We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very: ~ E7 @% ?" V# c/ _
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ) k" S! e- O8 ?wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.* v+ p6 F4 |, I" q1 n4 V- ]
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young," V0 D- n* T0 t' l3 N
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in- k- e% P0 G* K9 b
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 8 l1 a; q! K* Npossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort' |* J# Z r/ u3 m5 f1 ~
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep/ {& l' }) z$ n# R5 d
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 2 u' {: G) F' x& m6 D0 A4 Elobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,9 o, U( o+ s+ p8 G' [
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 5 }7 X1 N4 r* }! |' }9 P5 D0 P( ] People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but' ~# |( y7 E! K# h |
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not ' ?5 ~3 Q! Y- ?& p s: f7 texchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our , q# _; p9 e( t; U K6 |flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through1 U7 P& Y" A- O. [1 o6 r- D
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.8 K1 e0 y: {. i( P
0 I% h2 a4 y; `7 jThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, # g+ ~) F1 Z7 e t5 Flow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool) t( r4 x' Q% i3 N3 [1 c P
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top - A/ P0 W* f$ zof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the, H& h( d. k& P' i0 |
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from : o. W9 I8 m" v: ]49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes& X: K2 w/ J1 \ ]
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with: w/ L. d4 k3 V0 Z# T/ L* V3 r: X
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.6 O; t, d/ m2 y7 ^
8 X/ I1 B7 |2 j7 yThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are' \+ |4 \7 ~9 D4 J5 W5 x' e
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 0 O+ j& C$ ~' {) w; yfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba . u* I O1 i& [tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having! j: {, N6 }3 x, K' i1 C/ F
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ( D. c% C% O# c% U5 @) l/ Odaily 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 / T) |, t% I! S8 zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went + a! H# W# c) [) c, ~on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# S3 m9 {1 G, ]
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give # N, V1 t+ c- v Z5 s2 u0 _) Xanswers to our pointed questions.5 ?" _; x' ^ W- `
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 A/ T7 ?) ]! x/ p/ I% {# H7 U4 K s* h( j
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! \+ e+ a; [! }: P6 \& A# C5 F4 ~
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 7 q& Q" f+ `, s% p7 t) Sfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams # v5 \( n8 S; Z& vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are + k: v) Q/ Q" F9 gmedical schools.1 h% i9 y5 N5 v7 j0 W
! d$ ^& T/ {5 `* v* tEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 b( _+ ]* C& _- |* k% M3 C1 v
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 4 L1 f6 f/ e' @; P+ ]to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years # V+ M4 ?) T. M! Iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba # h4 O( p f/ g q0 r. [" kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to * V: W' x, V: T/ b- Qover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There : Y) t6 G4 x7 j: tseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 0 b' v4 A: C$ W& J! b1 Z; D7 |0 s6 [mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 d1 w4 @$ c* t; d$ [, O1 m2 u& ^
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some ( b" c+ N) R0 v3 j7 ^5 I% `/ ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 X+ e3 G" C- H- u
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no( K' r' w" [* E1 @7 b
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 4 r1 v: P+ V, x3 o6 Isupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' c6 w- h2 G+ D/ k# Z/ i: q' m1 D
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 0 { d7 ~& ?% i! Q5 Ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 \ C6 h u+ J
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high8 l' ^% w' o9 T8 r" }) i! P# c
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: \2 M. H- O# j0 D" A/ m2 R8 L
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" b* W' s0 e! U! U f
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, r R& b3 ~ D& B
charge the fee defined by the state.$ ]6 C! r( S+ g6 Y4 _2 `
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 K* ~" i2 {5 \' k
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* ]9 ^4 v% d' u8 t+ v$ e
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big % G$ _6 o8 y% M6 ^! Gtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel + L! _' Y% S6 C/ Rseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the : b L O3 S( s4 Nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ' y- R( K( {5 s, F0 @schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 |& H% K, D4 U
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 2 p8 W8 q- I) e1 |+ [trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 o! q6 P) S4 t5 d2 r8 D
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that % x2 Z" J+ i* F$ J- e, gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 8 E$ |8 z8 a+ P- U8 ~4 T$ Jto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' \2 q0 P$ O) I) ~: ]! T# ]+ w) F8 @
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 y; P" C) t; Q t, u
are spaces.$ _5 k. T3 K8 x
* e5 R2 P9 A4 JThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 2 G- `* A& n4 |to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they ; q+ E3 `1 D, Y7 x9 f; Q3 down a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 7 B+ y0 `3 d; d9 e/ e: g, i5 R! u40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 h6 a7 I9 c6 K8 n, V
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 \3 g i( z7 L2 ?) B
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 2 W9 N$ ]2 P5 f( A/ ]7 dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 4 F7 |$ u5 F4 A8 w/ q4 C- @car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 0 ^) G" L+ r& `9 A. \" j0 o- {) pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 1 l& S9 z% v6 s& H% C' \ 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 {8 F1 j* F( n9 g
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all) a7 J* l6 I8 t7 i
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very" }. M8 P/ A& s8 j0 Y0 |
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 9 h' h2 ]8 F$ D$ q+ ^) h4 X( Zrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day & g" p- u- z% R( h; m0 Fsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of" ^4 x8 X, k& j' G4 D
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms4 ^1 z+ s5 m; D- w* E
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the ! U, A. I! g1 j5 D1 s: dtourist area. 4 n* a( F) i" \6 q& E" N6 Y9 k7 O3 P$ l& I( c7 O% |1 |8 c! ]; w
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's' ^1 S3 \1 W" _7 K
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ' w* i5 Q- `* |( y4 c& j V& W0 T+ uCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were/ k9 Y* q2 e; l/ x4 F" y' h! d8 H
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps |5 l1 l2 F$ K' Oless leader-religious.& v. Q* a- J6 ^, o5 b
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba9 O# x; z+ n4 A
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 0 R, |# H$ d+ Vblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US& y# M7 I/ I, L! m
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). ! {8 O! _! d" G! ?+ ] b" Q! r9 O. c( }8 SWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the , A! }! k" S, y* U) x' q* oparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not & ?& w3 v& K8 \8 Tthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 % M% h% `7 S* }; L+ P! j& {convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ( Z2 @. c7 h# @2 U! @+ O0 ~6 xforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars" ^; i6 a) ]# u" m* Y/ _0 S
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we ; L+ B3 y7 t7 ?; mprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the0 m) B! V1 F+ v, }5 i
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.7 J# F5 y) G& b
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local ) }% C6 ^& D$ n7 z$ ^% u8 nor visitors.+ \1 s7 g/ r3 q$ B) b8 W* \
% v, V3 u4 ^) H" k, G1 o-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
