We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very% ?2 m+ W3 j& T% U
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we * d4 C0 }$ v* Xwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible./ H& b! F+ p" e! l( ~& ]8 X. B4 Z
- q" \/ X5 U. ]It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, ! v2 \3 A) l" m4 h* N1 t& Z30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in5 a- y" ]" x( @$ F7 [ @6 N4 x
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as. r3 M; j6 w3 \( J6 p6 H7 N( s
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 2 S$ ]/ ^; d# Z5 l" Z" V N* w; @show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep* d" K! }, l2 f1 \4 p! @* N- v1 n
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 8 R% s. K1 _2 Q6 T7 Ilobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, % a# U |5 Y6 lwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.! \) F3 s; q6 k3 q0 E
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but: D4 \6 u/ y: A6 I
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not$ v/ }" i( y/ D1 d. F1 m1 {
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our/ f+ U& E7 J, S& Z3 Y; z3 d
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through* c* ?: |; t% w2 E: |) Z8 w! K+ b) m
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards., v. q" C1 p6 j' F: J4 I6 ^
, r9 H4 x, L0 s. F$ c, CThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, + F( c/ q- I/ ^ X! a7 C0 Jlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool8 Q- o3 Q; _9 [+ C+ ] H* T
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top' F; n3 _6 L- s8 C+ B$ ]
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the4 r# I2 i' j# D
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from" B% c/ P s. o Q
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes7 {6 m) I' C2 v. I z: W, g- F
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 2 O7 r" t& W3 Q2 J8 ifingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada." i9 P |# j0 H; \
4 l0 R4 J7 x- cThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are+ b8 `8 p7 z+ ]' U% Y7 r# s
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made * \6 c+ A. l& q+ j5 b; G2 M7 Tfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba* s a, b8 A( I) k# ?* c
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having2 w" p# I( y8 d, j r4 a
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China2 o3 c3 A- Z! a; Y4 M) r
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) B4 ^& [8 D! t. F# I9 N
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 3 p( v' Q; V4 X; v" ?! ?& Gon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,0 ] x3 r- ^& a" H. B
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 0 j1 p! p7 ]8 U+ o6 l( Z! ~answers to our pointed questions. ; I2 ^: k# {" l. E# c" l& ^ m& r5 H
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; [; e' X' ]$ i9 [5 r, h9 q# m
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand" [8 x! v4 Y- @' X2 X7 E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is ' I7 U: ?% ^9 Y8 g4 b7 v2 J8 c& R4 Hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ) r1 L8 ~/ D4 X3 x( J, jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 6 W4 y; L5 Z2 R Rmedical schools.0 x5 A% x; L" U9 o+ w
6 A" Q [8 j- E. V2 [% @2 E9 ^* {Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ) c" `% Z9 ?$ V6 T& {9 {government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants, K$ j' { c: U) {1 V
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ) {9 K% p6 i7 [: A: I# H9 Y# {assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 ~9 H2 e% |0 q" ?4 s+ Z$ @
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! A! i- w; k( i% z8 V! @
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 W! D. M9 E: P! n d" O+ @5 c6 `
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and , s- D+ \- C8 w3 `mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk - s, V3 k+ U: i7 N- w4 e* Jshortage which the government is addressing by converting some * d" e' j8 E: [: M, msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 1 P; {% t* q1 L. @- S' N n% `0 [" x ( |% M6 A( F5 D5 `8 jThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 5 ?7 s( G. \( N5 B3 w1 l7 Sprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 7 Y& G0 X$ o' K$ v. p7 c4 i. tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people / ]/ f4 \! c8 D/ U5 c1 x9 Chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( M1 |1 ~+ z+ x2 M) D3 X
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby $ Y* a, J% ]- F+ c, ?' ~5 n+ Bsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( s- R1 m4 z% W+ }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ) V1 U$ i2 Q8 O8 G# a0 \Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When $ g* ?% r$ [, Z* S5 V+ o) _a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only . X" ^: p& w8 _1 Lcharge the fee defined by the state. # u8 ?. ]7 h f$ }( | 3 S( h8 Q( j4 E$ g0 ^/ O: y: I9 ?There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get " F1 Q5 j# W- M9 F* b6 Ton), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 1 K+ z, n- M4 s! P8 Sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( k4 w" B% N3 F( Z T& O
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; q0 B4 y) h' d( w2 g4 X) E6 ~* o
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 F8 b5 H1 x# i4 i) n2 g* K! i
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 9 D. c& `5 o7 jschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 2 b/ K$ o: V! U+ @, u4 Myou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 6 ^, _7 ~0 {" ?- {5 K9 atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch ! Y7 P4 i5 g, z, d2 Hhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# N3 F7 w9 J4 m# e9 O7 T! Z5 d
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want " _; P; E! g3 n, _3 _to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ b1 A7 @* A$ ^0 ^8 f' _
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there ( V" \5 \* ?# m4 j* N8 M7 j' Iare spaces.0 B: i" ]+ a# l, y$ S2 d/ }4 h
6 F7 H) b+ H- x( L: AThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ a$ n0 l' B" b. M" l* \4 b, ?6 H, o
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 4 n; X( y# e' k0 Iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the + d2 t2 m$ `; t/ E! v/ ^* v40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different - T3 v+ c0 J& C1 r; Lparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 p" K" J7 N- Z* m! G% H9 E
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few " R: C$ _8 H3 y [nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of " |4 z* z2 W8 tcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 w7 b' T: S" x- V& J0 D! |% j
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: z' L# A1 {' G5 }. _
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 5 X: r% V" [+ D' T8 k4 B) |4 x/ espots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all: T* M& B Q, X
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very* F8 Z7 E8 o! _7 B
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep % J( ^2 F6 q! D8 h' l, jrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day1 {" i" s5 P; `
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of ' f7 z0 m+ D" r' c, L/ ^them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms4 K. m& v5 x3 O0 U
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the ( F- A! T: A9 h8 [5 ^tourist area.0 U5 n5 E5 K0 ^. e- C( b& a
, r9 ]) V) ?1 P% R0 c8 ~
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's; v% i" s7 Q1 {; u/ Y2 Y6 W
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).( }. }' Y! O4 N
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were) C3 ]2 D; |" R
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps / \$ z0 u% ]' o* Z% U: Gless leader-religious. # z4 E9 ~% W8 B: l( K1 i) N( t) A; G a, F( q4 R" E
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba6 ]. t" ?. R! D' L# K# i) M9 E) B/ |
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big" F) x& ?0 H/ f; |% {
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ! M1 x/ `" Y* ]+ Yembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).6 s$ q, N2 m% v7 c, w" X
" }9 z- ]' H/ q r# FWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the- X6 b q T9 R8 `* E
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not , ?7 `& [ G6 r- C: Hthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 5 _+ j6 |* Z- X ?convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for, i- T( j' O# ]- N& |
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars6 q; H# x& z. L& R; ?' {3 Z
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we - e9 [# g/ I g$ Dprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the8 L$ ~/ k. z8 k- z
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 7 `8 q/ l9 X9 V, t8 K, ?And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local2 S$ D1 O3 Z* t" _8 r' E4 p4 Y, Q
or visitors. ' P+ h5 ]0 @. U0 v" r( N% q) _! r" F
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
