We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very : |) v H0 f/ d6 P6 \interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 8 {( D% W6 w4 f4 H* K" @# ywanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.6 L1 s7 c: d' y- h
P( p9 l' [. J& NIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,6 x2 {6 _# \, _$ W) y: c7 V' y
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in/ D9 i' N. Q e; J/ U
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as* u s0 Q: i1 Z7 J/ q2 n; B3 f/ \ c
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 7 Z' E, \: i3 T% lshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep L q: g2 h6 T4 u3 S
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the s- o+ o) z4 t. V0 Ylobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 5 I3 U7 v8 ~0 g ^ V* iwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 2 V1 ^3 S: A' E) [9 g5 c+ X; ^9 k People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but7 d/ |' ^0 \% @. v5 N- I( d c# f: R9 h
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not1 _# x. H6 H: r: d
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our : K+ k" B+ n, _# ]4 v; c8 ~flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 2 L& a/ B8 c9 y1 L6 wa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.) }1 O. A3 O& l
. a5 D/ v) {5 j+ i0 E' }The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 2 q S) j. R% ?9 rlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool/ M. O2 O( K7 k8 y8 |* o* b0 w
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 8 E( ?2 b5 ]2 f/ i- s }! X: w5 G+ ~of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ; G7 ^ O1 w& q* o7 |1 K, b' jstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 3 M, `) g! n: E. d5 W' x49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes F4 }& V6 X( N
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with. }) m! f; \* Q
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.5 w6 h0 k; E) W5 u, A
) E- i5 p( {" ~ r* BThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are' ~. h# K5 T% q! `/ _+ Z
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made , ?2 Q* V, M2 efor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba. ?' y4 g( D+ ^5 |. C9 _
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 9 c* A/ G8 e- h) I9 la staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 2 g) ? `+ h/ _; Q4 F7 Sdaily 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 7 g1 w: `. i+ |& J2 K$ i, L zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ l$ K N% w, j! P$ \* x0 B
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 4 O' z# ?8 m/ m"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give r0 L" E6 G' panswers to our pointed questions. : O' t1 }( y. k1 d4 T" z 6 t( n; e# y! c! K; TThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, $ h- e4 a" w8 }45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 Y7 _$ P, Q/ _" d+ \* ?! a. `
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 R; }" u B$ C( z1 h; \6 o
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 6 r( L! }" q8 m1 uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are , s+ o$ h2 Y7 C, M0 amedical schools. 3 R, ]' w3 {! b. i " b9 v, x% x d, f: s+ h4 }Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 h. ~# Z, q1 J N' N
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants # P# S1 L: }' f: T# l( Uto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 3 ?- N8 w$ }9 i' _7 i4 _assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba/ T% _# r7 U3 w( J6 n
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to . O2 O/ ~7 q8 u& e( Bover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 3 O- x4 M6 f9 Q# U; c8 a# R5 p0 pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 {. `* ` N4 K" F3 P' i( L! n
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 6 b/ G, B. i5 L- L$ v2 K+ hshortage which the government is addressing by converting some; n4 ~' z% S8 a, N. B) p
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 ?6 f2 n3 p4 T4 s( O" D5 V. }1 s
9 q6 b: s0 e a6 J6 r- q G# lThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 1 s- J& f: n- \private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' Q! W; c+ t& a2 Q! |; o
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people/ G& p6 q) C: {% Y$ c
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- _. W" T' P* E0 s, d' q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby & l# H5 A) e/ v. ]2 jsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ X# E0 E6 t4 F/ @6 z( J9 x8 |# j% [3 L
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. & \! j1 w4 y- F4 Y9 G4 \Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When : q5 p. G! R% e1 I/ Ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ( V3 D H. {6 s7 q( O; `. m: `+ Q/ Ycharge the fee defined by the state.9 P$ W! q& P) B7 A$ G9 Q( V8 J5 L2 k3 ?1 z
$ \+ U6 a z# wThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get9 w9 k& q4 }. ]# `
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 1 J% i& D. }8 P5 o9 S8 ~# d0 @/ iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big + v% a6 O }; `5 X& f Ttruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 H S2 U& c* f+ w) z }" s4 J
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- t. v8 f! Z& A7 c
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 9 e# v& p9 k, l& f+ E' kschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if % x2 h: a# U% ?$ [4 B2 t6 y4 O5 ~9 Zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ' U' n' m, _. L; k- G7 m4 `0 T& btrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: ^- r1 p0 U( ]. z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 0 z3 z/ s7 c" `' A! k$ D5 s8 epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 2 R! T) V% n( [to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or ( m5 w( b+ R1 g1 n5 r! ~buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 5 n- u8 Y: N5 B- ?, Dare spaces.6 n- E+ i1 t& R" c; G1 ^8 _
! H% Q2 {. c! f8 {) Q5 u: UThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ; q* o8 H& `% X4 @" D1 wto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- M J8 ?# Y# ~
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 0 N$ N: ~- i; l/ e6 a1 O. B40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* C3 }, }7 V( |: n) r2 l/ [) n9 \! y
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the * a0 ^% F3 l6 S( j z" j6 nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 c* q0 U5 ?% e8 x5 w8 x5 w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 z+ _" d; }, W( z: G6 D1 v i
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ^$ m1 G& p% A* {5 r
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 0 \5 {$ z( W) I$ _9 z) s& m 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 5 E( [9 B1 s( q5 J0 Qspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ; U9 Q& M5 p% `" }# Lthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very% P+ |4 T) @. K1 o
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep ! q w' Y/ Z. l8 yrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day8 M/ C' I2 c" V
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of* [ r Z% i* D" z m: m8 f: c! R
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms8 I: f/ { Z$ ^' y1 u- }( x
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the/ K2 D. b$ t9 l, N2 O* z/ f9 Z
tourist area. ' J5 Z8 Z/ I0 |+ @: h# P1 @% }5 e5 b2 c8 U7 R! B
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's4 B6 R4 H3 W( ?
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).2 x! M8 u0 g6 l9 A4 ?- N1 G
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were3 @- Y3 M" B+ V
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ' O1 ~1 h* N/ ~" A' ~
less leader-religious.; `" x% Y8 ~8 ^4 H) {! b+ b5 x
1 [, D9 e3 _2 U( K4 W' dAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba : {% I$ B( H6 cgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big " ~! H3 ^$ t* h) y/ Vblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US7 k) Q; B2 y2 w; B1 ]0 g
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). $ G; n% j0 W, f 9 R& P6 {0 J/ N2 a5 V) A+ [" I' {8 cWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the( W) ^- o& B5 b H' h) Z
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not K3 }; V$ D0 n3 g7 x
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $19 U$ d; c& |! e+ [8 [5 d
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for0 q4 N% q6 Y- ` t5 Z, c
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars. r: z B9 _) D: ?2 d- ?
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we % }3 X" P+ b8 ^" h# wprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the$ S, R1 Y: _6 c0 r- L% q
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.% ]- y( L5 }( X
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local . {9 X: S! C' \6 z( h/ @# _* Z1 L# Bor visitors. 3 G6 s+ }, L2 @+ M& ]0 t8 h, i6 S. U0 X# ?
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
