We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 8 e: a6 J* m9 O; w& ]8 einteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 3 r, a6 {0 ~7 [wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.$ L& P3 h: w" B- ]. y3 V8 E7 h
% k7 E1 i. Q/ @. E: v' ~5 }! KIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,& _; I& o, Z- f; ~
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in - Z; ]0 Z, b: `2 O* Y- u; O0 G+ la very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 6 S( H" ]* S' r+ jpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort N! v5 }- i8 ]: R) u7 Cshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 5 T' c( z8 U h/ g8 n/ d/ f% fbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the+ ]$ v) j, M+ _4 ^6 ]' y
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,( x- ]. A/ s) Y! r' J r9 u" B) t
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. , p7 ~8 P& a' G0 _ People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but. d) H% `0 H9 z0 _% n
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not % r: f! l" F7 n: t8 R2 c8 O5 }0 |4 Iexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our2 W+ Q& y1 c/ c6 d$ `. M6 e
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through# E: e, D" t+ I# Q! j0 ^
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.. {- S: x d: p$ m) E j% Q/ U" z
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, ^0 Q; n3 ?% S
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool! M6 @3 Q9 R9 ^ I+ A" D( r+ m
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top! n. F8 }, e* H1 {
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the9 O" C& R3 i% F. u; z( ^1 b4 Q
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from; D7 a9 G6 K! F I6 T* M# c
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes : Y' ~8 s: } ~5 t6 a9 mCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with# f: n2 x+ ?% K0 e# U! Y: ?' p
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.7 b" S1 ?, \8 j& {
" w5 v6 S2 N4 q2 {5 E; C* d
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are ! S7 O2 [9 c, sjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made* P/ } `% w+ y3 G
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba & a2 }7 w& h8 Y/ e& T% C# rtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having! v: f6 q: \7 _4 I
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China- O& M. u" J% P0 L
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 + |5 P3 C1 m/ v3 w9 i6 }3 ~standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 @3 G p, h; Y, w! `
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ J7 [" V1 l7 S" C4 X3 ?( W& n
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 2 A$ `5 J, [4 `8 ?answers to our pointed questions. 6 b. c. J" n& ?' E5 n! v $ x0 J) V8 ]! T- uThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 a& N g' ~* \2 Y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 G5 T; Q C1 @ ^
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 V; A# w7 S; J' Z. y
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; |# q' t$ O# Q6 R9 \
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are Q- u9 N5 d" A9 ^6 X
medical schools. : c' E- o0 R- p7 {& m/ X4 L3 _: o# ]8 R9 K8 C, B% q% m: u
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the. | I1 r! R2 Q5 `
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants ; W# e4 Q3 `* T) c, y F9 h$ O) [to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 9 l, r) f4 j/ S E: l- \7 ~assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( ]9 {* E6 T5 c" f7 ?5 q( R
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 9 f% H4 G2 L( b, i/ v f9 o+ i& hover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 }: t! `4 {. {( ?4 L1 z5 c4 F
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ( p! Y( X K, J2 N0 c2 zmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" ]0 B v8 z) D! h. h# j, w
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some $ V' z) \8 h( W% p. T Asugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- K/ w- @! p/ _( y# b+ q% O, J
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 9 g9 S+ L, M' c2 ?private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 6 ^8 l2 e$ b, w4 w' l+ qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people Y8 x2 c/ l- a
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good ' k8 n1 G% ^& B/ X* L( Lthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby " X: l$ X$ J' `sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 8 P& E& K: h! g8 ~" `6 g; U3 Q# jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' V- C2 `3 O O9 }% _ C" Y
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& l) z& V! F! H+ |/ f2 s1 o
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only * s) X) A5 Y( j- C& ~9 z3 O( pcharge the fee defined by the state. & ^$ X* D2 n9 x5 u1 N! G) _" [8 T8 j
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get7 ~1 V0 h. P7 O' V: I2 ~! Y G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ( y* y% V8 `1 dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- r6 R- \ v! {% d
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ }3 e' n0 t* i1 X
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ( t/ W+ F* t8 A2 a0 Q5 Gworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' a; `' }, j' @
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 T, I$ @' A' N. O: u* C
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: ?, G5 Y/ v9 R2 u
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" e; H* @5 M- D3 A5 V
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ s3 x( u4 ?0 A6 U, e
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want # l# | ~: @5 Mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 3 _, t' I& U$ zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there , T+ e# F( C$ R/ ]( E0 X S! `are spaces.1 _9 E! H2 b* }
1 I* C/ o3 F) _% ?There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi. J. \ \+ V8 ~ M! f8 X
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they ' i S0 \9 z7 {: J+ e @1 Fown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ j2 ?, l6 i5 i+ g3 m, k- a
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different : q( \& m7 \1 uparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& `; R8 H. F+ F. W u
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few# P7 P7 G5 p4 f0 S' v3 t
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 9 g- w. `6 I; Lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it. d1 t" O) |$ s' [& m* g. t
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! l. L$ l/ `% A# V4 Z0 [" }# P
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* ^3 {6 c" A- y
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all % A- n7 y2 d, B7 Y! `: N! V2 Mthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very / d* w. N3 b/ Llimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep/ |3 u" P7 R1 z$ {8 w0 D# i
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day2 I. Q) s6 j2 I/ N7 \
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of : \& U9 T9 g- S1 S" D# c; F. qthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 3 N" Z' B* ]2 v/ J. Q: ihave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the8 J* p9 g% R4 ]+ E
tourist area.! F3 X) n7 O$ A3 Z& Y( Q4 Y
7 l8 V p- F6 H' F" AOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's : z+ P: ]! v$ ]4 g1 A& W' K. Ppictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). M( L/ y! D& L. r, U
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 5 K& l2 C" K4 p) `& z! d2 t! q6 u( Keverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps & L) |! \2 v5 J& H
less leader-religious. ! }8 X1 a+ ~1 a9 \+ l' B/ K ) t9 _4 {1 \2 ?3 z& @) @. m( pAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ! p6 b* E9 ?1 L8 W, C1 ggovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 8 U |; _' M- r. k- Nblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 0 y# [/ I1 _) A# t# q. E" Dembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 6 M3 b+ K9 @: K: Y6 D, ^0 P + n5 h8 k" p8 G3 k$ qWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the & m8 ~3 n5 J+ K6 Bparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 1 p9 ^* \0 S" h0 `6 }the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $19 M2 x" a' C1 l9 ~6 D* `
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 5 W D8 W$ a! O, c) c8 _6 i4 u. z) tforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 7 w5 Q0 c2 z3 z; ](less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we ! Z' X5 ~0 W+ L$ Tprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 4 b; d7 @. E% i2 [real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. , I( b0 B. O# t( tAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 6 Z8 `/ K- p6 ], k& Q6 _or visitors." U8 ^, G) w& ~3 s& W* S
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-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
