We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very , N8 H8 U! m* M7 q/ x- Dinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we `! @7 U" N7 a' Y
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible./ L9 S% b8 w7 ?
8 D1 F! w7 \2 M cIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,9 b6 n3 O* S* k$ K
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in ; s( \! N6 F" E; l$ F. ?a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as / k% _1 Z2 ?. W* L2 z9 _* Upossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort/ i7 e8 `9 k1 e! j. @0 P- j
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 4 n3 F* y& R3 Y$ |* H7 D5 obetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the % E$ s0 K2 N) ?- m7 m4 q2 G; ]lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,( _7 v' v H. y& D# M
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. Y3 A- }* T% H1 T4 n0 o People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but L$ D$ D" n& W, [names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 2 S% Q1 G3 c+ D- H7 n6 l$ [. lexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our! U3 T! h3 Q! \7 D
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through1 u7 W' S- \0 m& v
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.& e5 Q7 a+ ^. d1 b4 E
) z1 q: {. S# n: e7 V+ AThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 2 K* f. O" B3 `: `low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool , R$ ~5 H! G9 K(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top . Z: k8 `+ h, M5 d+ g! a" oof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the$ x4 o4 a; ~$ b; W8 U
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from9 X; ?5 M, L& f4 m/ ^# x6 B
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 3 s5 R6 f1 K9 [Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with * x# S* |; O, O. ?- y* Bfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.! F, c5 y! n+ f0 m- G$ c
r7 i2 p1 ` H2 f/ W
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 3 S& r8 l4 I% _% h# W" n6 D, Ljust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made& L' H" M, B2 p
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba& J- a4 |+ \4 f2 x0 U$ O, d
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having $ H) l v* s, g3 la staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 9 ?% ? w4 b9 a4 Idaily 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( @& b& _% m, {2 E4 T
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ! a. V6 n/ S' |1 Son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,7 k0 l* w6 U' _
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 W; p X/ H& Z' {+ J- V; g6 _
answers to our pointed questions. 1 i, ]; [; H% a9 V& T ; ~7 D3 A- f' D# T' e0 Z9 OThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 b: }$ f3 o6 s! W
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 `+ C& M; J* X3 Z0 `$ X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ y, S: d- e6 i
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" d" g3 D6 Z& v1 W+ a9 ^
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are + p9 R3 G! W. Q4 E* }medical schools.& l2 W2 b1 l6 r& X: G, H A" O7 I
7 l. R# I! e$ A
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 4 T/ [$ s0 K, \government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 3 ~% _& o+ b0 Y$ P1 R2 [+ rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years& q: A) m8 p' w' E E
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba % ]4 e0 S! L5 c6 `# t9 b$ a! i5 Sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to / {4 S6 S& S, n0 }1 H+ {7 a# [over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There % S/ X% Z2 z9 m6 j& I, wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 D8 b' y) a3 ^+ O% V
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 3 J o4 b0 {* f1 O# T7 [5 S7 Ushortage which the government is addressing by converting some 8 M9 B8 n8 m; L: v- [! gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. & w* R( h5 `; }4 k, K% ~& d( v' w4 G' g2 c
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ' Q! B; u$ X, kprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 B8 f8 {( U+ X* d
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 7 m; C9 J1 h8 C \, M& xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good # z2 b4 W- P: a1 J5 ^ @7 u7 a) C+ Hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ! A8 _% k- \5 K. Msitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high * Z' U# t g0 ~% M) [& ?divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 l6 s, W* u) _8 b# L& Y
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- @. |1 G' `0 T9 d( m0 u( `
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 0 z! h6 ~! ^, O- |( Acharge the fee defined by the state. ( ?# \5 _4 [5 W3 N# s1 J0 |- }* E( C& G$ S6 Y
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' f7 I$ W6 ?% x) C- V! q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type u7 n& r4 `/ J5 Z1 [# L
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big . h0 Z y& O1 B7 t vtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel & b. u2 j# E4 Iseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' b8 C! ~5 q# U1 V
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on $ t6 q, C+ f% gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if , a0 L: E9 n2 O3 _$ Hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people % Q4 z; T Q* c3 q& X9 a1 v5 N" Itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch% b* k, }7 Y' m& X( S! u! L
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 J- \; K7 V/ F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ c4 y3 n. {& b" o+ N
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or - @! J5 g4 w3 y/ P% ybuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 6 u2 c) ~0 t$ w& [! `% ]" J, Mare spaces. 3 j0 G9 \( { R) y' S2 c% Z( p# {# @
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi # i8 B$ _8 I/ x3 F7 ~$ @to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 y, o m# n3 R& B: o' o9 H
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the % x9 N# E# L! i ^+ o& b A40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 M% T! ?) F! P, O1 w: E7 f/ i
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 0 `# j4 q. T5 \+ j" L$ `( Q& c" c$ Bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" k7 x1 } H* c# `1 y* G* O4 K
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of K. ]* W# y' a$ t9 ]; [$ Ocar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) }6 m5 I4 O9 q3 C' O. n
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 x' L1 O5 {# a& z/ |/ e
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 9 V2 [# u9 K3 e$ _: @8 Aspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 4 m* r, F6 _* K" |9 I- a+ y+ |the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very. j. T+ {; s# o4 |6 r
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep- r5 r0 M6 f8 Z$ s
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day . ^! g. X( }/ r; p/ o* zsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of( f* E9 Y- H- ~. g- D x* v
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms! f4 {- B l W8 s8 J
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the! X2 }& ]; h7 U e4 \
tourist area.6 t+ T% \' Z: j6 t' p/ b
: _& X0 J4 W, c1 D+ W5 lOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's) j T+ }8 }' P8 K% h6 B+ n
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ! l* Z; h4 I, `% s' f( CCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 7 j, S/ a: f2 q; |everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 2 r! C9 u+ x' b
less leader-religious.* l$ ?/ a# \! m# j, I
5 Q8 @ a# u3 W2 o8 Q) x9 AAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba : d+ E. ~8 G4 ]5 [1 S2 k( c" Kgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big: M3 X/ U1 a# L o
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ; A7 X, r7 t$ A$ k7 M: dembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)./ w/ K0 J* {) I7 S
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the : q1 k2 y1 L6 Z0 uparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not) c: p" P4 C3 Z7 \
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 3 Y# n* I, c! k N, k# rconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for6 `2 z3 J1 E! D. j- L
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars$ {6 z; G4 |0 u
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we % n B% }+ `) Eprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the / }$ n3 h% E* X2 m1 K+ H6 o! kreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 7 ]3 i1 O5 C8 C1 ?( a9 a. o3 PAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local & ?9 P+ b8 H; t# ?3 u) r4 ^! m9 Gor visitors.9 B: C; o( n: G
- l$ X% S/ Q1 }0 ~
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
