We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very9 U8 g0 O; I5 A! q' J0 X
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we: B; @/ o& T; k
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. - q* {* Z# c* e( Y) y/ a; A _/ X X' d5 f# W8 I& eIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, . g+ C, M3 b' E- |/ [0 f30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in6 i; H: j5 m n
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as9 V. W8 v* R# ]8 m
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort" y# O; O; l0 n( e
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep & w' S, M/ _ @+ V( v: A5 S1 `between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the2 l2 s# `/ f% D% |2 ]3 \7 N# F* u
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,- H3 t( e' u4 W9 d5 z* v e
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.# }# ]; W0 V% z, {0 z( N
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but : J% B' W; a1 z4 Y& dnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not( G- R6 Z+ z- @
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our# F0 i5 x5 z. U% M C% _
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through # P0 ?3 `& w- Ba roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 6 F8 _5 s: L2 ^$ [* H9 ~* f0 z $ m( B$ h7 s- g/ C$ ?The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, / k. {7 W" c$ i" Jlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool " E( k' ?8 ]1 Q5 V7 t7 }( }! w(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ) J5 h! q5 t. w e' I3 u8 Mof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the0 U4 Q; P5 b: |2 f# ]8 C
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from+ h, o# I) {/ W. o0 X/ i& T' o
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes+ f8 ]# Y# k# D/ u1 e
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with8 j6 S& E: B+ R0 }& q" h) W
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.. \$ A4 n! ?3 p+ m
1 G& @: O. V9 _ T" P8 UThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are' R; Z6 `! {% F# S
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made- L# C# I$ ]* H! k. F- a( i0 k
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ) |7 `0 h S% G; l2 o2 htourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having* _. C. G1 ]6 ^5 h- L6 M
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China $ G* k2 R) a& E: _3 ?2 @; jdaily 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, living5 e' H' |/ } @1 u6 t
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ) W H; @7 D% Z1 \8 G/ Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ B, Z: a0 l& m: N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 4 {9 Y2 p+ p7 i- Q+ B: \answers to our pointed questions. 0 [# E( c, O( h" L9 I$ v" V) B+ v+ _6 F; z
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,0 x* v" s, B0 S% [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 4 o9 W% X- s8 N0 l, ?) @3 ^4 [( sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% `& ^: o4 x6 [3 s& U) q
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; y" k& p0 D: w* m1 w
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are " k8 a3 W- R3 H8 i1 r6 t7 nmedical schools. : C$ L2 `# b( v( Z 6 i! D- r' ^9 j4 C# }Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 0 ?! I8 L$ x! [. n! v; j+ C1 |8 }government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 4 a, ?% N: E! S* A+ c( Jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 u( ~" P% H8 t2 Q. X: o% A( E5 }+ f
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 8 g& [# y5 X, }3 r: {9 H3 V ~( k1 gis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 3 k: Z' h k; U; h" M( Z9 kover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 C$ e9 v$ W( a j4 m# ]5 y+ T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and m' @" ]9 Y6 t8 H( a, m- Qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 2 W& Y2 w7 V6 i9 Fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some 8 \8 W$ S: x/ wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- l# z7 X: |, g
; |0 t* v; s0 ? S* y0 V1 H9 UThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no u8 r9 \! Y& H) ?private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and : }% t5 ~2 V# U- m' A7 Q3 Xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people ) ~& i7 k: f& m% {7 ghave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good % r" S2 ^" E7 S, }) i7 bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 O0 F y' g# H! K* V
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high# S0 }! ^ q8 o6 W
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ; C# ~, U5 [0 |, g' g" RDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 P! [( _; k" T S$ \$ v
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only - D; @4 V& N4 s2 L6 ^charge the fee defined by the state. 4 d- |) C! K1 k$ ]) s( Q% B6 S+ d; d1 s $ P% u. U W9 X$ g1 I# zThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 4 J0 D/ i' t% V1 X! i6 i! M- s. j4 Yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; B$ |( a1 R1 o4 Y8 y e( w. t
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big , b: [) H: W: K6 v2 p- { `truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ! b3 `) [) ]7 q7 h4 Oseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the : P$ O7 H1 Z3 D% u4 x4 e; vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' z- w0 j" V# t
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if " f& P2 `: V8 C) n6 Y# xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ^) m" X$ N1 }3 w4 T' z2 itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 7 W* n: o+ ~' z) X* ^9 ?4 \hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 3 q0 o0 \5 e5 B5 {people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want & G# n0 i. \3 h% W* sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or- w$ h+ X: o) n: m) m3 q: w# j
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there * v" Y! V7 Y( ^- I" b( _are spaces. ( ?) y9 h' k; d# a: w' {% }- u$ J" e. R6 r) ?/ R
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 i' z9 ]5 e4 J4 F: a; t
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they + {& i* R, M8 c4 ]own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 3 J7 I u, i6 F+ ? Z0 }$ R40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different( H& b# z( J L* x8 H" D# ^
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ p7 q9 Z9 @: }0 [
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& n$ }4 d$ ?6 V
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of W6 n6 Y: G! T. j3 d# c
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ]9 J' }; \* G/ H8 t5 p( F
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ; M; Y3 H7 p. A2 X& @5 |; {9 U( W 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% N4 {8 H. V8 Q* E9 L* J
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all , j$ w& ]% p1 e" G* N) Xthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ! g' \, w( C6 a. n7 ]+ j. Tlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep " {( _) |; w* mrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day. w9 f0 w. G6 q$ j& O
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of, [& o' m \8 a
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 2 T, y6 U/ l' ^6 m8 o" xhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the _! U6 b( p, I0 U [tourist area.5 b: T9 _' g% I6 I* Q* k2 J+ O! m
' }( t4 m+ O. T% x" ?6 C, S3 M
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's l# Q% H7 r0 n6 H& L2 \pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).5 i+ q8 a2 {3 r
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were: i+ _# \9 L. e& M1 S# f! a. Z
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps # a d" z3 `# J9 j! {5 B8 g9 u, f
less leader-religious. 4 Z+ ^' r- r+ i' T3 }1 X0 M! Q , t, D( ? r, n8 p- Y5 O6 \" c+ ]: ^About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ) t% {( x* D5 M8 n2 l& N4 pgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big / I& g# Y7 M i, Y& s4 Kblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 4 x0 L4 v% V! D2 y$ o/ i$ j7 _embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). ) q- Z$ w J: ~) G6 h: B; D, J# b* b E% S
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the $ }% F# o7 |0 z+ x0 |# Vparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not; G9 G# ^- P* B/ f: Z
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 4 `, p$ G2 @7 R$ d6 F4 zconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for * @4 {: c5 c. a# ~# ?+ m$ _- Rforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars6 N4 H1 C% u" Y. |& l& c
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we! d9 i- r: `" H
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the : v/ i( A Z( T% X, p% Z0 t2 Dreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. ; h/ P- b' h! P I- |9 qAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local( }2 ^3 F9 U+ ~/ c) m4 R
or visitors. 6 ~: @' I7 N: l; C0 ]& l2 ` ! I* c6 N0 Y1 H+ ^! U) a: q- `' ?-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
