We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very3 J0 c ]' z5 N7 x$ k1 t0 Q% Y
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we' Q ?: j F+ w1 z
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.7 w( T; J' S% d; {7 ?7 M$ w B! \
6 q8 j! p9 n& F5 k6 m9 |5 x. H
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,3 g+ G& b" B0 w
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in7 C M/ W. D% j; N# ^
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as, Z5 g( d: L% ^( A2 r5 m
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort x5 c9 v& {$ u. x
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ! F) C, Y! }' Mbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the! t, a' R- m, P/ q# R( E
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, " \" @. `2 A5 ewith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 9 |7 g* F$ W5 s1 B ]4 V: c1 i People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but5 ^3 m! J9 A: @+ J, k6 Q
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not; i+ M9 C! }& m1 N9 a0 V
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our . z0 E# H4 _! k$ c% S& Iflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through# c: @' k/ g Y: }; t. n
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ) P) N8 F- i; q/ L ! G$ l0 j2 ?* M; }; F: {1 bThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,. ?3 N x p3 W& c+ O& i
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool9 R8 C1 r* l& j( i& J! a7 L; F* Z5 p
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top& J- {) I& l( i. b
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 9 f/ T( I1 x2 m* ?# vstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 4 ?# o% I9 U& @* ?' Z49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes! u" B7 F7 u& W4 x7 I J1 \. `% F
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with( ~- E! T5 Q9 u- ~2 l1 n) ^0 |
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. * H4 N- z0 X: {6 }" r % Y: x: e+ I8 Y( kThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are $ m' w6 F* Z, H) Ejust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made : o2 m/ m2 @7 c9 X5 ^' o, Wfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba, P w4 _/ S% Q4 k. O- ]3 D* K$ [
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having/ W( `$ k$ Q3 k. W6 t' c* B
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China) s0 @2 T9 {: b: D. |9 ?6 \ g2 F
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& |* T; n) o/ x q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went* X: T# {0 t, D7 o
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 |0 Q) d: i2 m3 P5 s
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give : t+ F# x* d$ J5 e% j2 k1 ranswers to our pointed questions. 6 V& n. ^/ T$ T9 Y$ v: C# j/ d/ u) Z% _( ^5 p" O
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ( t: ~. t# ]4 N# u9 `45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand , P4 X0 h& {1 wout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is ( e% P1 l+ `" [3 p- C% t- Dfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams , S! d; a5 H; _8 N5 |* }to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 `8 s2 j. m* l/ A& a+ e
medical schools. $ d" f: U# [) ~: T1 c4 g, j8 k6 H7 q * K' o5 A" L ^) B6 EEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, r; {& Y. M# k0 X" Y1 K- J- j5 ]
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 ?, ^& s) ?8 }# `6 U( \
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years " b: i4 d1 B! Q iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ( a. X( U# j- x1 Q7 R6 Dis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ) y" t( w/ x/ s( @' iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' @9 g; R4 S7 Q/ I$ L9 a2 e# M/ m9 ?
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 n6 X6 p+ N6 m+ P* c% k4 A9 [
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk . i$ F7 W( a' V2 c; J7 @shortage which the government is addressing by converting some " g- e* m2 V3 G! usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. / |. U( n" P5 ]. U / }2 c/ o H" z0 T9 RThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 M+ y; w* R4 o2 ]8 B% [
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and $ a# p' i; E2 t/ x5 W' Wsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people " B0 c1 l% W f: Y. r$ Qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 A0 A- x: v* G9 U* u l
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby / D" d) M8 A& }; C5 Q5 Y$ hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; W+ o4 k) f( J/ Y! m. n) U5 e! `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. H( ]9 D H \) Q! F# L7 M
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 m) [. u% ?' k% U& k
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only + @( t( [- v+ g" E/ B vcharge the fee defined by the state. 6 b$ V* m' _: B$ ^" H3 `9 t5 J8 r1 @/ B C$ X
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# G- v$ ^- J5 |# B2 o. t+ l
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type x% G2 }# h6 s* m" @# G# Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' q7 C2 `8 j8 n* ?, `! i( K# e8 |
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel & \( _1 x( b& y S. h6 R" z' Bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ^: |- W+ V7 j4 |+ ?/ Xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 d1 t& y# b# H' I% f/ e$ _
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 3 S% c" _) N9 _; Gyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 ]5 m/ h: j4 K% D( M/ h4 y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch ! Q* t; }4 g$ @% d k6 n L3 thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& A- j+ p) I$ F( o
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# o$ I* Y5 h' \9 t4 u) I# f7 A
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ y* t3 j7 N" ]1 B3 V% K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# H/ O) u+ e6 i, W5 P5 P `# T( y
are spaces.( B+ x8 v$ N; S9 X
: s" v2 l3 i" qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi & E& @1 N4 T+ ^1 @1 f) O( hto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 5 Z {. h2 l. `3 n Y( V3 C& sown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the# @; ~2 I* d# G) T! W3 V7 @) {
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# C" L+ v% W, z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 s/ P" F; h0 |0 I
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few - ?5 d/ t. b( q. K$ dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 e$ A- W: p& K! P) m, h2 t: [
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it% W# X0 \ S! x) T/ [& {3 W: N
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 n9 k0 \) M$ ^3 I# h
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 Y% s3 R( G( z' t. K' s+ \spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all6 U3 G* [, A z6 \4 ~5 m/ o
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very y# c! D4 r# i* M" T' i: Plimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep ) e7 D3 }+ X5 c5 s. nrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day/ p+ X9 d% p5 @+ E, R6 J
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of i3 C0 y% a T" ?
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms; f0 _4 Q$ U# c b
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 4 L3 X+ z0 Q* r! M% r1 dtourist area.; _: z! s0 d) S/ S/ e
6 i# ^2 [* E& o( W. g: {, }
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 6 ?8 m9 ^, @ |# e7 |/ ]0 g, T: ^: Xpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). - E$ U! i2 ^9 e# H' o& ?Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were " b G. N7 l/ ]1 p2 |) Eeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps * g- K: ^0 s, J5 F. {less leader-religious. , I, F' |$ `% B3 H, S$ m/ B ; ] X7 L1 g; ? L, IAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba3 @7 }0 @; z# e
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 4 n$ ^) f! x3 Ablack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US0 Z) I/ O4 M7 c# k
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). ( K3 z7 `& v2 R' ~# T: v7 G4 M9 i! Y: M$ @% s% Q
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 7 y1 q( _; ~5 ]6 pparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not- f7 n7 ^% i7 Q" D2 T; w" `
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 $ ^# K: V7 N0 Aconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 3 ?" C. P) ^2 _+ y: pforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars ' D( P; i3 e. f+ b# ~( o(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we' I% F( t# a. W% p" ?( i3 {6 Y; h
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 7 N* C& u: l7 F8 @! G4 q9 m8 hreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 0 [; k9 s( h8 Y* k% }5 DAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local# `7 M9 v; e- \, ^( ]) t
or visitors., d- l6 z/ @8 k* M% ?
P( P3 z+ Y/ N$ r
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
