We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very1 Q+ z5 a3 b) ^- X* b8 T3 D
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 3 L. d; F3 N) M8 A& I, l1 Ewanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.0 M( s2 o, k5 O/ [% I z
& {9 q6 m9 A' J* TIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 1 }3 {- B9 g# M \1 K% e1 b% k30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in. f: [/ ?" x# x: u+ E% V
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as + t4 V. o% B0 f- n, Epossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort# E1 T& o# w/ }" O8 e2 q5 Z" g C
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep* @ U" n7 i. n
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the. Y5 }6 n( T" D0 T* J
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,* J2 D5 ?' F; ^. A4 H$ W
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 7 V: l# g o/ d People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but * U9 X6 F3 X- Y5 i3 W/ h, l) Mnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not7 {' B( i0 N" n) }) G( o# o
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our % M& J2 h' j" B3 z+ Mflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through1 \; p7 J3 P) e
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. / `9 O3 I) b) K9 ]: T/ e) | 0 t3 `% B8 q- H# f* ?, LThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,8 A5 _1 U! K) b
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool! s3 B+ L% ^: q
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top # U1 z' v# e/ N2 w" g2 ~! b* bof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ) m8 J1 q# F) h9 U3 ?( T2 estars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 5 \8 }/ \6 X9 V- G+ |49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes6 y( U! h$ d! r& ~: [
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with - }" v; W1 t2 o3 v0 gfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ) r* _2 _9 W+ u/ \6 \0 w5 ?5 d; y% \+ I0 M" L
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are ' M" F6 j4 H+ f2 Bjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made" Q+ i: V& a$ ? e
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba9 c7 e- _2 O: n+ @% L$ u
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having " B; f/ K# N* t% J' u1 Ta staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China$ h: W# A- o1 O8 [. s9 x4 E
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, living9 z, p) |5 o% I8 D, q, _ O
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 4 K# x- x, Q; g5 _1 oon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,5 K. k6 ^8 r6 a. B% i( c; C
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give # w3 @0 y6 I2 N( |6 p/ e' xanswers to our pointed questions. 8 R! I# d( t7 ^% I+ ^+ g5 [4 o3 A+ M o! i2 Y
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 8 a( Z. o. k9 H- q45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand + y4 h( u0 M. ?4 L% n" r, Bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is - ~; r4 W$ O; t Lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( Y: E8 g- A* p2 p/ T! n+ F4 s
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' w+ i) v W6 P- v Z8 J+ q
medical schools.1 m9 o U1 H: b0 v1 X( v, g
^* W- U; F8 G' }
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the; s: ~$ e3 w5 ^6 }5 O" a
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants' P. R9 V4 P* X a+ L
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. E; g' m; h( M+ N# {( a- N
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 9 M' e, F" k5 a; x7 b, l# Dis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to & i% t; [ ]; Z$ K( L1 {over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 4 U$ A* I$ z/ q5 _/ G) S- Yseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& R" z) }' Q& R" v6 F
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 6 n1 J$ p$ h5 g- d/ W! R# ], F- [3 _shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) u( u9 H# w( Z. _
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.: j* V- y h3 _% F2 X( O
( \8 T9 y5 H, k' E/ I( T; AThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 v3 e7 | I( Q4 j
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 8 x$ Q) T7 a' y; Psupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ P9 i! U6 O$ ]' w4 R$ A6 y
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 g3 p) k1 s9 O/ V& t. z8 N
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby/ Q% P/ c0 z$ ^/ L7 e4 a
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ A3 u ^% {2 z; e' A
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. & E- i: t7 g8 M, ADivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When ! x3 l$ \8 E) e* ea lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. z2 ~, x+ m0 d7 D S6 p$ l* Z
charge the fee defined by the state. s+ L# Y4 _! x9 n5 |* w+ b
* c. Y8 w9 [$ ~1 A4 f7 S- v
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get- A& G5 {" T! Y
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type o7 E+ m( Q( f; n) m6 l
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 8 D2 V6 T, A/ [/ b8 [( etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 m' |, l1 R8 Y( R: B' ]
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# F' b( F$ z% K2 n
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on & c1 U. f2 l% f* N. ^ ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 F9 x$ B' L. F( @% r; K& m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people - D- s& J! i( Y$ c, ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 {% y4 `1 F7 o, `4 v9 _
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 1 j w% M3 v8 ? E Qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 K* c+ h0 g2 H$ |) E+ i9 g0 P" R
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or1 y, d6 U, q. ^( A6 d5 r8 m% n
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 j9 p" d: T) C7 {/ t1 Q
are spaces.( a. _ j/ n" c9 u
4 |# _$ y3 F5 r
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" I O! k- N/ g1 p0 O5 t
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 7 M, Y7 o9 L4 h3 q+ g% ~9 ?4 Wown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the : V9 M: C- Q( C. A' c( Y0 B40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! v/ ?# g1 M( E0 v$ d
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the2 U5 s( x* g/ @
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few1 G$ }9 J% \; B" O9 w: F7 c
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of % u. {! g% j6 x+ g& \$ U) X5 q8 Gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 {" f$ F [8 s. P: q
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. " v+ W- Y: d5 z 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 beautiful3 {, P8 d- G4 z0 s8 ^% {/ N9 w1 a
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 5 N" e+ p# _3 d! ]8 p. zthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 5 B* i( R. n8 J! M+ F% P0 ~0 zlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep / k! Q) X6 x0 _7 [recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day # o( G7 F: J& a. {2 i6 Lsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of' x+ g3 Y& q1 A$ L
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms @3 C: @( H5 D9 t( N& yhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 4 Y) c/ e0 d# ytourist area. 9 S3 N) G9 E/ x/ L" [, q2 x0 L( F5 M' s/ ~7 H% w5 j2 R. |
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ! I O. K& M$ Opictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).0 h5 ^: j) K# W& m& U
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were & G# t: N0 o9 ?. c1 Weverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps / I( P7 ?1 @$ r3 ?0 A3 N
less leader-religious.: k0 H% O, I8 i
# Z4 c8 o# t4 L/ jAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba7 E3 K* P9 X: I7 d4 ?8 _2 n: o
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big; L1 f0 G B; Y% z- N, B
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US( K2 r3 f8 H% `: i
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). $ V& s' M$ {7 [, o T( k7 I+ ]" v1 v2 c
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the # ~* k y0 ~: vparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not2 D8 W$ e/ i5 ^* x2 ]6 ~
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 % D: v0 W( G. j* Dconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for4 k2 f3 \" Q% V; F$ q" A
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars % H4 q/ A0 i0 g0 m0 g0 H(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we / X `; ~6 M/ hprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the/ f/ \# S1 I5 c/ n
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 9 Y% ?2 y* |/ I1 }0 u# GAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local" D7 u/ F' y* G) L
or visitors. 0 X; D6 k# G) l8 p' d4 V: v7 M' O: m9 N0 ?/ q
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
