We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very4 x* o6 p, z. ? V
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we % y; C8 C/ {- `) E* Ywanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.) G6 B- t, l2 t" h6 T
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,/ a6 g4 B# ~8 K* f
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in3 B. c/ l4 j/ r' |) m% U; K* \
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as* X+ `5 B2 v! I8 C* d
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort- {* u* m/ ?2 t
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep& }- q9 g% B/ E* s0 i2 c% Y. j
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ' s2 ]4 Q5 u) p" ]7 Y) Jlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 3 d8 E9 [6 u& R) O7 k# Gwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.7 A9 m4 s3 J- g* Y" M
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but - D0 L% @* Y/ {" b9 Inames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not" X6 S1 l7 G9 H/ w" N
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 6 ^4 q: G( _! `2 o. d% Iflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through8 S. ?( Y! \. |- Q7 `
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. / F( n8 |/ l$ v' u( ~$ D/ y p( L6 j# r; g* `+ [+ I+ z2 J
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,: ^6 _0 b+ E" p& v4 p" }
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool3 i, o% L6 J$ Z
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 8 u9 B2 w% E \) P$ Q- yof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the Z. W1 y5 x8 }( f
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ' ^* C$ {) v) J2 r5 D49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes % ?' e5 H! f4 K0 ECuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with0 V7 v6 J# k3 D4 W/ H3 S" b3 x
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.6 T( u4 `) q g6 L, T/ ^7 |- W
. c* F& X5 o! k: ]4 G* \) aThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are; z c4 f7 f5 L4 }5 F1 J! V* ~
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made m5 J( s4 |- P: P+ E
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba + v/ C) ]4 [5 o. g( E- }% Ntourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having. ~- Z9 P2 |7 f8 [+ O9 x+ k, n' ]& u
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China. Z& |8 z8 {2 o
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 2 ?1 g# {1 ]9 p3 istandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went , Z2 m1 u: t4 K- Don a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,% {" d1 S' i! B2 V8 n+ c8 w
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, Y* f8 s: |; {7 V: B8 T0 q" N4 j
answers to our pointed questions. + ]# g' d& G/ W! V: h8 E6 B 2 p& D4 X5 m1 `1 z/ a( iThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. j6 l0 S8 y: G: u# e6 [& c1 Y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand T' U, Q d# i
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is ' O- M l6 \, @free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams* M/ G1 V( k2 {. Y2 `: u
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are $ ?% q D1 G# amedical schools.0 P. i! T1 T N- D
9 O9 |# l, Z$ I5 j; {+ O+ |* MEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ' Z, U# i5 B' f/ ~government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 7 ^4 s, q; U, {: t8 Q! Tto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years * h$ F4 [9 C& r8 h2 u3 @- Eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 g! j* f& ^% d* U
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ' J; a0 e( `) Q8 Eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 2 Q+ I3 K0 K# j9 }5 d5 @! Rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 4 O1 f" \: ?# h; \6 E7 cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 p- ]2 u. ?! a" q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some - s" O) s$ ]: M, ~3 Esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ) R/ g. Y6 X ?: f; _5 U! p 2 X( ?, B4 x: k- HThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no * o1 E2 P% X/ [private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# i+ p% z; O$ j4 Q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 8 A+ b6 ~3 @8 g; M& {3 P* zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 7 D( Y' ?5 F# z) n# E; s- R0 ]# G( y6 Gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 u3 x! _0 P& P( P% W: _9 H1 o8 {
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ) V4 F2 \3 J# m* Tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.! Z- ]+ U9 L7 D
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# r! Y/ z$ ]. u" ~9 l f
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) P& {8 C3 |# o$ @9 n
charge the fee defined by the state.* f+ y. H2 M5 E$ D2 H6 d. [
) o- I$ }+ Q1 Z/ mThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ L+ F" f: B) h4 y
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& D1 n% j9 v# [0 S2 f& n8 s8 N- A7 V
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# ]; I- |% x/ {0 D9 u8 E
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! j5 R# O9 s. X9 u6 P- j4 h
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) Z* S7 \$ C- b, D& l# S% ]( K3 r
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on . h. F2 I: I- d+ ~& ]9 hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if / v7 u/ ~( s- D: Q; iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 m0 D: _, o7 {) z( V
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch b5 H$ k2 a; t. Q; W Y, Ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. [( p. U" p8 e2 ]7 i
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want Y7 ?! A. u& x g% i" D, u8 bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' h" ^- a u/ Q' J2 V/ b& m% r4 P* s
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there : o. v+ Y, I8 V/ Q5 Kare spaces. & \8 \7 [- d4 d4 c4 {9 {5 o( J6 I+ t2 K7 s& ?7 D) r4 U8 x1 U$ A' e) Q( z
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 i( K# q0 E) ]2 r% B
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 r/ w/ N% ^8 k% c
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 V/ @3 B% o3 ]* O
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different / _9 e& J4 X5 N; K9 c% t) aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the / _: v( O5 ^( U* q: Pbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few j. Z& J# o0 \+ cnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of " d0 Z. x+ M+ y3 D V5 w2 `. ]car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ O1 l6 m& y& ]) R- b& C
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.% E) D/ k6 X' k, \
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 ! W6 P2 ?5 w# z' A( rspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all8 F1 s% M' p; n& l1 x& ~: m
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very/ k5 l* N$ h6 o0 T8 K
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep ( h0 L' q* f- J; I+ K1 P. ^recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 7 y% H9 f, S* L2 t$ X3 p# O' V3 ssupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of8 m; [5 ]4 d" r# Y$ @0 W. a6 O, g
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms1 S9 D" n9 |6 [" a& O& I% T' S; u
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the% o' ^( Y7 Q* m# s0 S/ x B# H- }6 t
tourist area. # n: Y8 c6 E |5 E$ n1 s! R1 ] ; }) x0 r# k8 Q" E2 c) {# B- D% p/ FOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's , E' p1 r+ E9 |! x9 L& U1 |pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).1 a/ r7 v; f7 g0 b0 p- _4 X
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 6 O. O4 }+ e) k& geverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 5 ?2 Z) m5 J3 Z) {+ Q' f/ ]# |4 a( Bless leader-religious. 3 L/ ^. [. S* M7 J( y! q) s% w . ?# `& n% x) p/ h; C" m/ Z0 L) BAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ! v. |4 U/ q/ w- V, vgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 2 Y3 A% F$ }/ D4 \1 z ?, `black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US / U2 A, T" o" T0 ^embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).& b' ~5 e M5 J/ x
, ^/ N" U }. j/ M$ @) j" e) Q
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the! B7 ?: g# U2 |7 R" D# y( @) w
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 7 h" J1 F) B0 ]1 S9 othe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 - Y* ?; ~- g7 c# nconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for & p6 i9 [+ V( R3 r2 p8 jforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars& V2 |* r! O b8 U$ Y$ r0 c
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we0 q: u3 G" q n& S
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the% \& c: A0 J' z6 F
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.0 f8 n; q( T# ^2 {5 `' O
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local ( I; ?: U$ X9 Q$ h! x* Xor visitors.8 H" G. [+ T. M
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-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
