We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very' [; {/ V/ Y$ Q& e ~
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we + A+ o j( A# X' g0 z2 K Vwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible., N2 K" _$ K: |1 D+ H3 Z _
0 x3 K2 a1 ^3 OIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, / h: n$ y# O8 o$ |8 ]4 G30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in . r; o4 X: C8 p- b9 Aa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 3 k D7 q; N3 l* K, ~5 D e8 cpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 1 I2 f0 F( s/ A4 c# _ ~show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep# S, K5 C: ?; U1 }# z8 G
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the* Z( P* S: j. K) k4 i. k
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,9 Z0 g# A; ?- b* P
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there." D2 R% ^0 n' L" P
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but+ ?6 u I( y" L% }
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not- m+ T" q+ B& c. \
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our/ ]( [) ~) ^- K8 r( o# f6 O
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through0 m, A% N* T2 B
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 2 ]% ^7 C/ R/ q- |3 _) |4 v8 X1 s) d' Z* m1 C0 f( H: N
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,' i% D* ?" m' n: [* X0 L+ m
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool) V* N2 u; |. A, g; ~
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 1 X8 u" J$ s* E4 I6 K5 E) |, ^! sof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the# U% |7 Z6 u* t0 Y( D: R
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from+ [" i* V9 e0 r# ~. ?. h! f
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes+ R! z+ E3 I0 T; F
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with " X5 [* }; ~. [6 [fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 5 r$ l. O1 M) q4 t( ^! j/ {$ C, h' D
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are * J6 v2 a2 _2 G8 _$ Ujust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made + d, Z8 c' @& H8 k0 I$ Ffor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba / k! u1 p! ~- r2 btourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ( v2 W. J' S( M5 k9 s# Wa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China K, G! S2 j, O* Mdaily 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, living2 K! g3 }7 D; d9 L; r" G7 Y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: P* w Y$ N+ E" x7 u
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 x% [( A0 g; O' `5 H3 `
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! l- Y- d- {3 p! {( h
answers to our pointed questions./ j- n" M! M6 F' R" G/ q. S/ p
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& v+ t8 z9 l' r5 R* ]+ Z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 N4 N" O: N ^0 Z& k% \ J
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is - [& T$ A- G6 S: Vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' K- E" Q+ \* t' X" V
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are - j$ x* w! U( A2 @+ m4 D- A2 Nmedical schools.! ?3 g3 r& d0 c1 T4 A
. H( Z3 l3 P7 j+ Y: E6 ?Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the j5 e% q# V( X' j5 z, a' B
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants( _9 c+ y+ A% F* X$ M
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. ?4 ~8 n; u* D# A
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' ^9 u0 ?4 C4 D$ `1 t
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 6 l; L; [/ m3 K# |$ P4 \) z8 nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 3 f( W9 N; h0 X( l" V7 k6 I0 X+ B% Aseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 O3 n3 b- n* W
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ) V6 k* `4 s9 h# H* ]shortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 R3 _2 v' y3 Q
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 i; q6 s+ L1 a2 s( `/ ~
, A2 b+ l F) M7 ^( h: gThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no - U2 E7 z. a& y( ^$ f! O. X4 A( J2 jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% e2 a) W: n$ B9 }) f5 b
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people- e5 f8 K( l( b
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good/ ^- H; p% O( _. y, C7 @
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby) z, |- `5 e$ r, g# {
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high / u& i+ W& W5 d! M& f; U- fdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) X$ n2 K5 ~- i: N" t9 a: b% z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 [ X: R; d0 Y* ^
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only / l t, k. X- E s8 \charge the fee defined by the state.3 A0 t* S6 z$ w: B& i
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get & W6 @6 B- v. [, M+ [on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- Y1 C6 M% E9 i0 Y( ]# M. L
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" W6 E! v( R5 b4 \) L
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: f9 ], a5 s: D
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the O# p1 n/ q; r& u7 rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on# l+ ?# l1 R4 ~! c- {" t
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ) n- ?) y2 ]0 q6 v, b b8 w: v" }% vyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people+ ^% q9 I* i" ^% K! u/ W
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- g, v) t. p6 C" V# h* B; S
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! \7 f2 J& a2 Y, w8 @. |
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want + e. [/ K/ r7 Z) { |. ito go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or / V. {, O% @. ~+ X# b& L0 qbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there . F4 I0 j/ F" w1 x4 q* {/ Tare spaces./ m* D* \) [8 e
) c$ K; W9 g$ ?( X+ }/ s( T/ x uThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 q9 @: m4 `; r& y! d1 g
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 4 b2 n' h) Z3 U$ K3 u# }own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 ^9 b+ ^% O A# i% S) i
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different . c- L0 d% M5 Z: }# S& k' Hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the & e s9 |$ T$ u/ ?3 M2 `( bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 4 b2 v n$ Y: m- C* d& hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 4 E% W {2 g( }: {- Pcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 4 l/ ~9 x- p6 His a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.( b7 \ {1 H7 |% d4 e' N
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 + L F+ d5 ], [3 [ c4 Xspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 1 M' A3 E0 {; {4 ythe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very' I! W2 o6 ` L& S( @% |
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep* e7 N8 V9 N& v' l' s N
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day% [4 b, h# e$ \, ] F- w
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of ( o8 D/ l2 D) \, i* L3 o+ e9 rthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms- `+ m1 Q) H, w( n" s
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the* U4 ~$ P0 D9 _
tourist area.' M) ~# G/ N! S5 P
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's # _- z! ]2 B# X. R2 [pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).! q9 ]% c$ `- |3 q" ^
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ( j3 U3 ^$ N4 F5 beverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps " G7 A0 X, L" n7 @- a" }3 g3 aless leader-religious. 7 L2 g9 H B8 I) T2 R1 x( I7 F2 @# d
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ( e5 j* g( |7 L' |government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big . K m; [0 S! G/ v! h1 F( {3 K' _+ _, rblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US , r: a( u! y p/ iembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). + @. }1 k" Z( G- H! g# s6 I; [" U, A) r3 C
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 1 o l' X9 P2 |6 z! i E) G4 Iparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not5 Z! w1 [8 D `* e" y6 H, ?, e9 h
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 * [0 i; i1 n7 {# Vconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for1 E0 L) Q a) g+ t7 `* f8 \$ j
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars" z" H+ A& t- Q# R8 u Q( j# b9 Q
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 8 v4 J7 ^: N3 mprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the / m1 M: z" K. creal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. - ?1 J3 `- b c3 jAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 0 R6 O' A1 g \- G* `, m8 C/ nor visitors.. {. Z5 J# K9 o* f( I J, R" B! O
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-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
