We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very - `3 J% ?4 {5 x5 i; O# ]/ Einteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 7 D% z3 `# @2 ^- O* s% x5 }% B5 i7 xwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.( o: d, z% K/ G+ k' k9 \+ v0 Y
0 O2 F' M7 X) _2 c0 ?" RIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 1 B7 |7 A1 z" |; Z( d30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in5 M8 ?/ h, r3 z. }6 a* @
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as/ P. R$ `! L/ A3 f4 x# @; a% ^# \
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort" I4 F; H5 l! W3 H7 O% T
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 9 ?* F4 ]2 ` R5 Z- Z: L9 T0 bbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 8 V7 M5 N9 y9 D& Z- X* Y, Z* e5 Hlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,2 P, ]+ I8 r) D) ?
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.7 Z" W b% u# @. |
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but% ~& S6 ~. S+ i9 H' ~. ]$ G% h
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not+ W- G$ Q* ^0 N* P8 V% l5 M
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our8 |. ^6 l7 {) B% ~' ~
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through / \. m& h0 L. s; Z1 G @3 K7 na roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.0 l) n' u4 G$ l
$ ]& E8 i' I _; h* D! M) m1 IThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 6 b9 G: M8 q B$ k8 P" x8 |low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool ) z f7 z3 h- ?4 R# E: B) B3 |(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top, e7 h' ~9 w% H* t% P4 _2 v
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the % F3 c5 ]$ l: r# R; b. G, ^5 k. [# `stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 3 Z$ K9 D, R0 `/ N0 g49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes ( b2 g: W5 Z# j) m6 }1 nCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with : A0 Z) U9 t+ A" X/ m4 Y/ i; h3 p$ efingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.2 |+ b! w1 k( l$ A+ O- ~
- C h* F) c2 V: a3 R" }
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are7 D9 f) P& L; `9 F5 \. }
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made! D/ e6 A/ a$ K1 O2 m
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba% l4 q+ t/ u9 e3 Q
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having" w. }7 _3 M) W
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China- p* l. W( I6 G3 Z/ h4 R
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 ( Q0 \# I' B4 c1 V4 _0 t% l% ?standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went - i& d. A; w$ Z% M! j& Qon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 6 Z3 B+ y8 x9 q( F! f. t"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 5 U+ [9 z+ m4 Y. {9 S& Z1 Xanswers to our pointed questions. " F+ Q( M! @* J( O6 R # V5 S% p* ~: l) K$ GThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, & W" F6 E% L- a) Q2 ]) u4 ]45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ i4 d9 E x/ C3 w
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is + Z: l. p' D2 b5 B8 T3 cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams " B3 f3 w" x$ cto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; ?* q. h; I: ^5 g2 \: b, H
medical schools. 9 x6 ?* ^. E: Q7 O# V+ Y6 S& T# y5 @! M: U, _8 L
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 Y/ r1 X' l0 T$ j; K3 ]9 h: m) Z* b
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants $ Z* x- V1 r& b: Pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 7 ]$ Q' g; b6 c$ D6 M6 sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba # z/ S% i9 A1 P& w& Kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ; k7 ~% G: `) |/ sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 6 r: r- O1 s0 kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 y- M2 ] z& |7 z5 D
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 7 e. C2 o7 z5 Y* pshortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 k( e( i5 H! k1 z; s/ _
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. / Y6 _- S3 k! _5 q. _3 d9 R: r4 p% S; k1 i, F- X( o
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 1 U& r4 W9 V& _/ X mprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and ( Z$ B4 x. H" [4 i. C9 @supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; A8 O/ m9 P8 {/ J4 n
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 2 P/ n8 S+ S, S/ } C& p! v9 O: Zthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 \, f& C/ E- `1 ]9 V+ H% a
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& }* L# O' k2 d" |6 d
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 5 r" u, S! H) zDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 8 C, E% d" `. ]; La lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: L$ v$ b- ~" z, [9 r
charge the fee defined by the state.5 k) [+ ~5 e. ^/ p- |; W4 ]1 q
8 u; Q, _7 ~; \
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) @- L, V) a7 J/ q$ l p9 Z: a& L
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* O0 h; _2 E b n1 Z9 ~" T) Y$ R
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big * V% P1 [6 W* O9 t' Ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel$ T/ u; X& o1 y, r1 B' k8 N
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ; A8 e5 z3 R, u: Oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 T& A& m ]: I9 f
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if $ n+ f; P9 A8 dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; i5 e9 h, J N
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch) M# a& Y! R( O2 ?) A$ z8 K
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 g( J: A$ z5 g
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 8 E: S! N) S. b2 Zto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or % Z8 \+ N; @- Hbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* c* p- {( U. V4 D$ b9 @+ o) q9 T1 b% f
are spaces. # L& J6 p) E* s) e7 j8 w' @ ' Z8 l% {5 { u% F$ y( k' AThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 r1 e0 X' {. K% |8 t8 b3 m/ h
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ s4 Y; ^1 F {& m" y- B
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 m8 \9 A/ W7 o4 Z; a3 ?# T
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ I) j1 W% s- V7 c! S' f" A& E% b
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the $ s) @4 O0 |2 I4 k k) r5 x* Gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 i! n! Q2 g$ l3 A$ S
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* A5 P' Y* j3 ]+ T2 S: ?, z' i
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 8 I, z$ m0 ~4 t+ t. nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ u1 V& }/ \( L, Z" d
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 beautiful6 ~ L) c7 U/ c1 j3 u+ m
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all * h* @* R, u' k8 a+ Vthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 2 G; }6 Y2 V. E- y* Glimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep1 t$ I+ k) _. }) n2 H
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day " r/ Z1 Z2 }2 r5 ~* U2 {+ csupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of ) r1 h$ S" V$ Zthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms ( y% q1 p' r' ehave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 3 L* y [' @% `3 o* C9 mtourist area.: d/ f. z- t# G% }
# n! [: f5 u, t' F% ^$ P, F( g- e, OOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 0 [% L) _9 q5 @* J' f( A2 Lpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). $ `6 R+ W" g" N5 Y% NCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ; } E6 b5 S( h8 w" deverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps # I% a; D) K) J+ V( ^! Z& [0 K% ` I
less leader-religious. + E. L7 [: g" O+ o# [- E; ~3 Y3 p" V6 L- i4 f
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba . ]% Y8 Z; O) D% m' }+ m7 ygovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big) ?" k f" O$ P- I/ D( u
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ( S, P" S' M. ?5 hembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). , E% }8 N; \9 k2 g( x$ s( b. C' |7 ^' r4 Y7 `( {/ d
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the - A1 g: }1 `' c: S- yparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 5 u; ]2 t6 O/ T# \; l/ }' qthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 ) t4 K% J) F( M" m. l* n3 ]1 K8 Iconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for% x: }( w/ L' I$ D5 M \( c
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars. W* C* K6 Y; x) w3 U: s! [% g7 u# W
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we - r3 u6 g' q; P* k( p+ Rprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the4 K- z Z3 S5 X j6 H7 c5 y
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.% e( {9 a1 g, s/ \1 @, r7 m, H
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local- A5 B& u9 X0 m! |: o; o7 _
or visitors.! _7 z& U0 H/ |: M" i
; \4 D. x2 O9 k% C. o x
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
