We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very) y. T. g1 t& y- v: S0 `1 ~
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we/ \( s q U. [3 _
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. " _, y; h, Q4 e: u& k 5 R* j1 R2 S6 O" r! d9 B6 ?4 aIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 5 v9 _3 K) F; P: Y* @30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 1 r5 _9 T2 _$ I% e c. m# I& n/ da very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as0 p, V$ G! ~8 q2 Y
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort0 g' V5 i; U8 J6 Z8 s( `. [' P
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 7 f @! K4 F) c Q9 `between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the4 ^1 M: y# ~$ h# u7 T/ ]7 h
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,3 ]# ? H6 d. I' A* t
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.$ l! s0 e- j _) A
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but. F) p8 ~$ ^1 w+ g+ s& w
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not : G: }8 c% n T# j: O& E4 y: iexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our0 G+ c ]* E) @/ [: g: s9 _
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through & N+ r7 `" S& l% o3 j" m" ma roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ) _; J4 `/ W1 Z( e0 g6 z; q u* k* ]5 v8 k/ d* D
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,3 x6 L9 ^. ^$ a+ x8 S4 K" Y
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool1 W( Q7 @4 ^% I6 U
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top & {5 ^% F9 W% Q" t) Y2 M* X- Oof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the; F3 N5 n3 ], o+ H
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from : I9 P2 g( B5 T% Y5 p* N49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes & s- j* H! x8 F4 E6 n# |; I3 GCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with: V$ k4 v* T/ a$ r: {5 _0 u/ `- T
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada./ W9 J- i3 E: T- U
3 ?5 k$ W4 [/ U9 f, }- s
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 1 v6 _ J2 h( u9 [just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made - ~; k' ?5 Z _for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 5 @+ ~1 K$ w: v- h o( \tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having7 h7 v6 ?6 l0 j9 T$ S, l
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 2 T. A8 O" T: a8 h" K$ \9 Gdaily 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( ]! G3 D* c/ M5 s, k
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went * Q! H3 p6 w; b2 Jon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,6 I7 ^! I. x/ n& K3 e
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give $ `: X9 w4 E4 O# X# a& d }answers to our pointed questions. $ n% a3 G2 [/ ^1 @9 p4 f9 C0 c" g2 C) ?3 a+ F' r3 m
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, U* D' J& R4 P2 x$ i5 M45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( H& _+ V) f% S" z9 g
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ g/ w$ t! ^7 Y* G
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams % O, x u) j D( M4 V+ B* \: _to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are. \! F5 w" k/ L3 [6 k. O3 u1 [
medical schools.& N5 T* K! j1 N3 O' ~8 b* M! Q
+ K# F0 Z2 `6 e8 o, wEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ( R i, D- L# ~( \$ Ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* m$ B P; X" y, U- P1 _
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' [8 N/ I4 ~; N( z# G5 l
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba. s$ O c, z4 z, t) g
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to . z" V2 S% p9 f" c. f# D& x: Mover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ! @; C4 K4 x, L! Wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" x9 G# V- K9 w+ V; p6 C
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 4 l. C( e1 Y6 u% S: W& y! nshortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 z( B( _/ L# W1 d1 }
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* z4 ~# M* E( P% K7 j/ A
% W7 l Q% c7 q- X* {; SThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 Q: a+ r% r! r# k0 Y5 _
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# Y. N, c5 @5 t7 F3 z" S/ n$ F5 J
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 3 J' B4 s' a1 s" v( jhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 M7 z5 U* P" n' [4 N& F" P
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ' l( p* ~' B$ I% D& y8 [" `. h# xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 `3 ]- f6 ^3 o3 H
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 9 K& {0 L) x: \3 C% WDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When & F% Z& b' G* P% o1 Ta lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only; ]6 L# a7 Y' O: D0 M' A, |2 D
charge the fee defined by the state.1 I, J4 i% Y+ Y( W- v+ d
, p( s$ n* I' NThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 3 @0 E. ?% ?. m# w: C. fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# L! o" _$ I4 ^' Y/ K9 h
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big+ \# \, W: [$ L! ?" P" X d' C4 W
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 W: e% q1 s& v$ [9 |7 ~" P3 v
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the * |7 K3 D1 x# s) gworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; A0 i% g6 a6 m! ], J$ m6 x
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if / j; ?9 v' Z7 U P, `2 O1 `+ byou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people- B' z6 b) Z$ q$ i: r: z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; _% @& v2 a9 c$ Q# g
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that ; i1 k" ]8 M+ P0 \% y, epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 7 k! _( |( k* [1 g2 ]to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or( G% q: T' G0 e0 ], `5 g/ G7 ^
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there/ c7 C4 M( s8 h6 n! X9 w
are spaces. ) ~; l- M: V/ l/ p% @- L/ |1 b6 J7 a. Z
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" f( W' q, g# W7 J1 I& E- H! \
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 {+ O, T! E- b8 q" D( ]5 r1 a
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the # ~! M T) l) I3 h$ i40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' q: q* t+ _1 X
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the + ~# D% [ v& I' k+ }) jbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few ( n$ e- V1 ]. _4 G3 knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 z0 P* m8 [7 j4 ]$ Y
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 4 h8 o9 B/ D7 x$ t9 e, Iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 8 T" |" L I- C1 z0 ?1 D 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# v% L# h* U) _
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all3 U5 J0 B5 F) b! j2 s. X- y
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 1 Z ~ r' y' I3 N5 M; k! t4 Wlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep : X; q* X) c$ j, a W$ [recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day" Z+ d! I) F$ T! U, ]% T
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of * Y5 x9 ?1 B; M4 O, m+ o7 \" kthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 2 L ~ S& G) v8 b/ M6 Ohave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the! I( ~7 q( v" v" @9 S/ i* M5 k
tourist area./ z. }$ j" _3 Y% `3 \
0 \9 x. d# G+ J$ l
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's( r# j7 q2 v" t3 B; _. i- Z
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).' b6 ?) ^0 K9 U9 D
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 6 c* |0 }1 g# Q# V3 p, g2 Z- {everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ) `: K( L2 [( K( q
less leader-religious. % q5 T+ G! V$ R$ z: o) _6 t4 m% {' w0 E1 t" v
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba6 [2 ]* P! u3 e7 ^% K$ m/ S Y
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big ! }6 b0 C! }( G# a9 `black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ) v* ~% P6 ?$ A( ~4 h* `embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).: r ^ j0 n5 Z4 c1 i6 G
) W- b8 I9 Q: @5 gWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the2 H- |& _# ~& j( o$ j5 _
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not + z) U5 k' p, P, l* B( ]the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 9 z" e+ ^3 j& l' aconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ) l$ j: d& L8 @7 rforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 0 `. F8 h: Q+ Q% k(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we / E* p- C: z; S( vprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the- V# ]3 f: Z2 T4 P4 |
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. + E+ D i% v7 U0 p* M1 c7 wAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local " P" l) K7 G! mor visitors. . W" n; f D3 Z4 k- E - |' [! G$ Q% Q- n7 k! Q, H2 [& ?4 A-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
