We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very # D; s# W1 s+ K3 K( k- Iinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 2 B) h2 @; T+ qwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.- o' K. V) e: w7 m- x
7 O4 c9 x( F! N2 h& H s+ E2 v
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young," a( `5 x! Y1 b' Q; U- I
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in" ]& N3 w+ @/ K! P+ J! C8 ]2 L
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as - Z: Z! C; \% |possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort ?3 I! V6 {9 X' c0 }( j
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 6 n" Q$ {- S( f {6 S$ n2 Jbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the4 k# f/ u$ N- E/ i
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, D* O+ N' X6 S- C- u! P1 ?, Lwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.2 C' ^& v% ]6 M) X8 X
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but6 l# f1 k- ]1 |4 F$ e5 I- ^
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not1 D. S u& d" E% _1 I
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 3 l5 C8 I+ H/ p# d9 y3 Iflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through # X: p: t# H& Q" B3 z& |a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.( E% K% O7 B: r
6 m6 e4 t X; ]) f4 s+ h: ?( W
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, / C# t/ Y- Z z, olow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 6 l) [0 K: {( S8 [6 J1 l(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 0 N% z9 u* z/ T8 }& B; u1 h# `" uof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the7 r* i" X( E) _5 q' x- Y9 m
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from # V! n% l) \; X% T49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 6 Y7 q: I( ~' `$ \/ D1 t& DCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with$ ^" U7 ]% V2 F' U% c
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada., H. q* A# S1 C( T7 H9 ?8 a: U
7 r1 T; ?& t* z+ r7 g# R
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are- L+ I" l, }4 x
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ( @+ R) i& f: A9 C+ |! G) |1 E' nfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba1 H. b$ U V+ h; y( p- |5 o' n
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having' E2 o" e! k3 K- o
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China0 X0 f7 v d) z3 K. D# X
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( M, V6 X, g" |1 A# G
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went & H3 A: s4 ]! N) d& R" Mon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, ( D; f1 u# P7 F"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 s: c9 s' ?- T8 v
answers to our pointed questions.5 P% B9 N2 E. a+ {9 a5 ]
6 E: h7 \8 T4 G$ P6 @
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 G( a- a" j: E: Y6 ?0 m$ L
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand # P8 b4 e; Y' a& N" d- {$ |out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 6 x B1 [6 T3 S. ?0 Q7 }free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. r' o5 E4 W Y9 E
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 6 s/ M9 U% C2 l3 P+ Smedical schools.' Z9 D/ P1 E/ g! @
3 h$ `% ]4 c6 X% `Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the - d6 u3 i2 }1 A5 b2 ^government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. v, J4 Y* C% P6 b2 ~
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ' Y: k- s! X$ oassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba" T2 ?( F6 l. O& a% h! f, q/ Y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 5 b$ {: ]- L$ y4 e: s4 k9 M$ Nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 6 i% f- B- p7 K6 } kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and % P7 S: q, @) H5 m; smostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ' y4 r' P" }8 ~, Wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 F/ B8 u! o" C0 D Q1 \
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. $ z- n) |# }% t C i" f& z, w- A4 e7 d }6 E# d
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 V+ n! V! E7 n1 D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 2 R# ~% r4 O! Y a) q( l3 F. z; _supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people , B7 H, ^& s, y) h2 x7 [ Qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 1 z% V1 z% m% }4 `$ w6 nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby; i% t9 h* E0 `& G' k+ J" E1 z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: h9 a- \! c) W% y- z3 t
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ( q3 g) c: E6 M. qDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When : I: T: q- k) W1 T1 h5 R& c& M1 A2 o' Ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 0 r) j- }5 d/ h3 Gcharge the fee defined by the state./ i5 S- p) l T8 @/ n) i9 a3 @
7 h0 }( s: J! F7 u0 ^
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 J9 _1 M" K2 ~4 X
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type , V! E2 U& z% r7 U# Lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 2 Q7 @1 |" H9 W6 ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 G. u: z; Q( N, H' \; G
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 0 D# p! j: ^' U9 y; c7 M$ M& wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ; K* {7 o4 Z0 @( lschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' I& E$ |) B- N# {* H- P
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people , s: n( v" A9 L: _trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch # P6 [0 `& z0 f) \* X2 H2 ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' P5 f" v# {3 u6 Z' l, P
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want / j" N p) p7 O8 c+ {to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or: H, ^0 E- t) N$ j2 C
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; c o: l0 Q V+ `
are spaces.) S6 E9 x0 |# F% b+ Y
( s9 s# L& q4 z2 H6 v3 D
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi b. N# `- f6 g8 `0 uto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ `7 G) `, N/ F4 A
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the9 t/ o8 c+ N5 y4 R' r# K* D
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 0 {! a5 a; }0 p% ^' tparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) n# q6 p+ C6 v, b$ |. a
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; S# [3 {# C; H* F+ t- t) K |$ n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( V( G' T9 N& ~0 `1 f& G
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, G0 C* Q7 c) j
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! Z0 O+ x; s6 K& s# p! V# ~- i G
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 ; d2 \) }6 A8 `6 n) ^( c8 Y$ }spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 3 m1 z \0 J3 Qthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very, U) N, A. i" P4 G/ H
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep. Y6 Y- O4 k; b" o/ C5 s
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day ! ?7 t/ n8 P( ^3 Jsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 9 y! G6 N, r; M% n$ n" e9 ?them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms3 w8 z$ L0 R4 H7 k+ Q0 l
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the $ P& ~* G0 A+ U4 n" ^, Z8 t) Xtourist area. : w5 O, X5 j$ e$ m2 ?. t8 d7 u, X- t4 {3 h) ^
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's + K' {" ~8 k! O3 K7 C. z: Ypictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).1 u& p- S9 G5 X1 |0 l" U
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were) ^. e6 l; W# ^1 U& z
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps $ ^6 G7 q; h+ o: m1 i
less leader-religious.& E+ y8 D9 Y1 ~
7 ]; M8 }% Z8 N4 _# ?
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ; O% u) d4 K8 W/ E: q0 e3 \0 Mgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big8 o1 i" x/ V, Q( X; G
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US % {7 m$ A: E, U" B0 y" ~4 hembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). / ^. ^6 V O) o. d ) T9 f4 L+ S, d( Z5 o+ AWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the; u5 W- Y2 F s) y* {
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not + v/ b D/ K3 ^& [$ S Cthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 " _; f1 Q. r, a4 _6 c* @convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for1 N9 Y! m1 j: X
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 5 S/ V. v. q7 L(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we " t6 y+ X2 d, U" h" s8 L! H: ]# c3 [& qprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the- P9 p: M& ^. X9 {
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 5 c$ A5 y, k" Y9 r" ]' V) V; oAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local * W% j2 E0 d! qor visitors. ; x- @& [) P, Z3 g& J; e9 f1 o) I, a- ]7 Y
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
