We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very% x4 d- C" ^' z7 a* ^- q
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 5 t1 K K8 p! xwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 2 d5 ?; [" S7 P* x' r6 q# N # ~* j, [) P _: R4 w5 ZIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 3 r. {* h# D7 \' L2 }: o30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in . W& w# m% O y- }1 q# b1 C! a( ja very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as * k: h. x; C1 K3 spossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort! z8 a* b5 H2 k( l9 T- s
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 4 L6 u5 m7 {3 s8 l2 G: I9 Tbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the/ m$ @; B1 ?2 _9 i9 k
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ' {, z2 L( f8 c) Q8 U" [; ]with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. - O+ o- X! J5 q# `7 \5 A ] People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but! N& w" e" `4 g9 g) f0 c- A
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not $ {4 ?3 C2 j3 L9 H6 N" K& Gexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our , F& f9 C! E, v2 kflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through' A$ \2 A/ N& t1 ~; M
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.1 M" n) C( K, g9 D
: n- u1 L( n" B* i& {9 bThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 5 v$ N/ B9 h4 I9 c- B4 v( ulow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool( F- L D3 ~* D, _! ^/ p3 ^
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 6 r9 G$ q Z# ]2 y7 Rof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the: B4 b; D2 b3 S0 G
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from* k. k, m% O I! {/ n, n
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 2 k8 b7 G# v" g, V6 q# xCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with: ^9 {; {2 R7 t \$ ~, t; Z) r
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 4 b! N; }$ x# Q/ m/ v+ ^9 E2 V+ v5 X' q
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are % g8 K9 S0 C" `- Y6 ejust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made0 q+ V8 f) U" |* `& @" T L
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ! {5 f% P& X: e) @: ]" Ytourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having " E; {+ M5 `( M) d, ha staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China6 w* }( |" @6 Z2 h! W+ s# 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, living }# ^3 w- n7 e/ u8 M. L7 vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# ~+ _9 E6 c* A$ G. c: I2 j
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 7 t3 t* F( g% y8 a"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" G4 F+ U/ Q1 i
answers to our pointed questions. 6 B+ V8 f& H: D1 ~+ Z' O* ~& x& b1 ?8 A5 b$ F
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 x$ l. F3 i& e& C; T! Y$ p
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand + K5 ~0 O4 K1 \5 x Dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 0 F i2 i3 t3 F9 e# y2 P$ B6 v. ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ C$ N8 z+ V! @! N# _6 ^
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are $ _# s4 u; F) l" k3 Z( ]$ vmedical schools. " V3 |4 k9 [4 c7 D( N$ t& L5 e7 H! D7 t' I; {! O& U8 |" X
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the : V( i6 `; J2 p6 h! q; Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 5 A2 d5 g+ i# B; w/ y: Qto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 e3 q8 ] Q+ W6 c. Y! y' {
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba % Z c1 F. ^6 p6 R' Z' g7 e/ Nis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 x8 x3 F+ ~8 ~7 O8 r$ r
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There; |1 V5 H9 @( i' d8 |
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: @9 z# K3 M- B4 J, T0 I
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 9 v* F7 b, C: V" f# U1 ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some , t: s5 J* f3 O( d) D; Usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 8 C9 {* X( w( Z5 \' P2 S( `$ [* M3 n# b
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no . q; J" G2 Y/ f8 \/ d! a- e: d. qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and) B" i5 ?; \1 l4 m
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people , _5 z. T2 e5 ^4 f* Lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good % O0 Q5 t' p I" D8 Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby + C6 `. J1 y7 r% b- e6 Xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 R; {; M: y4 A! e% f a6 h
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.7 V- P4 c& L7 M
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" D/ \3 | [9 c: n) _0 ]
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ( `% J# ~- c2 s. B6 i, [7 X" ]charge the fee defined by the state. . i" z& W+ U7 z + o+ J+ b9 w7 ~* v d0 }# hThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get - R0 W2 O9 Q) C; b# O# j, ~0 _% uon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 4 V/ l# M2 p$ a! C2 r& y g i2 M: x0 xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ; J1 M- @4 R5 I* A. Ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! ]% s3 w1 C. O
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ v4 o& a! F5 U+ q0 r. U
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 3 d- i) F) R0 S( d: L: Q/ uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ D" f4 S, e Y5 `6 }
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people $ t# r. ^8 p6 f: c" rtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch $ n2 Q0 Y4 S @* m3 b; t4 T+ dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 6 g1 R, D0 o2 T" r9 qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want + M5 o/ s0 e7 k* D% y3 A; W" v/ Ito go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or / S6 o/ e: Q/ Pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: B6 X7 Y6 ]4 b4 a7 D& Q8 q: \
are spaces.! P' X7 s: m8 y, E7 ^' ~- L
8 s) b! p& [: ]! [! @There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 0 u$ X6 @9 a7 T$ G9 T% r7 ?( Bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they - O! v6 [% s! a$ ^( C, H8 ?& S) Pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" u' [# @' y$ s) J! b; P; s, |
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different O6 L1 g5 X& ^2 y0 ]' Wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 3 [9 |/ z: _7 y! g6 }best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few " e; D! J; y6 M# s$ Nnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of \3 I4 Z! G# {) @( C* ?& n% Lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 5 t) O" c4 i& v4 `+ ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. % s% Q! P \: H- p4 N: P 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! @( `4 b9 D/ J- s% f' F8 y( Q f
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 0 _: L' n1 @) r6 a2 hthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very' E( c% k$ p- E6 l/ { q
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep1 q( f8 t r# E" z
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 6 d2 q2 c" v% r2 Y: \$ |5 [* gsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of, c0 A) L2 W2 G4 B1 q
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 0 h. n# J/ P( c& Q7 z' _have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the . Y$ F/ p; ^# j" H; |tourist area. 5 f* p( C' E8 {) E+ k" y S( e4 o) ^8 l, ?
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ' B9 h: U! f) H) g2 [pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara)." o7 r5 O- z: j
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were. I' j( y3 K6 K
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 9 j8 B) j( b! |less leader-religious. 6 i8 H! Q: R: @1 J3 B/ O, @* U! c5 M+ T
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 0 ^+ Q) v. |5 @2 \" e% {. @, Dgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big; a8 y2 m, n; Y8 c
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US+ k* x; X5 Y) n: b2 [
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).' S; P' |; _, y8 _3 M
# y; S9 a1 a% J( kWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the% x. r$ j/ ?+ B" Q: g* v
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not " z, s4 }+ A/ K- u9 @the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 ! \8 G$ I$ F6 E. n% b# f- F; I# H, Vconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 9 z0 [2 |; a! A- P1 i3 H& wforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars : K0 C5 U Z# G(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we0 H/ b" x8 ?9 c7 G& o l
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the f( \) e" U' ^ A6 S. w$ B7 r
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.2 U0 S. U0 t! N& C T) w
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local # F+ s4 A6 C! s) |2 Wor visitors.7 |" I, D. f2 n6 n0 c
* _( g) I; W7 l. R
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
