We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very1 U) D- M' h$ {# e5 Q5 {, k& `4 f* r
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 9 j0 {/ H2 B# |. [: o- W% l D2 @/ {wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.4 C: Y. N2 _; l i g' w m
8 D' R3 S9 F) WIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,& ~6 p! R5 e; v# c2 q' v/ j
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in+ k9 |& ?( Y+ f4 V' T2 S
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as/ o6 C* y2 \2 i1 n3 j- e
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 3 ~8 B7 Z. e' J1 \show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep7 I* j# q; i$ V: c$ K' e
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the: x7 |" k) U3 f
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 1 `8 G( J( j" U6 D ?4 F- U1 l# dwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. : R0 \) S' d# D7 K$ z1 H* ^ People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 0 l4 ~7 [. F5 J+ vnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not6 n+ @( E3 t$ r& x/ c% f
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our/ s% L% }* E* {' Z+ [ ]
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through, o8 I" L6 h4 O# z
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.- y: D0 Q& X9 }7 J/ `: `, n
4 N9 \+ S9 k* ^6 cThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, + e: w8 S% j( |' Q, Zlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool; X: j1 b7 Z; a I; i
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top $ i% C1 u6 ]0 i3 aof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ' l% p/ i, ~+ s; O+ a) U* Z( [stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from* C5 O9 d. @$ F
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes9 Q, a6 C% X' J D
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with6 F+ w; G7 k1 z& @. f
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.+ F1 ]& {2 F, D: L- m8 q- J" ~- [5 z
$ I: l% K% j2 f7 a8 i' [4 a& I' V3 S% k
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are' s1 l; h# z$ G" ]6 Q9 _7 ]& f U9 K
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ' q! O% v' e: u' ffor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba2 p' m. l! l) s9 J- B
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 4 Y0 y, p/ c: w0 s5 Ea staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China( X" O7 H+ O% ]
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, living6 I; m6 P2 q) w8 m1 I' [( D- Q$ e
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# k8 c8 h+ q7 {7 i2 ?
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 T9 ]4 K$ f' R0 }2 G
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 0 D3 x" w j7 ranswers to our pointed questions. H# S! g( P3 e8 \7 h / W- Y5 U* S$ _. sThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 }, `5 L1 t+ e3 M& F p: ]
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ; D( n( J( A) P- ^$ x& m+ }out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is3 Y! X8 M+ E6 y7 Q" N5 I- k
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams - h( L0 B3 w9 a6 j9 pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( O' T' K6 F. z# n; U4 j1 m9 j
medical schools.! H J3 P; o! W
" @! d/ {7 ?; c0 F- `8 _5 e4 ~Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ' l* } R9 [- `2 {! A5 Jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 g3 m5 j- ~( j R% J
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years6 M1 l6 N8 V. A* T& o5 O6 C/ X; a; p
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba / O9 X# l- l) _is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 \3 a/ X6 K" ? t% k- u
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& q( P% r% L2 c" L9 f
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 r- I$ V" C/ t3 d
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) ]+ T; x1 ^( t* }( g& @
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 5 t' D' r* T0 y, k5 u, h% \ }: Xsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 9 M, V7 a4 D/ c' J1 A# [. D7 b& ~) \ + e L8 g, o! [' ]The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# @8 C! I& c$ s# V, r) q# h
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 _* m# `4 [' c( i0 h& T: y+ M% b
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 @( u% g5 i( A
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good - d. x5 t0 M# O1 a. O( G% f8 B6 h* B" Othing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: x9 r' r# B$ y c) O
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 1 C9 x+ j* Y V& _- Z5 Y$ d! Sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. h3 s$ d; Q6 a C8 f0 p; z6 {( b; h
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; A* G! k! z3 L) m
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( h4 r ~- ^ D8 K+ T1 H/ ^
charge the fee defined by the state.5 z8 ^1 z3 Y1 W. L) r
; ^8 ?2 m$ [; }There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 7 L7 S- y+ [. R5 S% von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 1 J% M9 E( h2 h. x& ~' jof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& q, F0 m0 X' q9 p8 c
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ( K& y' T! Y0 t N& s' a+ d4 xseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 8 R! |' v6 O& E# ?1 B$ v. Oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ g* a# f: I! n5 c" `. \! B& ^# h
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 c) c" R) ]5 `/ O
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people $ F# {/ u# l0 e7 H, strying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 1 g1 h) ^5 n9 _, A, q" f$ d4 rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# W! U6 ]$ ~/ m- b( Z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 0 E! S# H' y/ y& p) Tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 1 {: u- R$ E% |- T; j( d' O" mbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there ) _/ d# M% N: V( Z7 G/ vare spaces. 3 k) @8 ?, \$ u% ? 7 V X6 J0 Y& |2 B) yThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi$ ~6 f3 A2 J( A6 b% A
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 e2 [$ n* T2 Z. E$ a) r' P
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 9 h% a( |/ F# u K7 y/ W J) A. j40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different . _0 ^- U& l) `parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 9 ~8 H% u/ L1 Dbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few , U: C% ?0 y. O9 z% l. Y* Qnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, r( o. [0 m1 M9 S2 b; C
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 t+ \1 V+ h1 v, Q
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 5 L7 G8 E3 {$ Y h5 G9 m2 w 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& J1 }3 R- J- T
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all- z" _) ]: N9 w5 Z! r3 _
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 4 ~5 \: p x$ g, l4 O8 c/ alimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 1 k' K- t" f- U, b! N8 grecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day5 l) j9 Y, g% A4 u, }2 g
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of* V: y1 U( A/ \6 h' p4 F( \
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms |2 U* A& c) X" Z6 n& Y6 c
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the; c1 X9 n( |. j3 f$ J
tourist area. 9 {: g" ~4 K' B: C6 C n6 ], ~$ [' ^- l DOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's2 ~8 n c( h4 l# i+ c
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 3 D2 R: k8 c* B) }( G, RCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were2 U; `" u! q2 ^# [) G# R
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 3 `7 r" h/ ~" T6 r. F; _
less leader-religious. 9 p8 ?% O; k- a# y! \4 t4 M4 d. d7 F% G: _
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 8 ^3 O3 E4 y+ V. Y$ I0 dgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big $ y) T1 j% @6 @3 J# Pblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US# w( V p' w4 k) J) Q8 P0 n8 M2 N& F
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).% f( k3 I9 `! i5 H3 G& a; ?
Z4 Q# N- h; l! w6 S3 xWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the6 c0 |- \: u$ w$ q9 X J
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 0 f1 c+ k+ n: Z U$ g% m( Pthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 1 h# `( }" p+ W2 B1 W0 i# nconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for" F8 L0 l0 t3 V2 ^
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars4 m C& ^3 R! _, r+ S
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we ' [8 l# B8 P5 k2 Y1 I4 x, Mprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the9 p' W/ `: U- K$ I
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going./ l- @5 x6 q3 y9 n; K
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local U) ?+ e/ f* g" C/ _
or visitors. $ k9 P8 H) y5 `5 U' r7 t ; j; y+ Q- b" e% @/ [-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
