We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very8 o3 y! P# D2 T4 x4 o
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we, L0 Z. P5 u" k t$ K
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. : d8 [! `* r' n 9 ?9 f; U; w6 N0 z) E' ~It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,+ h* m; p1 s# R0 `$ f/ \% y8 j: ~
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in; ]2 \' I: t/ S
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as9 a7 x n* X# w! D
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort + b4 t8 X1 g, U; m: Ishow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep . o" {6 Z" P- J' M+ A1 ?6 Ibetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the / O4 K0 ~. l1 q' p, w7 Nlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ! q$ P" U% _1 J( O7 v+ m6 Mwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.2 q8 A. \# h, F9 F
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but . H( w$ ~3 K4 o" o- l: f5 Vnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not( x! r' p5 @# J8 e) D
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our , c; f8 w; h) r+ E) |5 o7 Dflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through: ~; P/ A; m) p# ?0 ~* L' \
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 9 g1 T6 y- d7 J+ A- k5 L$ j6 g7 F) h; s+ C2 ~/ B
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, , x, G S/ D7 {. F, U* B3 olow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool0 t3 k) C# n( p2 S7 p. A& I- S
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ! f9 b3 {8 p) Oof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 5 p2 ?5 k* F) p# `9 [5 y9 R7 |stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 9 X v1 y# F# z- K2 }- T7 k, `49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes- \; `0 \" `$ ^ }; D
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 0 k% i5 v7 q9 o7 Afingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.9 i+ p( s. L% `4 r/ l3 {
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are9 U' o, D& k* _
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 1 c0 e+ A X+ n! r+ \for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba( L) k& E; G7 ?% M
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having. F5 c: Z' s, h6 r5 l* n
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 9 A% S: S1 k7 v- Fdaily 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 5 E& d1 u. P1 G c5 K/ I# c. istandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went : E. N4 w1 H, M( Xon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 4 Z* g& B3 A" \" W v" d. a"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 7 e# v7 W8 C- s8 c1 Eanswers to our pointed questions. " Y1 y9 f* O2 H, v7 M j1 x( x Z/ Z
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( T" s. ?1 N7 G b
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 ]6 t6 H8 h! w9 ^
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 4 K8 f) b( C4 K( L$ q* U5 B$ Rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams j0 E/ ^9 m) w4 B) Oto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 V( [3 a6 J% d# v* ^' M- |3 q
medical schools. ; r U; x. o0 U6 Z2 J( k% f! h' l) f; o" {3 z/ Z. K
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the3 t6 D8 J6 L5 }; Y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants . k8 X2 I1 ?4 Q7 r8 [: @; J" Uto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years + U# N1 o5 ]7 _. O9 uassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 4 b4 `0 E# v; |# }; g" u2 ]is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% O2 O# `. n3 a) \( M0 K3 @$ ?* w
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There; b. _" O! I+ s- e% C: a, l! b
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and; F& B1 K! `/ g X
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk% Y1 Y( o, W7 O! | p! n. t
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 1 G& C8 |7 ^. U( J F( @sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 W# ?& ?9 ]1 `
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; ^ T) ~3 i3 s4 j. @4 r
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 0 `5 H- @& R: b" j# a1 P ssupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 4 A/ P( @# i4 [4 w9 d5 g: a# Dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 4 U" f: \3 c8 k. w3 q' _thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ) u& n2 M' S9 m1 M" S4 Bsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ! L! C4 l( P' r9 x5 M1 mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' D: s% [1 e( r' s t8 ~
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! R6 @; x9 w2 O, I1 h" {
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 4 o+ V' N% R" Y' E2 t4 s/ e! fcharge the fee defined by the state. ! j( _! W9 s; f, O4 B$ {$ u 6 `) ]2 O& l: O7 P& ?! P7 xThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get " h! z7 w; b3 _# K9 x" q% Jon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 5 f7 w7 U1 k2 p8 d( _of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 Z/ v! X: R( y. k$ n7 G! @
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& F/ H' V) S7 O8 |: E' q' u2 y1 i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ f& G' [3 H2 J4 e- {! |
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& m3 r A0 `% ]
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 5 n2 U F) p: y$ q7 v6 s; ?0 myou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people6 B) k$ F/ V0 @) P3 R8 {) U( o0 `, s
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 [/ W7 d$ h9 }
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 6 l0 ?8 f0 P, Y& y2 Kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" h, d$ O! E! Z( y* U
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* y1 H' _' `6 c$ v. p0 m
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! x9 L# G6 ~/ q) b# ^
are spaces.! ` C9 n; M c1 j F
& f: b- x" N8 eThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi. l4 w. O3 K8 b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they ! C, Q7 |) d! m: cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the % m# G4 P6 l( v; g40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 6 O3 P# P9 S4 D: v# Wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 u* M/ `) A, K2 [
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 A4 |; J4 a4 f k3 n% s/ C. L
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of ; X. G* q5 f8 p6 Z8 v, u. Kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 O0 f4 F# R2 L ^* s# Y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. : V/ Z4 q. c3 q$ g# _ 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 9 j2 O9 X" g; }5 T. _! Mspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ~# y6 ^& g# b" a! q, ~) Y
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 5 i! h. j( a" W8 Y# p) }. B7 Glimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep3 H" Q. B* Y K+ ?- T
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day % [. [; N r5 esupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of' L0 K8 |. A" `6 P* v- u
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms - c, q8 ?4 A# `, [* Phave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the1 c9 m* [: u* W5 m0 C0 h
tourist area. $ q! H( i2 N, Q. \; ]& ~; w% ` : M6 [! n4 |8 L# m" VOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's. q# i, E7 ^0 l. I4 o) A1 R
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 2 ?8 ?4 J# S2 D2 N2 JCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were. l1 Q8 k/ `8 z
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 7 Y) h1 C2 Y" t5 N/ W
less leader-religious.+ ^+ Y' q. t3 i1 d1 A; Z1 s- U4 o, B5 U
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba' B7 g$ Q& F4 M
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big1 C+ m* _* x( C4 |1 p4 L
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US7 Y- g, R3 T/ i- u
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).1 K% d& X3 v& K* X
6 B% S! h7 }) w7 f- D6 HWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the . B9 Q' ?1 j* h Tparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ; }0 Y. d6 N3 ethe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1/ l' h7 R+ j8 e8 I& x
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for0 D" _" ?) t- s6 F
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars " g7 R8 G) i( W/ m$ e3 @. z(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 0 A! B1 l& a8 k2 r' a3 Pprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the9 W% B% {+ @+ l$ d+ ^. X: K. }1 l
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.' ]6 F! b8 j- l7 X. O) I- @, H) T
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 1 _) l9 n' ~; ]8 Uor visitors.6 P. t3 r i/ s
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-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
