We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very * j. s) K8 B& m& U" H* L u& Linteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we/ B; f& \; R$ B( W
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 7 T4 r8 R) i+ U6 L {( J& X1 b5 v' [; P' n" q% V8 h
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,, y. i; O4 D$ e: V
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in3 T! O) x) x2 V( y
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as - h7 A/ U2 F L# V# npossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort4 M' w) w" e* T G7 g
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep( m1 k* W) Y2 m z* q( y( l$ f
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ( G* t# A9 X$ t" X; U2 ?' L) w% jlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 7 n9 t3 f: F) ^( w4 W j+ N0 k* a) rwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there." _4 t3 H4 x# F5 _' y) r& Q1 Z% j
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but5 P+ j' d8 ~, z2 {/ I" X
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not : p# U M( d7 J5 Yexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our- ]* h. a1 m+ ~0 D& J
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through1 @. m' u6 O* c5 E7 m0 I3 c, B( [
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.7 F" ^$ r2 {1 z1 W4 }
" w1 K9 N9 Y4 sThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, , t1 J8 e' B7 y. h. c+ clow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool3 d3 A- C3 E I f2 U
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 4 K( q# B H2 M+ mof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the/ H2 _, _1 ^" H3 S b
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from3 }4 c0 K' M/ `6 B6 h; ^
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 4 b0 @) J* [: P! M ]) TCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with U' J2 I, X+ T: l9 B0 g4 C
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.0 B/ F5 q1 F4 H+ {
8 |: k4 `! _2 R2 A! l: s
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are- R) q3 i8 h1 ]1 i
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made # V0 F4 D' w/ W! n" B! @# |& c( m5 Jfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba" S D. `: D5 \' K
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having & I2 p' k6 g. \# t$ y) O* Na staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China# N/ D+ O) n2 S5 d: j' t
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 ; p0 d; g5 e3 z2 ~4 H: rstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 8 I- R7 i6 X0 S$ G5 p2 Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, * m1 _* T& ]& N( o& g6 A) v0 @"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 P I/ G/ [5 \8 X
answers to our pointed questions. ) O! i/ u+ C4 n8 z! E5 X J& C2 Y! r) R; d, A7 J
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 1 u4 {1 J! y4 N7 m0 D45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand : C: k. \* e0 Cout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is) X1 ^1 E: F' q/ x/ L, g
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ) \0 \8 K" Z1 u4 a6 G: _% ?' l s. `to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 1 `$ ~) W! c& R8 e5 ]* nmedical schools.7 D& t, N$ u5 z! v; V9 z
$ ?6 a' G, _$ q' zEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 1 C3 m' b5 u' T2 b" Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants f/ m1 t4 J- P0 m: p& G5 l8 Hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years + W& P- }7 Q' \/ ^; ~4 K6 R# e4 yassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba . {( g5 ~2 ~0 Fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 U8 j4 S/ W$ {5 I1 @
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There + Z) N K( j# q+ F4 Z" y& z4 Nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ' i6 Z1 t, j+ w4 h! Emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 g" z+ j! H3 j+ P( `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 s; Y0 t$ |! z0 Q
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. : @7 W% n" c. }. [ [0 f( X: Q7 G3 Z0 }) y
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no : W. Q/ w: O- rprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and ; b9 `) X2 i. z0 {8 F! p# gsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" m2 U( h" T9 M
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good " @# E% T/ N- O# X, N$ Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 ]5 d$ d- `! P L( Z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 2 J$ v* B7 Z! R2 `" v/ rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% k+ s3 x8 ^' L. U( I- U! a2 h- c3 n
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When ! w& L, c, g. Ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 A: d5 j! ?5 t3 u6 U \
charge the fee defined by the state. " b9 {( u2 {3 A4 P/ |+ u: e0 N / Y4 f& L$ k) D) V" C) [There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get + D5 f/ {/ V' m1 M! [% a5 j Zon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 7 ?! a/ }! q, r. o; ?) Eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ( W4 \$ b( @/ ?truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel + h, t& O0 z" d3 V: B: Sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ k& F7 ?& s& ?* u% ]
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 [% f$ k- N) r3 d' f& E# O
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 8 P: I: L3 ~2 k* Z8 cyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people- O7 G* b5 A! y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 9 o- D0 C f8 p0 m9 Mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 9 p. Q1 F( ^6 a e% xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: f' c1 A( f9 Y" C2 |1 `. n0 }
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or # X$ w. f- R+ _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there " l$ e5 P, b9 m2 Q9 u) `& sare spaces. 0 a1 R c" G2 Y 0 ~- p7 p4 Z. ]0 Y/ vThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi& f7 G$ z1 C' J+ F
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ L' Z' v) E0 w2 w- L
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the9 D4 x/ l7 C2 t+ _. o9 j
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 4 t/ e: n- e% P% t* P/ pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 6 W" w1 Z; m& I' Gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few ) [& p3 _7 _2 v# d7 s; k2 e5 M3 unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of! p) c# y L8 u+ j
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ( D: m( g: F+ ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 1 I$ \& a( t# b, i; ^; X: k 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 z& _5 y( S& K! {3 v i P" mspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all: k+ V1 H! W6 j, ]+ w6 d
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very. h9 z: l/ {$ ]: x9 P: w
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep # Q- S' O6 u. Lrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day `; e* I( e1 i1 l: I/ ~supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of0 u7 Y+ c$ R O" p
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 3 r8 Z: [: _1 K8 T* Z7 Ahave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 7 ^. D5 \& E$ H) `/ M) Qtourist area.' J: W- U$ P7 C: R0 H) x
2 z8 P2 n' r {0 z( IOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's* F. S! o5 u0 x6 t( y$ b
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).3 F; E$ J. z9 s/ t' ~% {/ E3 f
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were - u7 ~; M8 s" w3 X5 aeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps - X, \& y. r6 [/ B* k% ^+ I) uless leader-religious.! x4 p& [- Q0 {& c' |
& E, W" n& Y% J! A$ D
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba $ S: e2 ~5 B; Y0 ugovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big " y7 R9 a9 X; x8 Q: |! p7 fblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ) P* i: r. E# k* F; {embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).1 r6 b9 P$ {) F7 d" U( w7 M
" t$ {3 C( y, P# C7 p: q1 kWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the - W5 B7 t1 k1 n" V4 f8 ~parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not " O- P4 D0 m% f! m+ c Ithe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $14 S3 A9 p( B3 K/ H7 y1 [
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ! m; I0 d; O% O+ H2 H' X. {foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars # _% Y6 m8 O( S$ v( K. Z8 a: u0 o(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we& p0 u; X/ u$ ?5 i- k
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 3 ~0 [( x0 n8 `% t5 @* nreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.8 j% w( U3 C! b9 k* F
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local& [8 d' t% e9 f; M1 o
or visitors. * w* y1 g: U) |" P4 Q % P5 k9 B% ?3 t( n% H. e3 h-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
