We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very; V# C2 S6 _* a: f6 X. D
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we G/ [1 Z) R5 O" R4 V4 i' }( o5 m( R
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.& g7 h- U. b; T6 I6 d( w
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, ' r2 B' H( \. F- O5 W# A' g2 y30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 5 g/ O$ w" h' Y$ \a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as # Q! k2 P6 a4 T! g, k4 Bpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort( @: P, W0 z% ^% Z/ @# d! D _! K9 `
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ! M/ ?2 P* m5 Y: G Ebetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ) U" T: V% k% h7 B. k {lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,7 W" }7 P$ d) X
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 9 g" d9 h$ Q C$ t# X+ k; M* M. b People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but/ q. P4 `- k2 O4 ]" X9 x
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not/ W Y+ Z; d% L. C
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our/ f( v! ~$ U6 ?$ l; i+ K
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through7 Y ~8 J7 T! m* b3 O8 C/ K3 Q ~1 Y4 Z
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. - b p6 u# [( Z* k' A % q) O$ W* v' P- _. l9 DThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, " E, z0 p, V+ m) ^2 V/ Zlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool : T) B" \( i6 {( T* _6 b2 x3 ^(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top / z! S. {1 I% I" Cof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the . ~+ s( T; Q- O, l. @stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from8 h( V6 T% ]5 C, D
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes! o- [) A! u3 ^7 j8 C' J f1 n
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with v0 R: T7 f M; U3 L* L2 ]5 M
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.) d* R) R7 N O+ m" b" M* I
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are4 Q4 n2 {/ u5 S0 r& k
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made" M+ x( m+ i& k H3 `% F0 h
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba & a* D# H" j. z7 P( G! l9 Utourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having , h: Z2 U; A% L3 va staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ) G1 X7 R" x; t2 ?- }' }- jdaily 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, living0 B7 X5 g6 B" l" L( a2 _" o
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ( z- k6 q% ^; ^1 w5 _4 C6 |+ k9 l% Con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ i8 t" B- i5 a: a5 J
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give - O' O3 K: m! H) h w: @" |answers to our pointed questions.* g% u) n7 m5 b
6 ]# d' p# Q, \( \: WThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( \- V; m( \; h+ x; w3 @2 T
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! A* c# q9 N7 z8 x
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 Y7 u( B6 V" w( v, {
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams # G) A. v6 H5 }0 n- q e; D! W% Y4 xto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" M% Q7 S- j! Y. Z
medical schools. * A* J' J; q) `, R1 } & i/ C/ e* K7 _ VEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' _+ v# j0 _" b) E
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ \5 @' o9 O4 |
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ) F: q5 g) b4 b- P: s* ?# f: Massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( z, ?9 S+ _( {+ t) H+ c
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to + V4 }" z! {; G! c* Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ @1 l5 v9 V: j4 D) } e
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and & f8 L8 t {9 i" w4 B$ cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" R7 H6 h f H" [6 K8 V; X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 x% q7 I" m) a. K
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ! a' n% M: p9 l5 Q, q) Z2 v( W. c0 o; O7 v; }/ Z# B4 m6 E1 A6 u- {
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no - z2 G( d/ {: i$ X" I. eprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. T# k: w9 E# s- Y Q" @+ ^
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" z/ R+ i* ^/ j3 G+ N f% }! I
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good! v; l9 x9 C }! u
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby : B6 _6 \. y% h7 d7 P" Z5 x: H4 d: Ositting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% Q+ O, K+ Q- q% V# H0 L
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 3 G( e' W9 d1 a" k! {$ LDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 f( t, N0 C3 ?* P2 q0 G* b+ p2 O7 M: J
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ; U j8 Z3 ^8 x1 p3 Tcharge the fee defined by the state.# h4 z! @5 I2 r0 y5 k
' ]9 A3 G$ C" j& I7 Z" y+ UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get( N2 D( C( M$ ^ r: k. ]
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# \7 ]- i$ [/ y2 r
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 y- B8 |% H1 I
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 y3 ]& F. B& X, |2 P j# s
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ( M( r$ w8 n( g! jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 2 D7 O+ F: R, ~- d% {+ z. @9 a) wschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 s5 O0 f; `: T1 R' `9 c7 z Z- W- p0 j
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people0 O6 f$ T% ]( p
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch - B+ ^8 t* } a* |/ h! v" Jhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that ; u$ x: A7 f2 W' Gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 2 J# ?5 @3 [- Qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or : s& N' o' k6 m* G& W- N. q; [buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there , U+ E: a, n2 G$ J. s' ]! oare spaces. 6 k/ L8 H* |) j 6 \! I5 O0 X7 X0 B# _There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ o, P, E. M5 g: o
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they / J* ^+ R# T4 w- y3 Vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the * _( q+ N7 w: t- m8 K; L% I0 Y40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different ; J! D9 q: s8 q5 V. i* nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the* ~2 U+ C/ }4 q ^$ Z6 p) {
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few , X7 d7 a, N: d) r5 onice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ m$ R4 }* a4 ^: b8 M4 j( p
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& I( y" k9 y* F: x# _
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 ?9 m) M6 S1 J% b( i
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+ g% `+ @8 u3 ^3 E5 s
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all # l( m J( x" D0 h" k3 k' ^7 |the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very- U0 p/ k+ l2 \. ~% |' m/ s, n
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep % i: w7 Z( y9 `4 o- urecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day* V. L& ]$ D4 m6 F
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of o0 O' x# S7 m: i& P+ ^them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms + f, \1 I7 e9 q5 m; w- }have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 7 o" o4 h* ?; N+ Rtourist area. 9 j/ M9 H0 L8 [6 s; ? - m4 m7 k2 O! B4 z+ oOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's % ]+ v* l; y9 Spictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 8 ?1 |* P8 p5 ?1 X% {# HCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were7 e" I2 R/ P8 W+ i2 k
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps # m5 o& J1 z( w4 tless leader-religious. . f* j* J" i! P: n! A7 T 4 O1 s7 R$ I& z5 `3 N+ R: b b7 C; J2 DAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba7 _9 ?; J0 o2 r- B) X0 @3 G1 i
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big # h6 u9 T4 e3 d3 [" M4 iblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ' Y, w% r% a5 T. |8 \9 d$ a3 L. ^embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).1 X1 p# J6 t' @$ l" G( T
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the : B& V/ a; a7 E" ~# k# Eparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not $ I/ f' t7 o+ s; O3 q2 ?the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $18 F; v& b' I# H5 U' H
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for( Y' D; G! t4 D$ p% W
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars & m3 ^* N) d d% R# H0 I(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we* n9 O5 g( y3 ~
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the / P: f3 @8 G) K( w3 lreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. ' q, @$ ^! B. A; @) H2 b1 TAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 2 a- {% \$ [$ [4 l) n/ Ior visitors.3 @9 B" z* `! |9 j( h, N% t
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-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
