We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very % Y+ P8 D- H5 V2 z4 z4 finteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we: |0 @$ I& X* n- R; S* \, f
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible./ Y- d2 b& V- m! @
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 8 _2 X& p6 t) s; K. u30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in ' g: t0 R! A1 l" V* r6 ia very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as + ]- k% D9 |8 }0 v7 P; zpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort; o6 X/ @; } d
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 7 X; Q. ]. B+ Z; f$ _. Obetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the2 P! U3 {! R! T' _
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,9 v7 e# b% J& z# O; H
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ' V0 J: t6 { Y5 m8 S: o People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but ; `9 @2 Y6 k4 O* ]- b7 J, W2 j$ Fnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not : S2 u6 m1 _/ R0 ?% Y: U$ q9 ]5 hexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our - F S. w& k& g* G1 I$ W uflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through8 _2 i+ C2 m& U: `+ O* L
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.$ e! e0 \5 R4 a/ Y/ o0 E: H
* C: ^; P6 w3 Q) Q0 K* p. WThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,4 ~6 ~) U. m! W8 X6 H/ |
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 6 h3 U- x) g4 }" _& j" Y" F(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top2 y) m1 _" k0 z; t% x
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the; _. c3 h: k: ~3 M0 S5 T8 ], c2 E
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ! E# u: \5 g, Q; z$ X49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 4 _; h# X0 g6 p" A1 W4 w+ V6 kCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 2 q6 g$ j" {2 B7 h, I+ ?' Gfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. : T6 J# r- Y l; f+ m - m9 G& d0 [( w, p% QThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are - g8 C6 w- D2 f. [( g( Gjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made& ]) N) V+ }; Z; o, |
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba w' t- [5 I" f4 u( ?* ntourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having % n# u+ U' L& M2 g( t: z; H9 X3 Z% Ha staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 1 n" k% L+ {7 G3 ^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 R0 ^0 F9 j. u4 V. h0 }/ l
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 3 m: |& d1 }- Y. o' hon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* X! p6 S3 P+ j% ^+ S$ s
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 3 D; Z- l( z" p2 F- D* {8 x2 Eanswers to our pointed questions.: Y+ a) i+ t Z( }7 t! _( V
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ( M$ o. f1 y; k. t6 y45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand - M7 ^4 h( D! w0 z' ^7 c/ Cout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( l* o# ~) r# W; ]8 i& m$ O
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams * s7 g/ h7 H4 u8 i1 T6 `' n" pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are ) p& C+ p# y* f# ]' @medical schools.+ D' t a: Q7 @& A
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 9 g, N* v- k9 V9 s5 E1 g: |3 bgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* P$ a) k/ `! s$ E, Q
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 7 m3 @* w( k6 a: D( n, K# z$ Lassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 0 x* ~/ k, `$ ~1 z. k5 ~! K% Kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. m: g! J5 ` ?5 L T9 {7 P
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ' g& S) M! j' Iseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and & {; L4 W1 j3 ~. J3 j' e' Cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 x5 C# H7 \8 ?9 y9 @! i/ E
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some ' `: u4 h0 v# e. u w' A) csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." r- a: r+ \+ Q% R
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ( m; |9 e# y7 {! o; k) bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and! o6 y( p, K# a, J0 w" c& B8 Y
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people ! A; E; }$ S& f M# b' thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ E! n, l# w6 `* w' s: T
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ O8 B- d& J* q2 y" L [2 R" R& m! W
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high# h7 m+ \7 {. \7 P
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' ?: {$ b" l( E4 R' x/ Y% x
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When e+ | @' x# n& s
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 f% ~. J; G1 V) S8 x
charge the fee defined by the state. 3 T: Y+ s; c/ v# S) f& t0 z2 O* K7 I# F, G
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get # R5 z Q& ]7 {: ?+ gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* n) X2 K4 Y% m, R+ Y+ k3 N
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big3 r* L* n- t/ w) @+ o Y* m9 Q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel + {9 l6 p4 Y7 B/ Pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 6 N' D' S& H1 Z% X) d8 j. sworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& Y$ n7 `5 b/ y8 L% @( F
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) W8 c D& Q: x" H# A9 a
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people' ?4 J3 p/ Z Z! Y$ p
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch) @- z2 E1 P0 a5 d2 q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% d. t- m! }- {- K1 z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 9 h8 P) q1 S8 b/ A3 r! Pto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 3 ?4 p8 G) }# f' Wbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 2 W' b/ F: q# x6 |4 ware spaces. : ~" Y& D6 g* j $ l2 ]4 x# X4 T& K. [ F3 ]There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi. g i5 j& X1 I
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they " ^4 v4 \2 Y6 A! |( m L7 L, z# P! Zown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 e( Z/ E+ c7 `; r# k, M' l4 ~; V) O
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 X) \2 n; e/ R3 Q- t. q3 \; d
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the2 W$ P0 L r% l# k+ w u' f
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' }/ o6 H3 M) m. c0 x9 J% G
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of ) Q) S" Y* q1 T% G5 O$ u8 i" r# gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" g5 o, \. W7 q, g+ O' ^5 |
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 C) F; k2 h7 e8 x* X; 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& k+ {% H7 P) ~* K; Q
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 8 O5 z6 d" D+ R" {the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very. P* P, {8 I2 O: E/ L
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep/ u9 p }& D6 z* }2 K" j6 M
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 5 L9 F* V, }: q8 F0 q. E/ Z, b3 vsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 4 \7 b g" o) p }( ?- e* E6 Pthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms6 U% p0 ?- F) Y% ~" O% R" Q, H
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the$ s9 r' y: d8 f7 ]7 w W: b9 S' z
tourist area. + v' G. ?; R; Z) } ; G! y2 t }1 X9 |One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's( t6 r7 M1 b# U- ~, r$ i; d
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).5 Y' r; r( j8 y
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were , h0 z$ L3 Z( v5 @7 I* S4 Aeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 5 @( `0 p8 x7 \4 J. R( k3 Rless leader-religious.% t% Z$ O% Z) x# G; g/ Z+ p( b [1 `
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba& s3 g4 {3 b4 |. A& m
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big & z; E1 Y- f# B4 f/ m- [4 iblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US3 r! Q4 y, e; F$ Y8 m6 d/ w
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).) o2 b: `2 |& B# ~" g$ r2 @& ~2 s
' G7 ], k5 o: u& K$ F; FWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 0 I. M9 U4 R; b; Fparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not8 m" f, E( N5 v a) G' V* i" Z
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1% W" O5 {' a: a6 J
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ' j$ l4 l8 `9 ~: F8 [( ^6 aforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars1 w& w* r0 W- t0 E/ ~
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we " i5 q9 |) y4 Z& Dprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the% B5 y+ m, A% ~0 h! ?% O4 Y+ O
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. j+ W' x4 ]* p' G& Q4 n, B
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local- V- n' _" l* F4 J
or visitors.- `+ n# e7 N: w( O* ]% @& n, `2 f
& Y9 w( ~: d: k9 f7 e-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
