We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very% J: P* r7 C# `) u1 H, K
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we [( t+ ?0 _( _" V3 lwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 9 V0 s. c e; r2 c) x0 E F. @0 i7 {; f9 V
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,0 o- g6 n# t% W3 o9 ~. D3 X8 {
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in" _9 w: Q4 V! D4 S4 }
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 9 }- t0 M n9 \ q1 Spossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort7 |) A0 B5 F9 `& {$ U5 T1 A
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep& p; x* t& m$ X _) j7 m
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the+ C" r! k+ q7 C1 v7 P
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,) i( ^! a* ` Q8 W" u
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 9 n% T& X8 I$ ?+ m+ m People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but# Z* w( p. _4 W$ w
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not/ \( P% V+ _! K& {
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our+ d% ]4 s$ l/ f' _
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 0 y1 `& D% ~& z% _/ ca roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ( {& \- m" l0 ~ Q$ S7 H& A2 V7 P# |6 g9 n5 l+ O, |) o
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, d0 D# j$ }3 ?/ y# y9 v5 O' zlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool # V, ^. o; J. p8 F, P- c(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 6 a; g' M! i* a/ g u* Aof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the " x( A. D5 V# l/ V# @3 l$ i7 Pstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from+ ?% N) |6 b* P4 x$ r8 ?* L
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes + i" y1 j1 ~! V m4 }+ u& J0 j/ WCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with: h7 H+ b8 s( _* ^* A# |
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.) R) z) L3 d- O1 G) G, ~4 A
! q! j- H$ W3 z5 ~3 C0 m# RThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are / K8 F7 J6 P* _/ Ojust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made% U, V) ?9 r8 T1 V2 T
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba E3 m/ k; _! x& P7 ~5 q' ltourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having* ?5 D& e7 }' I
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China * X+ |+ q7 s! G! E( G3 d) rdaily 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 * l' T) @& l% L# D! T( W. qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 9 V7 w: M8 u {) l" p* n- h/ U l% jon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ ?: M" E$ g m: _
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give . \( W& d6 r. k& Oanswers to our pointed questions.0 w; k2 @: }6 J) r# y! @7 P6 v
4 _5 O3 j& V. f/ k, T0 e/ {
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ S' _" N, B/ j9 I
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! b7 x3 ~0 ?+ Z% Q; P& ]
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is ) D3 l$ S' ~$ o1 S6 D* P5 lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- M& R9 K( v2 Q# B. N8 {0 O9 {$ q: R
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are % o" x$ v1 f/ o2 c8 ^. ^* L: e7 X2 Wmedical schools.; P0 S4 g7 E' B' C# l
& |' L! l3 L' v' W- r mEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* s# D# Y/ E& }1 {, r) @
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 g- T4 P0 R2 p0 x* I U- P
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years u- a' t; c; |7 f2 p/ g4 ]
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba k" H7 S9 g3 C1 g
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to4 t" ~3 m, v* y4 j% o
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. ~* P" n( O! v3 {" R. w
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and / ]5 W4 `1 j0 d1 u# u) e) smostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk$ j. q. L- V( f; |. P0 f- t4 |
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) P6 V* e+ ^5 E3 M' k- b" r
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* c8 l0 e Q5 w4 ?& n+ [; J: @
, o: N( v. f4 p4 L+ Y0 M. d& x* S
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 ]/ |- X0 i* C3 H' I: @( ?& o
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and , L7 _; ~/ t2 S7 lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people . @; B! H8 Q) ]% ?3 c8 V) f/ ihave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 s N9 e7 r/ t6 r! ?6 e8 p
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ! a3 W# k3 R7 u/ g, P3 i8 Esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; t0 y0 b8 z+ m0 i0 t5 @* i9 w
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% B. H& P* N" c) w1 H
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When Q! U* i+ S! d! ?
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ( O1 n7 P0 O/ ~1 k e' U4 Hcharge the fee defined by the state. % k/ a% A( u% F) a y% N& I& ?' h3 O! U4 }
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get5 u' G8 j [$ L6 I3 f: L8 _
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 3 m. \% e# [( t' a+ h( t- A2 t8 Y* Dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 1 d* @# k& ?: ~0 _% G, Struck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel L7 O7 U8 ~; B0 _
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 |! C2 R+ q4 a1 R
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 2 S1 P' |1 C$ A O0 hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 n3 T3 [7 W0 L3 m: M- Z( Z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people - |: s, N0 p& a3 Q; h0 e, J- Itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch & c/ Z8 J2 y. p! Nhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% L# i2 z/ Q0 L' x) j; U
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 j8 z5 P/ u. Q+ E, Q; E; h
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or- [( u4 A4 W: ^8 t, l5 W" O
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there " s) h9 U# E; U& Z) T4 V+ yare spaces.% X3 o5 c$ q9 p" u, z1 i
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 3 ?: F! n- q' _& q/ P3 Yto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 C# S6 u+ e) r# [( r( {% t
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 u' c7 o6 u j6 K! ~
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different : ?+ }- O, g# Cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the* k) |6 F" x( I$ ]
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few & A/ O$ n8 y! {nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 3 W2 X# t X* `$ x- Dcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 0 g' g/ b" [. H0 e6 Ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. * U/ e6 h/ P+ b8 { 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 : V5 c) u C9 t6 Fspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all5 M9 K! J& z6 E; e; J* S8 P
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very! I; F. v1 v* ]6 @& ]
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep% l) w( @2 I- I# m$ a# Q- e9 L+ m
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 6 G f/ B6 i8 ^4 l# s: v$ V# bsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 4 c0 d0 e, J& b$ Ethem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms& q! `0 M1 O1 |& q
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the . S/ P1 P" U P% c0 H1 S, P7 ?tourist area. . i4 l9 K0 T9 i2 o; W B, t 3 P$ s5 P$ B) r! S9 |# FOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 7 f. D2 c9 T7 z- K5 Z j8 r" Ppictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).1 Q8 m+ m2 O! w
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 4 d' N5 o: ]8 ceverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps + V3 u' e* J8 t" N8 y' g/ `
less leader-religious. $ m4 N! M$ b& R" B, D' Z- Y7 I) i) a+ V; e5 ?
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ) z# D! O+ C: r' zgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big* `& L+ z9 L: y; w
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US & p) I( a4 h+ G+ t# d% Lembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).3 V( T- s+ k/ {7 o9 y
8 W) p- o% r2 X( L) NWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the6 k: }0 E& O# o- p; P( G
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 5 E) q [( e/ n$ tthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 . E: ~1 w- f1 ~* N9 g4 jconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 8 R" G# {) s: Iforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars: f+ n) `! V6 h* B
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we , Z9 ?6 P" z/ Jprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the: {! w, R- I& j' c& Q
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.7 t$ f2 j4 G0 l9 n+ E
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local+ ^! N0 u$ N& X) c
or visitors.9 k/ g9 s$ C1 M Q$ s( j$ h! r& I
F& ~, O- _2 S5 s" R7 `% \-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
