We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very * z$ o; P4 }1 E+ G: Ginteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we, u+ i# a. A9 d) }
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. & o) x2 q# H( I+ C7 q: {- K& X$ N3 ^2 U: k. f( k
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, # o# ?' T# e. v30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 0 r0 N4 S1 P: ~* [# I' Za very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as) K4 O, M; Q. z" p
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort: o3 F4 ~) x3 d# r& |- `
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep; \* Q+ C! q! A# i# _2 c: Z2 i
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the # o2 E5 k/ q$ S( {# x3 vlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, - j/ H- m5 ^" w/ c5 Ywith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. g6 \) K7 Y% j
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but$ S3 o a8 ~+ p1 |4 m9 |, N
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 7 Q' s6 N2 K3 P6 k$ m. aexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our % ^ ~9 z, y8 C9 q1 A# q jflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through $ y, ]$ q& O3 N" V% ]a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.3 x8 X l' b2 {; E
; q9 E3 g) u3 X; V: \The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,: w. t6 D' x& l# |) W7 z1 w. u0 s" [3 x
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool% X- u& Y0 k8 K% d- I* J" H
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ( d! c$ }9 K! v* x mof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the" e) o% f3 u. M1 R: S1 k- a
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from0 l0 }9 M& Z& B
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes- {* x$ {. _# g
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 7 h0 H& P+ |" ]- e: |: l8 G9 _3 mfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada." \" U* u. C+ a
: `4 A% ]( c+ f. mThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are8 G7 M& C; {9 T/ R( e( r
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made- [9 P: S" J0 ^1 @5 z
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba * Y. R; i) k. gtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ! r* A; J% I0 Da staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 1 C9 ]2 }- |- h' Sdaily 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( {) `$ [# T' H9 U s5 Q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ) A! T6 y% S& n* }on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 l) V6 D& I' X. [
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give2 l# @0 ^0 \2 Y8 s$ b+ }
answers to our pointed questions. / `% u8 ~: R# j7 t [7 k$ w9 f2 Z7 n- r
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, + t" s& ]5 M3 v2 g, h: n45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 0 B# f0 L( T! o3 I! W( Tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is, K. C" c5 l8 H( Y( i- v" f
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams $ H; n$ n$ m9 a/ z2 M4 sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 J5 l$ [( ]7 Y) e8 g5 v& X
medical schools. * Z2 v, x9 j5 n# A G9 \, b. y# _+ t( t& v$ h( C
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the O- |: Y5 M6 W; T( }6 D. O
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants2 m g( Y% c( Q/ L. k9 ^" \+ R8 Z+ V
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 ]$ d, e) f: K/ n) m( L
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba : y. P. P/ g: M# c5 r9 `is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 1 X X8 N- s. ]' W2 }) h7 m; n7 yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 _0 [( b' u( I K$ Z( D
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 O! k8 ?" G0 p8 y' \0 d
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 0 g5 L( U' S; S: n- jshortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ {: t1 Z. a" h7 K1 B- P
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- W5 I# v. E* z; \9 b& I# l% `
! b0 D5 ~+ V5 H$ }The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no + ^7 O5 L5 Z0 n* d; {$ ]private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 2 K% V! A- a F( c# tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people2 Y& T% K' T) n6 }4 V
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 2 G9 q6 ~# {% I6 Nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 9 V5 \; h& v n( Y- z7 T( U- wsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ) F. W& f, r4 J$ w& ^+ Z0 X8 Edivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ' ?1 O* M5 Z, rDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" b: j% M @! f2 {
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 9 `# a- D& R) X& xcharge the fee defined by the state., z- z$ |. N& C6 |
/ ^) ~1 G6 _7 h4 w
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get( Q) w6 P* Q/ m
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type % T% x) w0 z% s3 s. pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big " i" `8 |9 X( ^7 n. |; ^truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 3 X; n2 E& z V4 b+ dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 7 G: g* u* y' X0 ]. I: vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& P; C, r' r9 G$ k* N* }- c! F9 P- i; B
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 b6 N5 t2 k- v. u% P" B. Q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ' [6 ^1 L- `: ~& q6 gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' s. s' z$ O: o* D' [
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 W1 ~1 b$ }: X1 x/ d
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want , j# |% W: J# |; `( H9 Y. qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or & r$ Y2 T; t5 t q$ F- ~5 l Cbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 p. m( R4 S9 f" k2 V k& w; N
are spaces. ; |! C* H2 c- u % x0 k1 [; I$ [$ V, ~There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: z5 ]' k$ O& F* B9 z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% ^; }3 B5 Z! w: A( Q, O
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* g& |# [: c2 Q
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 1 s& Z1 `0 u4 jparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& F8 h/ {3 t, v5 ^! z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few * F# T/ d* S. l. enice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of - P* o- p0 n6 ]; Hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 _; r8 {0 @& A" _# \( M6 f; \# f; s3 f
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ) o4 f9 c: y8 Y" B. G2 R 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 2 e9 f& P0 n% y) ^' vspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all + }+ u8 S. u" k/ V3 H" ?6 j |the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very8 w6 Y0 K4 z& x$ a/ ?
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep. c7 Y1 Q# \3 @! p# |
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day ( P4 c% a5 E+ v+ o! M; vsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of! L* @4 z! q7 i! }
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms+ l) O4 j3 V* o2 k& t
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the / S: _' y; W7 j5 n- R, N; \( g Stourist area.. C8 i5 O9 w9 U* U5 ^' j
8 B4 G$ w8 j3 J6 g( \
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's2 p; }- h5 q+ {' C! L" v
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). - Q# g" k4 Y2 X- @Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 1 }' c2 I+ P9 ^everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 9 v6 l9 M0 o1 s; T) s. H0 B; A
less leader-religious.. y5 Y7 M, i$ ~, \
3 X7 n% d3 G( Z( [' e0 O9 T4 [! S
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba $ S8 U. {9 w9 {government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big7 A& Y+ q* m5 ~% i2 b1 b. r
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 5 N" d9 R( X+ B5 T" E# dembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 1 B% ]+ d3 U% l$ s' A" i7 X7 d& Q. ~3 S
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the4 v/ u, m6 e( c4 y6 O5 o
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not % \3 O1 }8 ~& r7 w/ Vthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1( W3 O) F0 A* A
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for3 [; ~' u+ M. g u8 r0 L8 b/ a" J
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars - Q4 r A6 _, ~* ?* n# D* O(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we ) } S, I* @8 n/ y# ^- cprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the0 e, @5 Z0 o$ L" {0 v
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.$ t( Z$ V3 T" u
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 5 @8 \. [" ]2 _or visitors. " @& _- G/ x9 O- v& B6 f* m& H( y! S6 o
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
