We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ( b8 t# @% L; _% A5 f/ Linteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we. m7 m; Z8 U% r9 P
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. . X* [% b. k- T0 g9 E! \ . l6 O5 g0 }& O# R+ Y) iIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, : Q9 R* `( j- `& k" c7 a# L30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in$ y, w2 {2 u% w, M. T4 G8 s
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as, R) O' `0 B6 V A" u, |! R3 b4 |& C+ M
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort8 J$ u* |# ~. F7 T4 y4 v+ ?, g% c
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep8 q, m( F3 c. R1 j0 E9 Y; z9 b
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the3 C; o: n0 D9 j# _+ E) w
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,* \& _- |9 |( _: j
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. - t% J) D) i7 \+ B People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but; N5 v2 A8 x6 y# P$ L5 a$ D
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not ; s9 d( u0 J5 B. W5 [exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our9 ^6 h3 a% C }
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through% [4 \- q7 D$ {2 g# f
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.4 J7 k8 r5 F& r: T% A9 Z
; V% k' D L$ |" D0 G# yThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, $ h* F% f$ x" tlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool / J5 D3 G4 \2 T# o+ y7 T: F: Z E(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top. B' f1 s! V8 W
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the- M3 v( T p0 y( U+ q
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from; r7 A! b( I) p* O" `, b& f' j7 J' d
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes6 N1 ~- `, g3 L9 ~ ?* `, L: \
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with : n: {& S- S% T4 I" Kfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.8 o$ g0 S0 I6 K# _5 h
; ?& o, S, G; p5 D/ h
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 2 m9 s$ e) }) x5 x6 n+ }just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made4 _; l- N( b2 m2 y) t
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba4 n, E% o3 `+ ^) K
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having A2 F# c4 ^: H. v% ~
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ( R6 _% { U2 J8 T0 c0 g* Ndaily 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 d, {# ]; z3 _7 }6 t. ]' [
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 1 [- `9 n7 P% x. V; _, oon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( ^& x4 G1 x0 Q+ I
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 1 ~. R' Y( C- K& ^answers to our pointed questions. ! s7 g; I8 ]' E' [5 z: q( Z3 i5 S: L4 ]$ o4 Y0 Y! p
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) k% k* z, G2 v( ^5 B
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( \& ~5 |; Z" E. R& T& u
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 3 V) o& C- x* Vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams G, s4 \. ^9 Y" G1 \
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" m5 y+ e _- H/ T. Z) H7 G- Z
medical schools. , U7 ~" A6 ^- Y0 G; h 8 ]! O5 Y9 ]' a, C1 W. k" oEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( @0 i1 U- T o; F! R2 l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants , f' b- U, m* V+ c$ L) ^" ~! t8 hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years7 M& d- C6 `; e& ` e
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% V- R# c6 J! P/ `6 B! _
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to & M `! k% \' iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ; |) N2 P; X5 j& E: V5 L4 Hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ! s8 k# }; \4 y1 i! `mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 H* r+ x7 A0 d. a4 {$ C+ S$ [
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) _& m- D. ]0 |, F7 E
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. % E: _+ K F' C$ z, g1 Z0 a7 Q ! S) N) [4 @6 i) l0 U* ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no - \9 t2 x; k4 m7 d* E; o5 Jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 8 S: m _3 g# y1 Zsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 9 i6 q- O) u0 ]6 B5 Lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good ' W! ] p4 T+ s# d( S3 Kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby. h3 `1 y' N4 n7 S+ ]
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 6 {1 j1 D' i5 O W2 t8 ddivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. - s, E7 y/ n: bDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 0 N; K, q, e/ G$ i8 r/ r$ wa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only , `, H- S0 c/ |% T3 z, K* acharge the fee defined by the state. 5 j o( \; u& a4 |) p. c0 O7 m" g: G$ A
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 } W2 G" s7 s% P5 ~# A1 o
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; v4 \0 R, O; T) b& Q0 v
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big b3 R7 y' x* Y( Xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 d7 d2 Q G1 G7 z
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 q3 v% u5 t8 a5 v
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; C7 P/ |3 l% Z5 G! ]% n" u
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 {6 W* X( z6 Q; Z& E) [
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people X% N/ S1 C" `" s5 S' z! Q
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch ) h& k# j- @( L+ l* b8 G" J ?1 {hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 8 q4 M! {: O e+ C$ Rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 k/ T0 L" h, X' w: U' G& Q j6 e. n
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or ( I2 f* j' u+ Q# E5 H0 O4 Ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 9 V* v3 f/ X' {% H3 qare spaces. ; M! x, q W) ?0 \4 y# D+ V; j0 b * h8 y. |: r5 s( @# w& h+ OThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi / K4 m [9 B& r: y! f& I: P" Nto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 E2 K0 d& l0 a: S& p) \
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the ( i0 x% ~$ b% V' n3 r* l40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different, G7 D: Q1 W# A/ ^8 _8 A# Z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the & E. l4 I. @2 t$ f# |! o$ I6 Abest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few A' y u9 s! B% Gnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( v' x7 `' o2 @4 m' y* {
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it , ?; }) D7 r4 _is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 {5 }7 H* ?* x
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 A! u; P( Q9 f, p$ y' ]% H* x7 nspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all. M, }4 S- E! e; a; G; A* Y* _; C
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very5 U, n4 _5 `' v P) W" O0 K; r1 U
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep% N/ K& ~) D3 F, T0 `
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day : _6 I& c; r/ Z3 R+ ~+ z% x1 Xsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of ( j# w) H: N2 m/ B& T$ X; t! N* kthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms" F2 o# ?* Y% m( E' X1 z$ w5 D
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 8 N* i: T) m8 ]' v% d) Ztourist area.& e, b* r0 B+ H. h/ P" X
6 A0 e, ]) ~& D2 i. qOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's4 p! v9 A0 o6 O* L% S+ `! W& |
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). " I% a T% n" ?, K" l3 ZCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 8 C* Q! b% q$ h8 {7 k* Jeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 8 B5 c. V! {0 f3 lless leader-religious.7 F4 O% H7 ]! z% q0 }5 c
+ {; y. u& P: p9 n
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba3 I/ j G8 r Q5 t) C8 [
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big + s; E2 b5 I& R1 h( _" hblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US0 W3 J1 ?( d/ Q' S' K
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 8 p2 a6 Z) S& Y0 y 9 s2 }6 r- l4 M' A9 j$ e' bWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ! Q' S: B. s$ b2 Eparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not) ?: v+ s/ [7 I7 p$ ~- F
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1: ?; U l: ^( I$ x2 k
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for3 W. G9 k" p; B9 f& r+ g
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars0 g1 @4 i, p# ^" a; |" `2 m. p
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we3 f2 L' L! `, g" F) ?3 h. i' W
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 6 X6 y0 P1 [, [1 Y, [real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.8 D( k- ?, u0 j n
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local+ E9 q# e7 n _& v- Q; P5 a
or visitors. - ?" J1 W8 E! j# e8 e% d1 `' n! e: C. S6 A, I/ r! L
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
