We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very & V. D9 x$ \/ E* _interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we & Q0 ]- b* e) x$ f# F1 t( f# Rwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 7 E3 o" @: U4 [: \4 ]( d+ W) n4 Y" W9 @7 \% J
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, $ s' y2 |. q: A% E' N* M$ D1 ^30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 9 d* X3 A$ z$ V3 ga very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as" S! L9 S& G5 B# y. o1 e; n
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 1 S2 A3 w. C9 @# r5 ~" I3 }show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep / F9 B* o- H4 q0 k- u: O# f2 ^between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the8 s+ q6 D3 t6 r' c
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 6 _3 A% D7 h' bwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.# |& i& ?' [0 K! z' M8 u
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 3 @8 c. Z2 S3 ^. L- S& Wnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not4 Y2 m3 F+ }& H3 Y) {& }# c d4 B1 T
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our" {0 L ]' v( f5 X; }9 X) P+ [
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through* x( Y$ ] N& l( g: B( i2 r) b
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. E3 e$ s/ W' }! M6 C5 I + I% T1 K+ i/ T" ]: L8 }' QThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, + x$ l: U6 D& c; B3 H: F/ \low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool M7 F4 Q( c3 H; m" P$ j! N(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top( g: G+ W' E) y2 h5 `4 b
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the % V% b) i$ ~1 Q+ [; t% G. g& Nstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from( ?4 V* Q2 d% D' @/ `8 f9 j: g% J: x
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 0 f# W% ^4 w4 R. B$ D; A1 JCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with# e p6 ^& i6 i3 M
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. + M/ |( C4 e9 a0 W2 E1 W- X/ R, g" i. W: k# \
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are $ g4 K$ {: u$ x7 p, _% _just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made * Y+ h5 p8 Q" |" Dfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ) K; o8 J: Y( t# d) K. B( ` Ntourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having # O3 Z: {5 ~: a5 K" n$ Q$ Pa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China2 B. A( A0 _, ?6 u0 w% c i' l
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, living8 k- R# W$ A% B( \
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went g6 I1 S( F" L- D* xon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ ~* j7 {7 N" y4 j, p3 P
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give9 P4 ~7 q" r& s; b- D9 j* U
answers to our pointed questions. . J4 a& H! ]# `: N2 l+ e' e - p: X q9 e+ k$ T7 U( C' ^The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, % ]9 h, w( S: I$ w! F# X. M4 b" ~45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ' ^( h( ?& Z5 d qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is - J. c- Y# s! S% Cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams, g/ }$ x3 j7 Z X: @3 t
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 4 K# O# `" ~1 Y0 Wmedical schools. 0 \$ j) j0 q, \6 |0 r) E 4 N7 U6 n* N. R" ^5 q5 xEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the $ \, u, u4 t" U6 Jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 6 ]4 z1 H: Q @/ a( bto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years & J" u7 Y0 u2 M l: v( zassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ( `$ @; ?! |* i* z/ P% tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) u7 _+ d9 w. s# D4 Y
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 @) y( v& f2 y1 B( f0 d
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 2 a3 g0 e% Z q8 |, C3 C, ~8 qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 Z& G0 b# j8 p
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some . c1 Q$ R1 r$ a) V9 C6 L. |sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 2 Y7 T5 W" P7 T' o; q+ y: ? a/ n% \' s9 l' S, U# f7 M
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no : _9 N+ C) W8 l) P) G: Y# `private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 9 j- v# ]8 W: k8 j4 a4 ssupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; F2 t8 e. Z8 J; R Q! s! z
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 7 h6 r( z0 z: r: a1 w. C0 qthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby {9 x `" n+ U# v$ c+ {7 b
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high , S* _: a: A) [- i |0 l+ Mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.8 i% C/ v3 O1 V+ p
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ R5 I0 W( ]0 I) Z) b+ A
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only + ]$ j+ U& m3 I8 }- C$ d3 C* K( jcharge the fee defined by the state. l, @: q5 q$ F- T* i+ o6 \; E* [/ |4 }7 E& `) t5 Z
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% w% w V* Q8 l2 X
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type * J5 D$ `' H# `& o. \of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ }9 G$ h, w7 R* P
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ N2 x3 L; ]" P. B% X
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the : Y7 H0 H, {; x* ^/ Zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on # T3 z9 A% a. v" A7 M1 \schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ c" b$ P+ T0 P/ A% A: _, h2 ^8 A
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 6 I* p0 G+ z! `6 d2 y+ g$ qtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch$ \/ A- u* D7 V1 N# y3 w: p# r6 z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% p+ l c, w$ A1 \2 ^% O% ~
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ \4 ^% i& b6 J# v Q: r" `
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& ?3 e; K' Q$ k" f% x m; X
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 R; n9 {) ?! w" _$ t# x' n4 t1 ]$ Q: {
are spaces.& K% ?6 B4 K, c# U) Q' Y! a
3 [ J, e& \) \# q9 u# \. ?% dThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 0 N& b. N( [1 U$ f. I, Fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 n# F( l9 }" u2 U6 w2 C* o: z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 b6 ?& T( l5 K
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different ' l. X5 G3 t! dparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 8 r, B, q0 Q# q! ^* t f. hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& j. r1 [) M) b% @/ Z c$ D7 d
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of % D6 m8 p) _; b* c- a: _# s& @; x5 Ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it . l4 @) f+ i, u& F- w7 wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. - {9 |; c A/ 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 ! q1 B6 ^1 e( D5 w) kspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all + u. M, h. P; X# X5 ~" c [% Ithe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very/ [! I2 p9 L: R/ T! M4 J
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep # l- C3 d* x9 m9 trecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day& L4 e+ k3 L' | R5 u
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of3 `% b. y' |% h% S. m7 D
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 8 }( k" Q6 s( S3 A2 ?5 Ehave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the" Z2 F& \+ }2 k
tourist area. 4 Z- K3 f7 _8 m% K5 f h8 p0 O, B6 J3 |) Z
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 0 ^% x1 n1 v" g5 Zpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).; Y* m0 K3 n* D% b" B; Y
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were& Y" G( n3 g% q2 p& D" n3 @
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ( p; V/ b/ X- ], G vless leader-religious. 9 G% |- U t; p( c6 j / h3 ]1 F* T( L( j, aAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba , z& `4 B. c0 |government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big2 K4 C9 _; d5 w6 `0 l7 S
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US3 J4 ~! k; I, K" F& X. {: s
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 6 K% ^% N0 ~" }0 c, o6 g/ B1 d) Y3 z% Q
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the9 l0 p; w2 z( R* x
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 0 P, u: R6 H7 A# Tthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1) p5 b- b7 @* Z" Q& }7 @
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for6 z5 u5 G% n$ l5 [
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars5 B2 R Q5 V% ?; d2 y+ G; w5 k( h9 B
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 2 ^7 p2 G5 Z$ ?4 vprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the . B4 y+ \8 y% J B: o& Yreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. ) D) e1 Z* D) X1 O9 u/ W" l! ], \And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 4 [/ [4 C1 k6 C3 \$ a+ v6 Qor visitors.- m7 l7 b U5 b9 b9 V
9 u- y$ b( C" U* ~-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
