We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very & \$ Q4 O5 ]. p1 dinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ( u; U9 \7 j, r4 y& L6 X# L& A$ iwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.7 i+ ?) g7 l6 |0 N4 q, Y1 W
, r; L# A# b3 Y( P3 g- i0 I# uIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, ! P+ Q% i/ Z+ k1 }8 B! [8 y30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in0 \ C2 _, T' N M- X3 f; w
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 3 }9 e- L9 W4 S3 Y* X r$ g7 xpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort ) I" L, |# G2 G) ?* hshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep" _1 K. |3 X# `1 q* ~/ ~# x/ R! x3 X
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 9 P q3 O$ [8 K5 Zlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, $ f9 |4 @' B( V$ Twith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.( \ l8 j# [) X6 p c
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but Q7 |# R1 _' Y0 H. @# w
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not / e* R5 ?0 a' j6 a6 a* `' Gexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our X6 G* Z' u8 V* B# Fflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through - |' y0 N( K! _# S: `- F, u2 Ra roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.; s, E. t$ F( R9 t# c! b' ^( u
5 }! q8 h# E( ~% dThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, n. p/ u5 o5 y- V$ s C8 C- glow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 9 m4 Q2 S' J7 Y(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top" j2 U8 v" F" W4 [# H
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ! k3 }" z" Q) e6 |stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 3 [% g4 \1 G/ K. n. f, g: \49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes ! z4 O( X3 o$ x- F. XCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with% X% W Y/ |: }1 K9 T3 Q
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 0 U4 H. ]5 o+ p7 F! G( q 9 s( R" o& q6 a5 z' }0 zThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are, Y( d+ {$ I- s8 G/ |
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 1 T( M2 T. Z% W5 w' t( Mfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba( l# \" E& _1 c- I& c0 i
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having6 N/ F1 d3 C9 A Z, j) r. j
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China, i' z; d) a& \- m1 R* ]+ e
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, living+ y2 }& H; {0 i, D4 s
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# m- o4 G& `; d6 Q' p" Z6 u
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,. z4 h) o8 P9 e3 z1 M
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give & F0 X+ v; C. N2 s- fanswers to our pointed questions. ! l* i5 o# E! b! v. \2 ` / x. S5 g; e5 R! P% J$ A/ UThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,# w1 i" d9 g# o- E& g
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ) R5 h8 A! V2 Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is; v9 V$ ^5 _% v0 O9 [, E1 w g$ n
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 4 f. A9 {. {! K" I5 t8 P1 A( Bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 U$ b1 X: p+ Z
medical schools.. P5 A6 k7 t5 E" z# [ T' a
' A+ [' p# ]7 w# o7 s8 {# H& e8 s
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the& Z+ q5 \, N% L* J
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 6 S' R6 i0 s5 x& ?! ?to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years) y5 \/ T6 D o1 f; S, @% _: p
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 7 ^5 }* j1 X4 a* o* _6 his from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 2 }9 E1 z# |. x, M" N4 Qover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 9 d6 r, l7 t+ ^5 U }seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 6 f7 a$ I0 n& n# k. a2 vmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' c; z& [2 q, Y3 ?0 }: Y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some ' M: d' T4 N+ h# |5 Isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. X q$ y( {; O* p: D Q
: L$ ^' k# @" u6 lThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no : E: y4 i: g8 v) j7 d! V, ^4 {2 s9 aprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- o, ~+ q* u! m* U
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people " v( A S! j: i+ Yhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good & o5 u$ p4 e$ Z. Z Ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: Z- t$ @- N1 B! k2 a- W; \
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high8 W( }) u# p* L8 B. ^( s" @* @3 {
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' ?1 ^ S3 w5 Y% ? J. t" D
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When6 |. z" c; h d j D: Z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 2 ~! Y$ h6 q; W) {) f- M% @ acharge the fee defined by the state. 1 l+ K' o' W& ^ [0 K& d# G" f2 j, M $ o6 q: K- s& Z! \ a5 I4 l$ VThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ! J& p' q% A: W* K) n6 _* u- `on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* T9 L8 Q- y% U* M3 \+ _
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 1 l( m6 Y. u8 E8 n, ~' xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel9 T; C/ ^& F7 Q( b5 o
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 s* U* N- v) U! a8 e
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on / ~4 U* n7 B, F: [4 {+ Wschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 V0 s; a0 Y6 F3 @7 g8 q8 S3 x
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ( s; y- {3 L; j9 N/ y/ z9 ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 Y( _: A% m; E# {7 u
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that # S. u. o( h0 Z2 W0 m7 Ipeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: P: V7 Y# Q, l) [* `& J( B7 [/ ^: H
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& R0 ^% {3 M3 ?# Y$ g; D# x
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there $ I1 W- [/ k6 ^ pare spaces.) Y* X& A) _. g: b* t
9 {; v" w5 f1 [, S# f# v+ T& _There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi & [6 Q: ^: y2 g& u2 ~to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they7 S4 @& W0 i8 v3 O' V
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 4 y4 O5 h& F) r40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different J0 _3 | ^* M. v
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% ]& y2 ~- m$ z+ o! Y+ r! J
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few : u+ M0 ^6 K% q7 W8 w1 n1 hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# p3 x# y; _+ Z3 w0 }* E
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ; M1 O& j" U, F& U0 K; a zis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.; @9 l8 ^. R9 W+ b. B) d q
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( ^4 {: F1 }3 J* u7 \% D' R3 g
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all% j. t: j$ J2 p" S4 r
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ' g9 Q6 F3 s$ r, ilimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep1 B. N, a8 S, \! P
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 6 Z( H, ?3 p q% Ysupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of: T) X4 s4 t" K+ c+ T
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms $ @" a) S$ Q8 phave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the: T" A8 k* E0 v9 m9 n! }, g
tourist area.; c! _, P2 I. t- j' D7 k
$ i k0 k# Q% P2 l5 P( HOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's V( j# s1 g. }1 B' S' Z
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).' h. p4 u* I0 E7 @
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were3 Q! H' w3 k' I- p# U1 _7 H
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 7 a5 y2 t/ ^# |+ F, M7 L6 l- [
less leader-religious.: u+ o' M& I9 C0 |, I7 N* j
) l- g' {. }9 S: o1 F! F2 K( y
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 6 r; l, T4 }( q$ y2 k, bgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big! _+ u3 z/ ]+ L
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US9 ~' e1 N% w! X; K5 H
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 5 `( U3 K+ `# `) s, @" z! ^8 S- Y, k& }6 X0 h5 V! C9 ^6 ^1 @& p4 J
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the) x% M1 O+ O) n5 a# c1 Y
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not - O& C F: o* _: }. u: Athe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 + D7 Y$ ?; n6 H3 H: q6 s; @) D% |8 K5 X' @convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for) I! o+ O0 {- M0 b: {; A
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 8 h6 i$ k* i$ {' X9 Y(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we, C3 @9 [$ V& R
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the ! E6 |0 M2 i8 o( x& Wreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. , i$ }5 `$ D8 rAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local ; c; K7 z+ h% \( k# S& J) I4 e8 ]or visitors. X! D7 N, {; ]8 p 4 R% m9 v7 W! K-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
