We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very8 g" v+ h1 p9 s; W' X
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we7 p0 R2 p" a1 l; g- w8 ^- D
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. ) D3 o' [% ]# X: K, ^/ B - ? H; V3 t7 d6 z7 j. D9 l4 HIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, * f2 E, h* b: \- l# _7 n0 P/ P30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 3 Y- D1 o( J$ X6 j+ F& q3 Ha very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 5 S$ ^: F$ K# ~/ apossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort. z. I* ~( O4 N! ]7 i2 I0 o
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep. Y% k! ~/ U* `2 s4 G2 m; |+ J% w# X
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 6 H4 k/ r+ M* blobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,) W1 C) q$ L! y7 v! K |3 k9 B& L
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.1 x4 d' j% w* b$ a* C
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 3 f H7 _/ ]+ C. h: `& O2 O- gnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not ( w- m2 F. N7 M5 uexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our( f7 \5 ?% N0 s5 U2 n5 J
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 3 w: V% }/ T o0 Ca roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.9 V) z! C& f& Q' K& v7 F
. n8 l; m4 p a/ X2 z+ aThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, ' _0 B% s s# D( Q2 Jlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool9 e: `+ s1 ]$ E0 t! l2 @
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top1 z1 l& o; i. z- ^; t6 c- b. g. E, G
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the% J i8 e% p' r# p: w4 M1 y
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from " y ~* e- w4 \4 o8 b" ]49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes- x# ~9 u$ `4 G- X7 t& {
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with+ M" z g( g0 t4 X
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.: l+ Y& ]" o& ` g$ Q4 B+ j
- ^/ a: w6 M0 N1 ]The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are: Q$ `/ B/ k! G! s" W& n
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made. T* G9 H' ?2 m7 x' }
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba) H( a. N& N: Y7 a/ L8 C6 \
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having * Z' E3 z* k, o% l* \a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China T$ ~7 t& ~+ h% x* }1 x* u' [
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 3 d5 _9 X5 P: x+ \* wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: J. E$ V6 p, ^! C* s# J" O( v7 X
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 J2 ]5 ?+ F. A" A" u q
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* H. ]# j. p! g/ G
answers to our pointed questions.5 J' Z, ]+ S, t5 S- }( M' Q- ^
, Q' z1 f4 @- y& NThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 9 l1 F- N9 f- Q$ l& m45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 o U; ?( x& s+ M* G/ Q8 T N
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is! l) ~1 F5 H u! i) N' v7 r1 d) X+ i
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams& l; k( {. H2 G/ y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 M& k2 R+ S, [- q5 n# w
medical schools. 8 F9 g" u6 T+ h$ j' W3 E# U- A' ]% c) u% d( d3 F" M5 L: K* q
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 K7 V- j5 V) g# G* `0 A- N
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants ; J# f4 l& _, z, @( Bto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ) X6 |$ `3 A3 Y9 M8 C2 L' L, Xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 7 M! I, V% ~( r# J& l% ]is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 z- U" |; w9 z, o, _1 ?
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ( [6 @$ C/ `% ?, H' t& rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and% c/ V1 O: {: Y4 q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 C/ r/ u+ {* i5 {" h
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some$ L- {5 u0 R4 A8 C4 s' a
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., J9 N4 B8 |' p* ?$ M
, r( W! |" i1 [( S- Y
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 8 u/ o& X4 X2 ] t, T5 u: @private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and! k$ }1 ^: e4 C# Y3 p/ Z& H# x/ H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 0 I& @ J" [8 }: {$ [ Ghave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" W" w: Z% t' c9 l0 Y& V
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby3 z- i/ u* L8 a) j M! `( v) F
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- R( D- {1 T6 E9 O5 l+ I$ _1 L
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- ?+ c* G% x8 P, S4 o2 q+ E- c
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When K! ]6 ^+ w Qa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 E4 B P8 a$ z( C
charge the fee defined by the state. ; g% F1 y& l# A6 N$ ^9 A/ z7 C
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 8 E) `4 L& b- W& n j& Con), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type E) a! `5 p" A; Z X, K+ @0 @. s
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big & e( l9 P8 h/ W! S2 u) Y5 W- Ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel) e4 r/ _8 R4 f, Z1 @* P
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ; K, s1 G! X' W4 \1 d+ U9 Lworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" l' q4 c9 D X* A$ K: L' g
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 v, S5 [* v5 {
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people# q- k- F) K, r& q$ {3 T! g
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 9 P( h' D& |' v! }hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: k s) F; d. l, X2 Y0 }
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want . H0 R2 I; W6 S$ A4 Eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or ; H+ n& h2 t$ x: Ybuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( F, i; @, D/ [! n& p
are spaces. ) Q- G7 c4 U8 v# d4 Q 0 B# |2 w& l9 s" T0 ZThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 z5 [& D& C' p
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, K8 s# o2 @* D& x# ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the ; @7 s" G# v F3 S3 ^( F40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different7 p: v6 u0 n: T+ G8 |# }
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 6 n j$ y6 j3 s4 |5 g* f. Lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 _ c/ j% f+ I( \$ n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ `% ]5 S3 b/ o' s- s1 S
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 0 K2 [! [- s; @5 x( Y! {is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." W. ^/ J+ B g5 e* m: V
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 9 S+ N: w" C5 h' x: kspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all6 y( P& G1 |) h9 S, M( ]. z, s6 H
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 0 N- ~# Z- W: m5 q) H7 k) Blimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep# W( W! @; S! M- p0 ~6 _
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 3 s/ h1 f! k3 t4 F+ ~4 E" d$ ?supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of - p. Z0 R% m+ A0 F g0 {: Bthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms# p$ @% ? d5 N+ a- e& S7 R
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the - Z; ^, H) ]+ w( Y$ K7 M. J$ s' e$ Q0 l9 Otourist area.+ c( l+ x4 g9 N
, E6 ] A& u4 g# wOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's% h9 z0 @, F8 _4 {! r
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).4 Y& u9 e6 h5 ~9 b0 N
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were* u9 ?- t+ n6 g1 A
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 0 @- \$ G7 b8 \8 f( L" tless leader-religious.2 E0 i' i" t+ U8 p" {' Q% m$ x( Z/ T
8 Z" c5 q0 e5 A, IAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba * G6 `0 d* p1 q4 ogovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big6 R- ]8 P" }, z# ~
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US* |" q1 _ {# P: a& {/ m& P: F. J
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).( h* g: N! {' \5 j8 g
0 G$ `, ?3 I2 U q+ S) Q9 T
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the P0 K# n$ @, y4 b: l9 e% Q) p/ P$ b
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not$ u/ s$ F" p( `% j, Q2 A8 P
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 $ O' H9 L2 ?! w- w) I* Tconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for0 y* H4 C+ e8 U+ d- A! R! c
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars0 ~( B4 u3 i( r
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 5 K" N1 T4 L, z- Pprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the , ~ I- o( z7 z. Q5 i) E7 zreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.; c7 A1 E R$ W) m7 a
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local " n, r3 E7 f: ~6 s* z& I, p( Sor visitors. 5 X; a0 h$ v6 o2 p; N! C1 R7 \2 ]7 f/ d2 @/ Z
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
