We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very- s! B! [6 n0 y
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 6 G$ l% V) ~! H: wwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.2 f6 G9 e( {. q- u
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 5 d( z! }; e3 L1 J30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in( F& m( k: C) M d$ g+ d* P4 M
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as; j) z5 O. `" l$ w$ j4 F
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 4 u! ?2 g, o3 [4 Kshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep : H3 ?9 Q' u1 kbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the" E% _7 ?8 x+ L% s- V
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,9 \! y- l- w6 y+ W4 c8 |
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.5 K h9 G( ?/ q0 A' w/ p
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but $ T" ~+ T+ \0 |6 ?names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not & w- e: D2 Y! y" w2 I3 v+ \( T1 hexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 4 F# n5 s: f8 F3 ]- u- p2 U cflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 8 c6 p. B Z* D' A& w5 ta roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 3 S U, t+ ] S w0 Y; K% A6 r0 \4 H$ M7 {
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,% }7 q0 S1 l/ r3 w/ X2 m1 n$ v
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool( K7 E- s) S8 r0 W+ \9 M6 K
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 7 O- D q. c* |+ r3 f$ Dof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ! s0 R- u$ v- g3 V% I* fstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 1 T+ o% P; Z$ t9 _49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes & C8 Z7 @& G2 `# PCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with. q2 t# ?* J1 F. |
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.6 t+ w7 J# q, c. V8 x' m* s/ Z
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are5 g O1 T7 s6 A6 L* r3 C7 `4 t
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ) j& Z/ ]# J; w) _; yfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba, O* H3 C6 d) H/ {. @
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having2 E8 O- _: y; y- `' L8 j
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China0 G M( \5 k: k$ C6 f9 q: [! v
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, living7 `1 [7 `/ v, P7 k; D7 Y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: M6 f$ A) [$ f( g, O0 f: d
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: B6 D+ K$ T3 t2 ~& e
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give ( k+ h4 n% o* u3 O: I) Manswers to our pointed questions.2 ~+ v6 V7 R; C2 W
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 9 |9 g \; Z+ w: C45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 |3 b; u1 p4 K5 W
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 \8 b J4 J% [" K; Y" g
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" e7 J$ }" |2 N+ H( _* t. y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, ?5 H3 T4 @7 j3 `
medical schools.' i. [+ C, S' _, Y9 v+ ], g
% a/ t% Q% m! p, jEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 J8 L% p4 S1 K) _/ C C
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" _& b& u( H2 e4 ?+ Q( R9 \
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years C! d4 d" K1 L& f) i: n, \" b& C
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! a1 X, i% z3 H, z
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 8 Y1 g% N( M* j' c+ ~over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 5 q: C+ Y' i p! p, I( N9 o/ H, ^1 Dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and / k; D0 Q- f* C+ @4 {mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 G+ C" Z: x7 j2 O
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) m/ u+ Y U: s! p. N( |
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. _# _' V, D1 s3 k" q$ }! ~, b1 I ] F. l! l! S7 R$ {The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 p" \" m1 x7 ?/ J
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. k5 {# {3 a5 g6 I. K% f: i6 E* d7 a
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. j, i% v' H& w* [3 @
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 1 `+ B( K- h! Mthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 3 e3 g: e3 o: W8 ~sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ( l" w% k O! X# d( F/ mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 ^) Y+ u3 y6 G" s4 t% d, l/ W
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When6 Q/ S8 u' I* G6 R7 n8 W6 d
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ; \" ~; n$ Q( |) L- Y$ Mcharge the fee defined by the state. : _- [* v: s+ o2 ]& {7 d: a1 a+ D! Q0 i% A' ?$ q* S
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get7 N' w7 w( F r5 {2 y
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type8 @' t& g* ]7 M3 k( H8 s# E+ }/ i
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 0 ~2 W. }0 i& Q3 [5 J8 |, Q0 K/ _- b% Ktruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel U& i: \1 j$ ^
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 V7 h! ?- d7 h% p2 I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 1 R) q* w, J! x- a& K2 Bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if - X# p! p! z* T- }8 C7 Jyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people Y a3 h( R' n5 H
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 H+ F4 e* ?+ y% q: ?6 r, f* N$ @) E
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 W& C. R9 g7 y1 }# q) c
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 q3 m. H$ Q V5 O& D
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or ; M0 h2 P' u q1 z2 X2 q) }8 \2 \& Y( Rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 e d* k, l$ D, I2 @( f# C5 c- H7 h
are spaces.3 k8 M- F; R( u' r& M
+ f9 y! Q6 G" t) l( uThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi & U$ n' k1 [. F, l" ~9 Pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 |. G7 c5 z5 M6 W0 n
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, C: w G+ ^+ g; d3 |$ A- H3 O
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; {7 X$ r8 I/ F
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. C( q" N8 J2 s3 J3 k- j9 }) B5 L
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few ' T$ T& u& |& d8 R% `. Hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of & `# n4 _% e; @2 u& u# bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it0 G$ n$ \' I) d- |7 l; z# p4 S
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned./ n/ Z# T' `# l, E$ ^0 }
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+ x- i5 l5 |& E) M
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all/ z* v5 q+ q8 |* I& @. ]$ U3 ?
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very- t; U+ M' `$ @, N7 [4 k
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep ! `0 ~5 M: \' j2 f: Jrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day ( q5 J' Z; r6 Ksupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of " J6 w# ?0 Q9 F8 o' H Q: Tthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 5 a5 w9 w U2 S& w2 ^+ G7 t0 X. ]have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the, G$ _4 q: _; p( A9 W) F" W
tourist area. 1 P5 v1 P; H7 x+ |2 d: W& q \' S" [8 _) ^: @
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 6 D! s+ y- l; x: w8 m3 Mpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).; k/ G) B8 D& @) X' `5 F
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 4 H4 Q0 ?" c; ^9 i( n; n Q) Ceverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ' r9 ~# }' i% v# Q# eless leader-religious. . h6 b8 c b' y. x. Z3 K & Z& |2 |2 D8 W0 p0 s% AAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba # {) s0 ]4 ~- F- _6 r M. Rgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big+ D/ F& u; Y( T) `+ ~* U! a
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US7 m' \# n+ y% I0 D
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).% T2 T! i1 ~8 G" d
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ) Z& Q8 Q! @8 o% e0 l T( L. vparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not* N* \4 S7 ~& m; s. f
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 / k& t N( ?0 j# zconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for N& @' O* H; Yforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars / u. T2 e% j0 p' M( {(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we . p4 w0 c1 m% T" Cprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the % k% C3 k! Z5 D# F+ j( q, xreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going." q0 L4 m; \+ j9 A P1 r
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local! e4 z( @9 X8 k
or visitors. 6 j. t* I$ I0 o l% x$ p' e3 \7 t F, h2 B4 b
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
