We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 3 B% Y& x/ P5 D3 N9 y9 E8 Z8 Dinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ! T' B% j" A- [) Bwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.7 G4 t0 i/ ] S, F# f1 W
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 5 w: W, b/ w3 V+ O' f7 x6 Q: ~1 n1 ^30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in & B5 u# B+ s3 ~- j+ ?; Da very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as " t% V7 O8 N( G1 x E( Lpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort) N) S& v% R4 |4 n' j. W: f M
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep4 ?/ P, h/ w- A: D+ {7 `- X: f) t
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the6 c0 L4 D9 u6 q/ k3 ^
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, " n9 \; i: K& O* d7 qwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there." X& d" u1 D% b( D: @. V
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 2 I% u6 k' A7 _' x0 @1 enames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not . a* u k2 A7 M, m1 yexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our+ { W8 N0 X |6 N
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through , _ e: |% o. h9 Oa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards., `3 V& N& E- J2 q! G: j- D9 \ a
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 5 T- p% t6 u2 K, R# h& Xlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 7 {. u4 G" _6 ^2 S m4 M(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top & L- A# r$ @7 M3 Z) a& n5 b8 mof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the( ~3 [! G. Y. r+ w
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ' x* N3 T" B5 k! M0 c2 N3 d- f49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes' U, \% n0 N: |. ]* ^% j6 q& i
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with . ]7 _* m- a: ~ l: D: Vfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ' q" X; g8 r, l( y" |6 S! ] x 3 f1 \ {' A- z) x* x& `. {6 ~The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 7 f j; `2 N- Zjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made , {7 M* @1 ]8 efor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba, L9 ~/ n/ L3 L. n, n n
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having+ O; w/ C, C/ `' |5 f, l
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China$ d, K) r) U9 i2 B( g$ q3 w
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" C' i: }2 }0 p9 M) H% `
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ B( L* ]. B7 {% {6 I. m9 G2 r
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 2 U; `4 ?1 T; v8 h1 ]+ q3 Z/ ]"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give( [! a4 h' Q: W/ U
answers to our pointed questions.% G8 \4 }' I u* K
( j& |& G& `, a4 U H- i+ DThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ( \+ C% S7 w5 b6 \; R45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand {% o. n8 R5 ?% }8 C b
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 o! |+ h- u& B2 _* P. \
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( ]5 ]% L; M5 c; z. N3 u
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are5 `( J8 x+ Z& J5 [; L) S. B) A! \
medical schools. ; f+ l; ?3 @5 `: x- s! Z8 B7 V% x 2 ~& ^' R. X A/ W! j" J5 {" R6 Y5 pEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 8 f. N% m0 c* y5 W/ A. d: ~8 Fgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants + b, t; X5 r; }: v6 o2 M [to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years $ z/ C0 p+ }, A3 l P- z, ?2 c% z/ ^assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 5 F, [* S$ r- e. g, x8 b2 i* Kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to/ L/ a F7 U, S
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There) x# U* A: U0 k0 O
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 y5 D0 [, c1 i C
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 8 D$ Z+ Z% Z6 i& g1 bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some . X' x3 Z6 c+ s3 j) Y. |; _: Psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- U- L/ S% a$ Y, d" M
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no % h1 g( ?" I0 V, L+ ^9 Xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and $ B. m/ u' x2 x$ K! T0 }* G' ?supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 W7 v, O# t, u. C! ]! H" C1 g
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 4 h$ M% T) h2 l2 Qthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ D T& @# f6 p1 I
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ' z. G+ ^9 Z+ c3 |divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. . _8 y, I/ b* r3 h1 JDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When $ W9 O0 ?- S7 \4 ga lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 s, c6 \+ h8 f' l( l) ^
charge the fee defined by the state./ I$ l! p3 `; Z6 N# {' C
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get- h O; b3 i1 W8 P4 _* k7 D
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 6 c+ x5 S& j( D) }* |of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 6 ] _- i: j1 h9 c0 Ftruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ) ]/ h) |1 Y( w2 `# u! ]+ Useems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the / x6 b8 P& M4 n! m% `! Mworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' _5 x0 y& j- S
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if. V$ g9 S+ I y+ e! f8 Y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people & S* \7 j A0 y1 V. etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 |+ s5 X4 H5 }
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that ( a8 ^' U9 b( t% U/ o9 zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want $ o+ A2 i( H) s ?( Gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 6 u. A7 Z7 Q* D* n: V2 mbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% U) L8 }" I! S( L5 Z$ o) M+ K
are spaces. X: f8 O& a0 v) W: f2 I( o: o( x- s0 g( s; [. G# M/ i
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 X. W) H, P6 ~, L$ t. L
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 9 D0 t& `$ \- Xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 1 p% R7 o: u9 L- |+ I/ j) l40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; f; Y! C5 A7 }
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 U. X. Y8 Q+ j. A( N
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 4 i7 O: r, j6 h0 Pnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of: {- }2 K5 ^* N! K# a! l O
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it% J% v/ Q+ c' j5 ?6 P% e J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. J: E: X' f4 l
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& C- w0 }$ H2 R+ a! ]4 x
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 2 {) T( m# r+ u% U( b1 ?the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very4 Y8 |7 F( ^- c9 D4 n
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep & }% k' g6 `8 U6 r6 Irecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day . c7 |4 [( z5 n2 h) B5 }supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 4 z3 O# m0 X; V2 l, \" \7 U3 Bthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 5 s5 e9 j8 Z, X- i/ Q1 t! _! Whave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the+ }- }+ @3 P; o2 T9 R, r
tourist area./ [7 Q/ _2 O4 e9 z
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ( y$ M& S9 p- g- q0 Mpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). % Y8 K U) }7 \; B4 W+ w4 `Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were / \) {+ W- b8 _) {9 u" V8 Yeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ! n- S! L' f2 Z& o6 f( m8 Y/ _5 eless leader-religious.7 _; S; f. Q' s
" Z- X/ K1 X' v9 E5 V- nAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 7 l: x! L. l8 ?) w, Cgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big + k4 w" `) ?* X8 Y5 |$ ~. r7 Tblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US+ F4 H1 h$ g' Q) l" q b
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)." f3 {/ T: g; K) e
" c- N* A1 }5 G" d# Y+ pWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the+ Z/ |4 ~6 X9 f& }. E+ V4 E
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not B% d' [ B# O6 [/ i
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1( R- P- l/ s, p [8 U' q
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for+ u3 P" N# Z4 H8 o1 G8 j2 d
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars" E7 I6 W8 B6 Z9 p
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we / x+ X) ^6 l5 w7 rprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the ! W3 k7 s" |+ v n, Treal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. # p- a$ l8 b5 i3 _. {3 s6 b$ @9 jAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local : y- W8 h& t: p1 A& G: @# K: @4 g2 j+ ?or visitors. 4 v g$ L2 F$ }4 H. T: o9 L* _: _! v2 A; b( W
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
