We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ) h( U; n7 q3 Ninteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 2 A- ~% T) z; u8 \7 pwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. - s6 i* D3 }0 R5 _3 t 8 {( r4 O; Y( \- j6 E( KIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,! p9 R* e9 ?( p ~! Z/ j
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 9 t8 N% i' B' v+ S: Oa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as* _+ o- f3 I& s3 k, t0 Y
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort ' q9 p% }" P$ @8 T; vshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ; w$ h _1 W4 [% R4 C) |" Z3 Sbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 0 o; X9 {8 _: B1 ?7 y9 ylobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 7 m% d3 `$ A8 J4 Owith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there., `; F% j+ [% t$ A m
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but ' M5 K5 ]1 h2 {9 ~" R0 \3 Hnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not + ^! l& T" h+ v4 q' mexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our3 e( w$ Z" y; V0 `) p, [
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through( s" e/ @: U6 ]
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.' \5 M2 `7 b' h
; D x" P" M% C# i3 j; I( SThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, ) z' J2 O) |5 Plow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool _7 o$ A" i" a! S(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 7 [( w: U, O, _of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the! T4 X% n' D; a. n& l
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from$ ]* C6 i) |8 {) D0 Z' o2 P: X- ]: w
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes3 l- o# n( ~$ W+ S3 v6 z6 J6 s$ T
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with+ c E/ C% M) z- G) u- [2 p
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. . q: g, C! U( d, |1 k: O) x6 ~4 `. m2 t5 V
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are% U5 S2 Y$ Z- j7 n, l# T/ ?! m- }
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made : c1 G% o' l9 x# J$ z% cfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba( `; G& S: n" H0 G9 {
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having * T7 ~! y W8 Ra staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China' {& u" O8 M$ n: M
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 2 r, |+ ?2 u$ m7 s2 K, mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ' \/ L: M7 B) d1 T) m9 von a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, ! g' ?% g, E. V"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give N8 [3 a) [! `7 e' K# A
answers to our pointed questions. ' W) h7 Y. q A9 r 8 o- m3 l# ]/ k$ ?6 xThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 5 e+ ~. D' h* b, J: G" o$ q45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand3 T# p$ g H. z; @: |/ I
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: S! N0 V- Z2 W6 U% E" N5 t
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ q/ D9 Y/ t$ v
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are : h! f ]( Z" {9 r: ^* i2 L, Kmedical schools.- k' s9 s# b ~$ k
0 T% x* U9 y: C) K6 DEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 D, c3 c8 q2 I1 V7 `- A
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants' ]9 _! |, Q. c4 Z/ n
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years $ v; O) ]/ _. x3 O s( Massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 E2 |) y6 j( K5 v; J
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to9 e" N+ q. X v! | f7 t
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ^* B! p, E* o# F2 u1 x9 p$ @
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, {; \7 _3 h' W
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! z* ]: F( G1 y3 J( W$ X; L0 ]" S0 d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 7 ]6 G" s! x8 E" ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.: _: r: j5 Y" D$ f. z6 D$ J
- d' C7 f" S% \2 PThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* y( [. q: S* r: R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& Q b; S/ d/ N0 l9 F% k3 Z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people% B* a3 f4 Q" r, p5 ~
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good5 c$ I: F/ z: i. v
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* W. n9 `; v* V4 {
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high . y' m/ T* V1 mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 8 V* Q3 c K6 B5 \Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 6 P1 e! e0 l( P1 M @5 K* g% ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ' r' F, W8 m3 ^ ^2 a& }: echarge the fee defined by the state.# u+ L! M% Z- a% ^' {
3 j3 W) j. B; t! F) I# G7 W! N
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ y7 X" W. v5 B9 G* h$ Y
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type / D: q; A& n: w5 ~# S X; qof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big # ]8 Y6 z9 ]7 Ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- Z: q- m, ] H6 d) {9 o+ T
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 3 Y7 M% b* p) I1 jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on. w f" o F* I6 S B8 }; L0 T
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 4 J; ?% q: T4 ?5 zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; O, @; M* y5 A( Z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 N0 k. b$ l! u0 B; x
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 Z. h4 ^' Q; O: |1 i& d1 O& }
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. @/ U+ _3 X$ f
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or , n6 c' k. I! d. G" \, c, Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) q% h- H9 c1 T
are spaces. 7 O+ D0 ~) n- }9 | 5 e* D: j. s. V6 `* l8 x& P! ZThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; ]) g$ X+ E7 x. z1 |8 {
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they + } |6 K! ?$ w5 a% R* p. B _) C. Y% {own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 N% S% F: D8 z1 A2 J% e# q
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different0 [( S% k$ C5 o5 J& @
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the : v6 i9 _8 f8 h6 D% G* Sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few a, u1 b, {: unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) k6 i2 ^5 Q% m# y9 h
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 ^; ~) F: a; c8 ?9 _4 [2 C
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ) y5 w4 g$ ]# N; C0 j 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 # z) A2 _% `5 ~% `# Xspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 7 e8 c4 c# h, D( m/ |- Z( s# Dthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very * _5 I) t. Q! ~) Z1 elimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep " V3 I% C; B; ?7 m# Y' Urecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day1 |6 g8 n2 c4 v5 I7 f. }" I Z
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of# x4 \( j- v6 `5 ? r2 ]
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 4 \' m' }. r& i* Chave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the! z5 b' F1 c" }$ Z/ R; [
tourist area. , Y# |& {" x% r3 W, k2 ]5 ?- D) s* S. z" V& P1 n
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's) C8 F8 q( G) k& r( t$ U8 l
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).' S& Y2 z/ v* u4 q2 f3 a
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were( l( _* N& A: U. h) ]
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 9 B5 n1 K. X$ j- T4 v8 tless leader-religious. . D" ?7 Q8 g, r 0 C6 _) n8 ~7 R' y; q/ I. nAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 0 y# Q7 v2 V' K2 z6 X fgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big# m, n: |8 ^2 D( O* a/ J
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 7 k! Z2 O* e" ?: I% C, g. Vembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).+ j0 [' n1 z/ N; R
$ w8 e9 k$ _ \/ I- tWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the- m1 ^- o. {$ q
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not" B, @% l- j! x+ ?/ t$ `9 v
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1' B: [0 ~* W4 y& L. N8 x1 p9 d9 X
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 7 d9 y; }1 A7 V( o3 {/ Kforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars / F" e0 B8 a% ]. ](less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 6 W* D" ^; y+ q: o+ }" b8 aprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the3 j$ Y8 E8 \8 @* R9 A$ r) @/ j# O
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. % `( B2 _& _, a4 ^! x) W- \And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local " F) Y8 {1 A- U. B0 e& r0 Ror visitors. 0 z: L9 O0 C$ H; b6 v; ~$ o: U! P! k K
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
