( \ v- g) D+ c
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the2 _9 h1 T; E4 \
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on# d& F/ B3 O' z. e1 l
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 |" I- q! B3 R& A {3 m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people1 v, a: c( w3 d7 N- G+ V3 P
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 8 U; ?3 A, }5 e8 J# H7 T# Z; f6 q6 k' T' Whiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that( }) q; O& \2 M+ o2 q5 P
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 ~. r) o( Y% d' y* h) G; _) E L
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or # J1 G) o1 R8 P2 i+ Qbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 m" a( A0 h/ a& @1 z7 W1 c
are spaces. # y" V6 `; T1 V- u6 B1 x 4 x9 h. S1 R6 LThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 g3 J6 T- s4 g
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 3 R+ _& P, F% y, s, gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! G; e2 Z2 V# n7 X- J2 \
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different , Y5 D6 G7 J; Z. ]( |parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& c5 p: U2 Y) T' {: ~; ?$ }
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few - j8 Q7 D9 H* z* xnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 F+ l! f: N/ _6 q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; i5 p6 ~1 h1 v) }* R3 _% `
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ! L: n/ @& P' j. v6 `8 Q 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, o0 ~' I. k4 C: J- b' s$ {" y. z* y
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all & V. x5 W K% X0 _; s/ f" ?the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very! V9 i. m3 g) v ?& y
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 5 i3 e# ?! L# E8 Z L! hrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 9 `6 _2 O1 ]2 b/ ksupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of % S+ N8 b" v8 B: x+ ?, P0 kthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms ' A" z: ]8 R# @9 ^have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the# l$ _4 m, |* G. M* U% f% t6 [
tourist area.& v! R! w8 {1 K! n; V% G# }; ?/ R. T# [
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's : Z% f4 o. H" m0 {* vpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).0 U3 ]" R- b4 j+ W" q6 Q
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were% r ~' t# l% f: ~, o0 ]& ?
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps - | v2 ^& H+ S+ r2 Q9 Z
less leader-religious. ! D) ~5 a. M3 Y) K8 L' F6 h3 z6 D% p+ Y, U- Z
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba- U. R) F* X$ T+ N' O
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 3 `' M3 G" ?6 Dblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ( A& r; \) v N) h* |embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)./ s5 D: k3 @. O" ~. z" L% N( r+ a
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 6 T; e5 a* E; y4 F* _2 B1 V% Wparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 7 j7 E$ m9 s9 p4 |the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1( D/ p/ w; |2 \! |1 M6 {' ?
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for) ]/ h4 v- O/ f
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars6 p( T+ x$ u% a X3 M! n# H6 }
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we$ \: h; ?# K) E9 C+ S$ Y9 Q8 S
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the- R' s( C6 {- J% n$ G
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going., b& E& Q& o! P5 e
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local A0 S* Z; j% a, r3 ?
or visitors. 3 Q' F- ^1 ]+ r3 S% w: x8 m5 o4 g+ Z + E1 R% d' p% X0 B {: _-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
