We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ( o. k& y |0 G2 k: q1 Winteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 6 S$ Q9 F$ Q; a# wwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. ' N: ^9 L! a0 Z; h1 Y0 x, |8 O' c, S: C$ s$ }
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, , G7 m* Q1 z5 o+ ~6 K3 O; i30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 5 L$ }4 ]. A3 n# m) \a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as# G9 D; D2 g) U4 o2 t1 e/ m
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort $ V; d' m: L9 H+ r) y$ Hshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep R* h: B5 k5 n' r/ R% K
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the! _/ m# ?6 m5 A p
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,1 z! ]/ v- R# T/ h; r" x
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. : Y; c9 ]: \, i+ m People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but . {& E( `. b& I) rnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 5 ^3 m! D% z' xexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 3 u0 L1 e( N4 H& O/ X. tflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through2 X+ K. f/ F: N8 ^$ \& _2 e
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. , E5 Y: ~* h: d9 Q 1 g# M1 z$ _: m8 tThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,1 |% T" \& Z# g5 c) \9 ~
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool. w; c/ n. J z( F# D5 o
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top8 P B, e% C; ~8 }2 J
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ( t* s$ O+ g% @( b" ?stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from9 d; c$ ~1 K1 y& }: w
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes& a) m0 Q, G* [8 C( @# _4 q
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with U2 t% R, q9 ^3 Q/ {# l# N
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.. F, ~* b$ d7 ?+ d) ?
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are% j; l8 x8 d: R: [- b0 D6 `, q
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 1 j. R! N) c. f# z; kfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba+ U* L' ^! n$ e m# P$ m* r; C
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having $ N! n& q( d! k/ ga staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ' H5 @4 ?# o* B( e4 B8 {: adaily 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 : h4 i+ k( `4 Lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ Y5 ]% X9 p6 t6 J8 U) t/ k
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) m3 g3 S4 P% @# F/ e% D1 l- x0 [
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# K: i1 B' M; E7 V# k" @
answers to our pointed questions.' A& @+ d" E# Z9 O3 E
7 K C$ d, Z$ M; d! bThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, % f% F& J/ s8 [+ S. a45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand' }/ f9 d1 E4 Q, ~: p o/ C
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is; t. |8 T% N9 A. y. R7 E
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams , y, c }* M# z' F+ U" I! [to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are , g9 I( V2 @/ pmedical schools.( A" y5 I! G/ U. _% D
[$ S+ U; s% ]1 iEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% l- Z) C* N- d* G: n
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 3 G: y) d. a: k9 r. ]. pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 4 ~% r7 Z# W( T4 `* @6 Passigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba6 v% e1 o; _* u: P$ V$ v
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 3 \9 i9 b6 g2 q, ~. m( P4 \# ~- Mover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 3 i1 ^/ @& I7 Q8 t6 S; H) L8 {seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ! m0 j% T8 v7 [mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk $ D: @5 D, ^, H+ Y1 O0 j- L/ cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some ! ?' V) Z8 T* I( D6 h3 Tsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' J3 t9 f" b: k; p/ l
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! T8 B0 B9 O! {! r! W
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and ; Y' B6 [7 e+ j9 x0 E' X; w% ^9 ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 h% w1 M2 J" W
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good3 v4 g4 U) H& H6 d, h# L# A; Y& }
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby , g/ N/ |1 P1 J1 e6 Zsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ M( q, T; `9 n
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. & ~7 X* B- Y* s! a! R% {Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When " I* _3 t- M& V+ j, Q/ la lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 m" S& Y2 A0 U/ W' V5 N
charge the fee defined by the state. % C8 J6 L/ V2 i0 G1 z7 r/ ~6 y' b5 b: M' a; k* o* P0 n
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ |( {7 p+ H' `
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! ^9 ~( }2 n' y2 o8 Q& b5 I0 [
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" x3 K" L( v' e6 Q2 l
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 4 e8 @. Z5 C% l) f2 ^' Yseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 x9 a: H& R, g% R, b8 _- \
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ( L/ Z1 X# z+ g9 Z! c6 b7 Ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 9 T5 |: B+ W) d. p, w6 t7 kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 p0 z) O+ M7 c& M& G, K
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 2 W" _* [8 ^6 S- Ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 L& z' H/ X# y' u4 v
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 0 @- N6 B2 _- I5 oto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! p$ H/ @* v( C1 M0 q8 Q
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there . P& K; P) a# Q2 g' c- ]are spaces.& a. X- x/ s1 p5 T j# j$ i6 g
' c5 {4 W. }8 t5 b! K+ e9 K k2 CThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi8 Q7 j: C9 m9 N( V Y2 R% r: w
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they ; Z( z9 z& T, x* Mown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 7 ` U( F. I1 o7 O$ M40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different- s; n# l# @( ?) Y
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ r, T/ ~1 W, |. L$ [# b
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 7 U& U; |- C c$ t6 |nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* n) n: i+ ~+ G$ _& C) ~2 e' Q: x
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 u/ t4 Z) _3 c9 K% L8 j4 e0 D. ?
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. , [7 R: c$ I! U* N' u 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 . s7 h" g& W. V+ aspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all/ e% X$ ^+ [" u R
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very/ U; J5 T: M, H9 p% ~. P% J# Y
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep% j" K! I+ s e9 G$ `
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day8 B- ~9 |& h2 v" G/ @
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of" q0 |' ]' O5 H$ @9 V+ L
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 1 Q9 m6 @8 i, @3 P0 B _have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the / b# Z/ S- D t Z5 g8 P6 Rtourist area. ! X; z A& z. P6 [ 0 p+ \6 C4 C5 D3 BOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's q% q% R; I: f' l1 qpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara)." l5 M! b3 c* Z+ e n4 E, o2 J
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were+ W; i: z- K3 w+ r1 g, b$ b/ ^* |, w
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps , J5 A4 A& T, e% Z Y
less leader-religious.% [: x; D. N5 Q
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba# I% ^( p# _# j2 ^* x, U
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big # h# H5 T1 F. p6 y4 C& ?+ lblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US: m9 |7 R3 z% g$ F
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).* C6 v0 {7 o k5 K8 {2 Y. e
3 Q3 [+ h& s% i6 eWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 6 |: P# j1 ~' G. L% r: K6 ?% ?parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not / p# C4 G4 D4 d8 L9 tthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1$ A6 u) k; x# c- V+ F5 H
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for8 k# g9 z2 `6 ~7 ~# e6 d
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars% S4 G# o: L" N2 H& S5 h4 b
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we* R6 Q' y9 s' [# S# h
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the# Y7 T* V" V% w
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.6 g: G& m! `8 o# [8 n9 X+ i
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local ~& X& |' S! q- D( h; n, lor visitors. 7 O% M) h) m0 _" n. d ?3 C7 v
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
