We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ) o5 L9 H( _" e% V0 i% F7 jinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we$ q9 c7 s! z; n: U9 k( d
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 1 E9 [! o0 Y1 v5 G( ^ 2 S6 N' M6 c; c( L0 G4 q# oIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, $ K8 N& {( W; X30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in4 t, h9 w( G0 Y2 i" p9 L/ U {4 W3 J0 f
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as ! i5 w" @6 P+ b( p" B3 Ypossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort- ~2 L" Z% N' H
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep0 |) |3 n/ C( I6 Z$ o; ^
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the! ^) o% E7 x7 s: V
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, + D7 X: v+ v0 }8 P) Q5 v8 {. jwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.7 L6 `; A2 p( M0 D
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 3 \) t* n6 x" }/ ~( q6 [names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not' ~* V: @4 }1 m! V; H: X7 I; u" V
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our4 G4 ~& u: c( O. E! t
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 3 z6 A) ?; W3 u/ u3 N+ va roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 2 q/ }5 K9 y! r4 T5 d4 k! I5 S* W* o* O9 q
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day," L7 ~/ n2 r) |, D* x7 _ u9 d
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool % f t3 C0 d c(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top4 L% A5 G9 z j
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the F$ H+ I% o9 f7 V3 N r( l: C* istars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from$ p( s0 _$ ^" _4 [7 |3 X, h/ r
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 1 k- E3 R: ?5 v2 `Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with ) Q# m1 o# B# R4 |6 H7 c. gfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.9 l: `* W f" L; u9 s
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are& m$ t) k1 {( _9 ?' d1 t( a
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made6 Y6 `1 c( z3 c( R+ A: E( r
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba * R; t5 f' }5 O1 K1 jtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having' [2 C* v7 d$ T9 ^+ f+ ~
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China" X5 l4 D9 k/ [# ]
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 j, S0 }5 J6 n+ \7 R, zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) Z0 `) J U8 J% d
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, / n; v# b/ ^( M* Q& k! [& _/ t6 m4 v) g"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give , _3 \; x$ ?; ]answers to our pointed questions. 8 [" f& C: l' A3 ] / ^- S- ]! V L5 a( G$ UThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 ?. ]) g3 T& k- Z5 h8 t
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand2 ~2 o+ ^$ T# o$ n4 f3 ?
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is z! r, L1 w O' v" b/ wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 A% h, ^. [/ V" j2 P" S
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 9 D' _# J% P0 x! L0 R. [- lmedical schools. 9 R1 Y9 P9 p: M1 C& Q5 Q( G1 Z3 V7 f7 s, S2 q1 C" I. V
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ Q( |' P4 [( L1 o8 r1 r \
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 5 e* @2 G8 r3 Wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years& C3 Q% G4 e# h. n: p' |
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba. I8 z. } R" @: e& _% P# s
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 9 z+ X% a4 u6 Tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ( a2 N1 n% ]! b( tseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 l! X6 ~' d9 T6 t3 k
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ' J. P" K9 L/ bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some- G( j+ X5 r3 d" u" f
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 q9 E$ ]! y1 z( g
( s+ a$ e. m5 E; j
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no % R3 n/ A( Y8 I: B) w7 t$ Cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 8 l8 O; T5 R# @1 _: b; Msupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 C5 Y7 @7 @/ B; ~
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good. e! y2 ~) I1 P: v
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby& e2 V! N2 L Q0 z8 }
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" K9 \6 C# t* z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. / z0 o6 R: N% \5 E9 S! ]& F4 \% _5 YDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When R0 U2 {) F5 E
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 u: H" ]# b; K, J: ]& ]
charge the fee defined by the state.! F. r' h8 H! h
" z8 }' ~* A2 I P3 f: u7 KThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get & D; d! P. f7 N, L6 V. Q7 n* mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ h7 F* g: ]6 C2 d3 H( r2 b/ w
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 ?) \0 p' p4 v6 O
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 }7 c3 p7 {; J, Q _# p+ {2 L
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% d8 ]& W' W. J0 G8 z4 E
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! o3 n n: b4 s' O! m
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( D- l+ v, Q5 K& n
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ' a7 a5 {) C% L' L" y( r- Mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch) O! n( _9 V# }- V/ M M; t7 ?# b
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that $ ~9 N) Y- K: v/ H, C! |people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 I" ]& I9 {$ s8 t# J
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* j. k5 u% T# D' a! P: {/ _
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 0 \! g: n6 B" B/ z$ Care spaces. . }. m; F$ J5 k$ y4 t 5 U$ s# c8 G$ c6 d- b, Q& RThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: j# ?5 O/ [6 E; s( q7 _8 Z9 w
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they $ N1 A/ o- S9 W# Z, vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 c, c5 N. s' w8 N! N, _9 {* P# \5 h
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different & i& q( q' N! l0 s$ h: z2 Q: Yparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the % D4 r" i x8 L8 y1 Mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) q6 x# v# P5 V2 y+ t, {% ~+ D
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 1 E/ b: |9 |& }car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ( M! H+ y: A1 C6 ]is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., w5 o) b; M" Z7 _9 r4 l
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; e1 m6 k- i" Y1 U, |
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ' o" F% p9 Y* s* L6 Y1 K# h& Dthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very/ ~ q8 z& F1 `, X# s8 ]' {/ y5 b4 m
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep2 |& R0 V& G- }( l1 @
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 8 a6 ~1 p; }4 N$ r. R! @" isupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of c8 l, H7 W; ]0 v* }2 e9 Ithem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms ; }4 T! v- W% \9 A3 |( Z7 ?; Rhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 0 `6 ~! t- w6 p2 [- F8 o5 otourist area.1 u. ?! p' @+ ~! a% t: j( N! a' e: S
& h1 {/ K; x: L$ i
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's # j U: s3 U6 e/ }9 K& `pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).' l! o+ x o4 t* _
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were6 r! J- l1 `& t) i
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 5 R4 o! p1 l# ^5 i) {3 C
less leader-religious. ( m) u! U, i( B \) ?/ n" O$ _ B 0 p; c9 S' V. ~4 p% HAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 3 Y# H( Q+ k- P, fgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big( }+ I* r) d5 f8 c7 o
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US - e' \# ?% }0 {# rembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).& ?3 K8 ] w9 e" q8 V
, j" |. k9 y; r* c% f
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 7 t$ @/ z4 F5 B/ w* I qparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not) d; {( ]( l# R, @
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1' @1 T' M1 m$ j* K: L' a
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for9 M. y- k' F+ _3 G
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars) c) F4 H9 V3 D$ l/ a6 c& S! {
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we / ?: G7 e3 X# [- R9 l) y! R: ]probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 8 |. T) P& U& {: A3 L' creal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.7 u0 C: Z/ [. n8 X d
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local, |( H" h' k$ l5 O8 j2 B/ [$ l
or visitors. $ s: |& _1 g/ k : I8 e7 u0 Q9 @0 @3 W4 Y' S3 m-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
