We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very. ^& X0 j# n0 Z2 x8 a
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 8 B2 r% x; {/ T7 i+ o. owanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.; Y/ P( ^+ q* ?
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, $ S& ^2 S( |- l( S# m0 V30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in0 o3 h- Q, N5 n
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 2 g( H4 F' Z5 E( lpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort& w! E3 x& Z8 z4 U G3 \3 q
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ! c7 a7 m+ Q' i ebetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 9 ]7 S, [+ Q9 I9 u9 nlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,; {7 u( x8 H) p3 W% c
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. + L' A+ {0 s; [( e" u# U+ f% K People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but ! t/ U1 L: E+ Vnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not# ^5 |. N3 M2 p2 m; t7 [: D- F
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our5 b2 d* |. Z2 w% O" d# g0 w
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through" y. S. I, _! T% J: a$ X
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 0 ?6 @- ]9 p9 U0 j6 i. B # |- o0 w+ a4 T6 J+ RThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,. x! ^! w" ^- R
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool0 s9 ], b0 N+ N& K0 \
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top5 X5 h `5 J" e$ N
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the $ X* ^. [# S$ Q7 u. m. |+ t6 Mstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from% H7 @+ _" y' Q% e7 c9 W
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes6 p7 ^7 u1 R7 J6 m2 g
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 2 B; O; C& g" rfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 8 D8 Q0 M4 |$ A9 b7 J7 K K6 ~3 o; \# N0 e6 K
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are& v3 Q5 b3 b# |! f/ |0 e6 e0 Y! o
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ' O( B _8 x$ E! i9 e) Afor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba* t2 b+ p5 p" f8 j
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having # B9 U* {- _, ~1 Ua staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China # u0 F8 V3 u. ]. o8 }* O9 V9 Ldaily 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, living1 n9 X7 t6 c' |% ?5 i9 }
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went , d0 @( P- x1 ~9 W$ T ?, Don a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, ( C6 e( q3 ?/ C7 G0 D"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give " R8 _4 H$ A9 N' X* Lanswers to our pointed questions. ) ?/ W; P4 S( u4 U' b : j: C' G! O: p6 qThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 6 R! ^$ P3 `! J; p. u. g" i/ Z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 9 }+ Z( {1 S' n( b) m' k$ v @, Pout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is * T) z, ?8 \7 r1 }* xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ) T9 Z6 q; k F) mto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' w0 y0 t' X: [$ Q+ Z/ @
medical schools.. @3 X- Z' j, i
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the % g! \1 y3 i2 a6 E3 s. j; b' _government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants% r( U3 _; E' L( Y
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years) z+ r9 E( [9 j4 }# F- H( I5 ^
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ f2 A8 g A/ a& p, D" A" N2 ?
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ R' V# S e( e, F
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There # Y/ f( u: T, |- yseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and+ |- W Z! x% v8 }/ b9 B
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( r! f8 q. A& t/ h4 y+ K- ?
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 7 Y9 K" ] `5 g% `; i9 @' }% Gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.) B/ ?0 n1 \% Q) ` @
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# R7 H; ^ w- s
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and + |: C7 I! N& I' R, _# h8 u( y7 b) V. dsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 F- L. _4 N K$ ?7 z5 q, M# I
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good ) ? M! x& m( ?' j' b: Wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby + M( k0 ~2 f: A% I% B2 Xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ J' ]1 y0 r) C4 O0 t
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.! `: L& B$ [$ N( L+ l
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 1 D1 \! g+ Y" _5 @a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 h, n, f" H f6 _& l' X
charge the fee defined by the state. 5 E$ [& ]2 C' ~) @) F9 U; S c3 u8 L6 V6 [& @4 m" c
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get % L' l9 } U" Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# t" `/ {) a1 {' {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big & F7 U3 ^; M9 }% x. G' N0 [truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 8 F0 I q# T& Y% Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the+ {- g, [5 M1 @7 ~2 E1 [' j. y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on $ B" \# r* e2 h" uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 1 ^0 E- j" \. w( Pyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people % A1 _. W- E0 Z, D, ~trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 7 M1 ~- ?% B% Y& Z6 j0 }2 zhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that : q% e: b+ c6 r0 l) [' F5 wpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want : \0 }/ x, \9 y! I' m8 E2 Hto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or / g( E- G! i1 N3 ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there3 ^. l0 ^4 Y, C- Q
are spaces. + v3 f0 z! F; L1 }( u3 H1 E, P& p ; z' l/ J3 y4 Y- OThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi* k$ w1 [0 R" i) N4 [% J
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they $ U# i' ~: H/ U2 Yown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the / \ c: t3 j: c& e7 |1 \40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" y5 t/ P) I6 U. r. w3 {
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& o* l' a1 t+ U& f- N
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 8 I; |& `/ u0 |+ ^nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of % \/ a+ I7 e5 Dcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ( i" m! C' Z( k0 e; I" ?. Vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. * h8 E3 c f5 ^/ V" d1 j9 m9 e% H 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+ n! k) ]/ I* O4 @1 E; O
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 1 c, Z8 J6 _ {4 G# {: dthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very: a' r' A, c) h2 ]
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep3 ? }& {7 A8 D+ X* {
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day " J- Y' @# W( s+ y0 f- fsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of & A, C' U) ^* C; d9 nthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms# z5 s: h$ S; Q8 D1 @! f( L
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the" C. ~' Q1 t* H' U2 z2 C5 _- v" J
tourist area. 1 R! a6 F b! x( q9 R% G: @6 L h$ F# S, H% S9 x8 I
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's; y( E) `% g/ W, b* o2 p9 H y- b% m
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).' I9 Q2 t8 _' W* x6 a$ d9 y
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were . T! L9 G1 O. Q- Z8 t* X2 ieverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ( Q" V& s' z9 f. x L& Sless leader-religious.1 x0 V, G& u' t
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba1 y4 v0 o6 \4 @8 F% Y3 O
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big: m3 k% s$ m: [
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US9 O8 }- w/ s; u
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). : x/ m$ l- Z# c& U/ Z: D" I4 J) |
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ( C+ O8 B- x0 p8 A+ zparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not / n' ?! n; N* @the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 N Y/ M9 L! s# B& a4 g
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for- j* X! Q& L$ s! p9 ^3 F& `
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars % s0 b8 J. \3 E. m9 P- d# }! u(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we " L! M8 Y4 O& p# B; h& Dprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 0 s$ a6 ]( h* greal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.7 A8 Q% O/ g0 x
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local- l6 I! R2 J* T7 A- h8 e8 g% U$ }$ w
or visitors. 6 w" p7 w' H0 y) X 2 G# _% {. _. w' H-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
