We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very . g: r4 }2 V- Y' ]interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ]+ W, H( A+ `" ~wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 9 N" ^6 j% g6 K! P8 h) b8 e ) S1 P( w- ^ D" e4 @It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, E7 e( z g# s30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in * }3 y# \7 H6 w1 j! Aa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as ( C# K& w- l/ u4 h% Fpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort9 p0 p4 Q+ Z Z
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 1 C; E3 @) l( `, dbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the4 f v) ?; E7 M: P. U! _. ^
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,% q9 M5 h( a+ h2 T6 r
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.. o& d, a- c$ s! F) I* P0 ^
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but! K9 _ k) ]. T) X
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not / C, ]( G+ I" P# T* B" dexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 2 J2 e! S# {; `flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 1 f8 O' p u# j6 f' S9 [- ua roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. % @. E1 ]5 J: o) b5 m$ M+ \3 i3 ~ z I4 h
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,3 b+ O( u$ C+ \( `: @% B, o- r
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool , V4 F; t8 W, R5 C7 a0 }# i( l D(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 5 f5 X* J& j( Fof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the5 [7 i6 M+ O* d+ K& r
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from % D3 ~" R& \( ]49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes % o0 D5 ]4 N; p! RCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with0 j) D6 V# ]6 z) n+ t% R4 |
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 2 C/ I2 ^+ n1 @2 |; S; h0 H: k1 P1 `
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are- f' d, W4 V% q Z) g' S
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made * t' ~) g9 L# Dfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba" j6 m9 H$ R, A1 V/ e4 K z' H3 a+ }
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ' e" [0 c, x( R5 \4 r+ B0 Fa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China , ~8 a' q) z. `% Y2 }7 t0 j+ 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 $ j5 G8 j. o. G- j3 I+ Jstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ! ?% k1 z4 u* r, s: t" t( ~on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 2 t) W3 l/ E' O( T8 G"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& g6 `0 S0 p. J% Y
answers to our pointed questions. - i' c$ b+ F) o4 q, |+ d ' b! z2 r* A7 QThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 7 U8 t, [- L( t5 @45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand& ? u2 M# Y4 G2 d" u/ |
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 4 f$ ~! y* e+ Q" Y) wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 G: B7 `- j1 I+ `
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 2 {! n5 n+ a; lmedical schools., j# m5 R- j' _
1 B! P2 L) X0 f0 c: W0 \. S6 i
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the $ s; Y* n7 \1 g, u2 h1 \! mgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 @, C. ` L( O6 z1 \, ~; V3 A
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years * ]9 l% {' ]& \6 Iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba m* f2 O. ]/ E2 Q( C9 b
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to & T2 h4 T1 X/ z0 y' S, X3 Kover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 8 b& x. C) J, A' b$ Jseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 2 Y5 S" D7 |2 S! ?) {( b) I1 omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 K) Q0 Y; j+ a# W) K4 ]' @
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some z* a; O F+ _7 r2 D' ^
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 9 j5 s# a% O) ]5 W9 c% v( Q+ j6 V& S5 j
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no . |7 Z0 C0 X8 Oprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and + X/ `7 y: r9 Isupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) C) B' g V- d: E& l7 @4 t
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 6 I3 y4 _8 z0 B) qthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 }! Z7 q( U, K; ~" r% k
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( d7 G. v, x( d% Y- u, m% F1 S
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. * _1 d' W$ i0 C* nDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When + n. `3 N' N: F, P' N1 p; Ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. @, B* [0 @3 Y
charge the fee defined by the state. - `% w; m' \( ~1 T+ p: o* n" w& f9 K
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 0 s1 m# M+ S+ `( l" Ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 3 p9 Q9 O& E$ x% w \: V. eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ( e6 f; O& o- V) y& P6 }truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 4 \7 ?* \' c* U* Aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the * D# R. f2 K7 Q* ^* [- q1 E3 b* zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 Q( r/ f6 {& ^' y' K
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 9 [ W1 C2 w- t$ c* X, Q [: @you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) V/ [9 b9 Q* K: f! F" P
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch ) D, S: x* S% D7 ?$ ?1 fhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 Y2 t+ F2 t7 N* ?
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 5 ^. @2 r/ t$ c# b$ e5 \to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or . y5 s4 ^& n6 e5 c: Y- lbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there + ?9 s* L' H2 L6 g z, zare spaces.; M' |. I' f3 m4 y- O- K
8 i4 e0 O# |$ y$ T- [, @+ c3 ~
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi % g2 ]( Q/ n/ g% ]' v7 Fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 8 D% Q2 _7 K8 B+ k+ A. rown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! I8 `5 K8 M0 X* _1 @. j5 \( Z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 t' z2 z% f! N
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the ; P3 b2 {2 R! E6 B8 ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few- D+ ]! H t# y6 _4 b" c/ v- M
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of " C0 b: L. z. Y- dcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it " N/ i& a: c! A; [8 ]6 j9 @2 I1 Vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." I9 w6 J% f8 G: i; _! {% O% U
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+ {* h, E* a, Q6 `6 Z
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all % m7 L& u& C- I; X% X8 ~the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very6 r' Q' @7 Y: u4 B: L
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep $ P# g/ B) A1 g* L! T! p* \+ w6 Z5 frecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day $ a5 M: o: w3 Lsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 7 d! H# {5 u& m2 G; k9 ~them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms) w0 b( k. Q0 |2 Q, l" L
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the: _- y2 v |- S1 F
tourist area.7 [# Z& Y8 l. L% p9 x5 t* C
# x3 d: \6 x. T h8 iOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ' J- ^4 T% d. A3 Upictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ) G& o* g* U& c1 S1 x: NCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ! c! L" R: n% `# t/ meverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 9 W* D5 m7 K: E9 s! q
less leader-religious.# b) C, S' Y/ q! G$ {
7 g+ Q3 i$ F% E; ~# ~5 B" wAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba/ M+ u% k- ~% ]- m" i
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big4 F7 W% m3 D0 B W3 M
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US3 I5 l) R" ?) X% m
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 5 z+ C- H w4 j4 e1 G . U2 `( C3 C' M* B; i7 MWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the' \" Q6 \3 B5 P* V4 \
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not) W: s6 Y' @# o
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 0 |/ I" {5 C) T, b0 h0 Yconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for % D% s; g- a* G. a, G1 x$ v2 Cforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars/ O; }- y9 I* f6 @& m& F8 a5 G1 G
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we / Z* f3 }$ \* @% D1 s2 uprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the8 k6 e, c# C! D9 n) \, j
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.' b. u' {9 l' s! Q6 n
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 5 o& ^8 [% y' \) I/ Bor visitors.$ T" t8 u. _* P9 ]
- N2 K1 W1 Z! `3 X
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
