We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ! ~" d G3 F% \( Q* Winteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we: I! V ?# G2 s) l, p! O* R
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.) c) t; a; R+ w; H" a7 ~* O# z, u
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, / c0 _! Z# C3 b) p u# @* E b30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in: w: o6 x, e1 h/ h6 r
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as % H2 K( m, m( n6 l3 L* [. t/ fpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort . g) w/ }2 m- o4 L2 ?% qshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep & e0 u% V; W' h! \9 q; Ibetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the \; K. ]6 j8 W+ ]* ~! t+ _lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, * r, S# Y0 |+ z' E1 v' n# Jwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. . ~2 E2 f8 V: k7 t% l; `2 W; b People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but , K' P$ y/ [) i& e; M' wnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not - ]3 ]0 [7 E, I" Texchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our z( x6 G: |, G% e0 z
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through" D; r# a" ], u; N! B- h+ X9 t; I
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.8 u' h% p% x, J. ^. {: J* H5 Q
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 9 M0 m) ]1 A6 w% hlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool6 Q, B1 @; E$ n
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top * O8 |3 R! v k6 C, Qof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the' G4 b& J% P+ [: M
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from/ J* U! C) {, l
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 1 f. y3 i* s. |3 X) JCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with ) q4 g, }5 \; q# O+ wfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. / C3 V9 }& o' @ " {' q3 d7 {! w/ O8 z8 PThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are" N" i1 s" W8 [! l
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made : h4 `% r/ a1 t+ q. Wfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 5 w) v/ u ^% |' S- |; ktourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having$ C l0 G; ]! e0 I; d3 ?( v
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China. ?2 E R/ H& V% Y' Z, o& D
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- Z ]6 F$ L/ S, W2 ?9 b) n6 ?" I* I
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 m: [; N/ Y4 K: Y3 S" m5 E
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' @6 h! F" D' g% l
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% D- n& Z- y. e, c
answers to our pointed questions. 4 B, ^& r1 g) Y! A9 u6 x 5 J+ C. y3 ^. L' u# q" Q- CThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& @, z2 N F$ t( a7 y* W
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand % i. S5 [: {5 e) _+ g& Sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is5 Y9 X- c* J9 t b0 r+ i& u
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- \( W" o4 q- `0 ?1 c
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 2 D$ Z; ]3 R+ K# Kmedical schools., g( x/ _) g. n* N5 F' }( U4 m
; u, l4 e3 w dEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" O# s% P: C: C( _( `2 ^
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants% y( r2 C. l2 c5 J" D
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' B4 T2 E# j* Y: M8 p7 q% U( u+ w$ n
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 1 S4 z+ B6 ^5 S0 }is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to, w5 j8 Q0 W/ o! U; c. J) c$ e
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There / ]0 _+ G' L9 j3 wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ' |8 x- g; e7 e# \mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk # F& v/ N: E7 X+ M2 lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some% q4 a) F0 Y: ^. ]
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. Y& H/ e* i9 f9 W9 o+ [
# o/ u2 i# \: } J! r" Y J, H5 P: G* zThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# \4 j6 {7 ~, [
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 P! o N/ g; V1 r D! h
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people/ c+ i* e& z) j7 Z% d) T/ s- E4 X
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 7 y i) T- @% z+ y/ Hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 E8 _* {4 ^0 [8 l b7 H0 Q$ W7 ?9 e
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high + J" [6 Q3 d- q4 _, K) ^divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years./ r$ {7 K3 }' Y% p- R9 R* |
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 v% m) P/ l( ]/ E4 W" z4 j
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only + Q9 Q k4 C5 c1 L* }, _6 Ncharge the fee defined by the state. 7 o$ A! p2 j6 ?5 Y9 s5 q, u8 u9 D
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get # N# H! H n* F5 @7 E' C) W w; Hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ) i2 P" ]/ \( h/ yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ l% P. A z1 M8 h/ O l3 t; R F9 y* F, w
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel" k' R% R7 |- `/ ^
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; ]/ A# y8 U9 I( F, G& P, i' P7 C0 h
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ) B$ g% Y, Y& Dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 9 ~! U2 T5 V, t1 f6 K8 iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people $ o$ ?2 X4 ~# @5 F8 q0 f! Dtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 1 m Q& G+ n1 s/ w) T3 L7 n/ E6 Uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that ; D: J& t7 e9 S* `people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 7 w1 g: m6 G- ~to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or ~ p4 e% J& C, C2 D2 u1 K3 Q* pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there ; n3 b5 q+ d; w \# ]are spaces. ( t) p' n4 ^& Z4 x8 }9 L# \ $ W, b7 W! k- i2 s% N9 A3 XThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ; @2 D# _/ R- h8 l4 T2 hto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they " i) @1 \; ]6 Y' Aown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the : c$ m4 U! n5 ?9 c40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 ?' W q. K- C4 M0 W
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the ) A+ q' P3 p X) d4 ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& u4 ~5 t5 q& p, S4 V U0 d
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of/ `; T' g* ]: G m
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it - Q$ t, ^3 ^# m: p! n; Cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., y/ `7 L/ f5 a, J
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/ W |$ {4 ^8 k
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all# j1 X$ e9 Q# t, l, `" c& W
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very/ b' N% d# c$ J s' `/ f+ P
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep' y! M/ n# a& p r. R( U3 L! @" j
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day5 y9 y8 q1 J$ x6 o, Y2 ]8 y
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of ( ^8 t6 c4 [6 Y H% m( J+ cthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms & j$ [9 t! H6 L, ^/ r i: mhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the+ j$ z, ?; L9 u/ \$ B
tourist area. 8 u d7 n7 J; J( ^! ]6 E( A/ U% z( T & D* n! n. O8 i4 o, i/ ?* iOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's& g+ Y4 y: ~: L
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). , }, p, K( d- hCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were , K# R1 G# r& ] {) c# X- aeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps % \) u8 W6 j8 W$ g( }' ?
less leader-religious. ; D* U4 b* Y1 H2 {( \3 L 8 J+ c. V( B& u$ S) M4 KAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 9 P$ |" h% i% y/ V C3 A/ ?government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big" ]& O' E4 O# R) t
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US! n( U+ P. F" `3 f
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 7 X0 g3 ?1 Z7 U7 U7 b! j+ d* t/ ~) b# O5 H9 K; r& E! G) V! S" t& s
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the" r& c$ i, d5 R; x' g3 N7 z
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not * p5 @: C* e5 @" I% Jthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1& o; F) z( {5 m
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for + x4 O8 f; A5 X7 l& {+ x$ v- rforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars# _& B7 y; r( d
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we # m+ p U) q, I* w" C/ D9 pprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the P7 y: l L# _0 } T1 c7 n4 S; D2 rreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.. ]* Y3 ?: p& l/ B; w
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local $ ]: ~5 ]' u. L s6 `7 Hor visitors.0 ?# k% Z- l( u8 N
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-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
