We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 9 e! O" _7 q0 P+ w7 f( O: Vinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we& }8 y A1 v4 L2 M+ I# I* k5 W
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 1 b4 t) e% P+ {' q5 {: P$ X 9 B) r. f3 D7 H. i( j4 x; Z9 \It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,- A. g0 k. s0 V: p, K$ w
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in $ S# I, T5 s* @' wa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as( Y8 s: F$ ^+ q7 ^( j9 B
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort! r2 O# L( T5 y \3 w+ `& ~
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep / p6 P! J3 V$ v% U( R* Ybetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the * _$ {- n8 |: V( u- z: ^lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,% X, Z4 P& q7 v$ a. w$ @ M
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 1 F. n) `$ q1 S# \) K7 e( U* Q1 D People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but1 O* r: E% V; t0 \+ Y& i# [
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not v9 w& `1 [$ x; V6 \0 I0 b7 Iexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our + Q& M6 E5 R5 M" r/ W) uflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through + M+ X( |) h& h/ P4 @a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.5 d# X% e. R! C8 u, \ P/ }
% l/ M" r9 ^% H: e# |
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, D6 e3 w& j0 i$ p0 dlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool . p4 T1 P: \, \1 S, ]% n8 t(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 3 ^) m* @8 |; R" ?9 t- F" _of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the " Y; N) p8 J" [) O2 s9 M/ ^1 Ostars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from/ J( T6 U, x5 x/ X. I
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes7 m* `8 U J6 R3 F6 V, F }
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with! R, C4 z9 J" r( d% v
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 7 A: d q4 t9 m+ {/ t `: F" z3 \1 X2 {6 x3 M+ ]3 A
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are % ^$ d: m3 S$ R1 z/ N) s; w# {! Djust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 4 S3 ~( `# p1 M( Zfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba3 X" g$ E% J, q0 p8 n
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having" |0 z+ p u5 n& R
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China& G0 u' X2 V6 D$ n, ]7 D
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 " W* B* l7 K' m: astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went! n. }$ \- H: J
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, : b# L! G3 _( y/ _+ r% t"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* \# s$ c9 V) m- v; U6 Q7 w: K" ?
answers to our pointed questions.% p0 a& S2 B0 F( T2 l
# J: T2 B9 O6 u7 M! U. o( EThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, # I/ t, ]8 E( b45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( [* B5 i/ h/ h) U# X. Y6 Y' f
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is' Y. {/ i, j6 d N" O* b
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 2 n$ F' I0 j. q hto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( N( p: u- F2 S$ \# P0 b- M8 f
medical schools.* b) o( v0 L* M, J) h5 a
K5 q0 G5 V- h# `Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ' E* w( l! |3 g9 M) P/ _6 |* egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants # e# z7 c; l% ~, S1 mto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 5 `/ y& [1 [$ o+ b! hassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba + o. A9 ]" S* ]' q) v: X; ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to' q$ b1 Z* V$ f, x! f5 K
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 M9 H/ d3 C" l! u- [& P7 j
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and # H) A4 L$ K: ~( e+ S7 F: qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk . ^3 X3 K9 @" _9 ^! [% Z% Y w: Sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 _6 O6 h. ]) [2 I, J9 f
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. $ E, @" R2 M2 i 7 p/ u+ D! C3 t% G, [6 z2 {9 @/ ~The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ( G r! @& t3 ~8 V8 O' g& Sprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and " r3 o" q' @; z/ @supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people . R0 t5 r2 Z- n: u. }5 r7 [& ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 I4 h/ A7 }% j h
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby6 H! w8 W- Z$ y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high $ ]" H5 I4 p C2 i! Zdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 i' D% a0 U$ z% |/ i( r, N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# s: N" P' t5 ~( ?; G
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) L/ C" S e9 {3 P
charge the fee defined by the state.8 ~& l3 G- |* z2 n( ~
7 h' r" b: z7 A" |/ b3 vThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get" I2 A0 O [5 o* v
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ [+ H# t# F$ V# H4 I1 o* @9 `
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 1 @) D9 I# X; O" E. R3 [truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ; E3 e6 H; d7 a& Z) |seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' M2 Q9 w* R. o! O P# k
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 4 b9 R0 I8 T8 k3 eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if " x9 L2 d# X/ S$ \: W0 yyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people - R! { w5 O v8 h1 v- P8 C& C: Strying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch & N3 u2 [! O: x" ?+ ]. N- vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that s% g* K) d6 i! Tpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) t. S- |- F! B) T
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 A/ \5 A, g0 z3 k1 z7 j0 X8 |& r
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: X6 }- T5 `3 K! L
are spaces. ( I2 f" m& [1 J" W% H( O$ l* ~8 `4 `
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi }9 B2 z% p$ h+ w k
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they " `/ Q) w; B4 q Nown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 R7 k7 e( L8 R3 ?5 n( t% I
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different ( s$ l- x! [! q2 ?% Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the - K/ s: H* ~) v' Z" l& ]: ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" K/ E. w0 n% h) W
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of ' n8 O$ a. V" m+ {$ [+ ^' g8 [: mcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ( i5 d+ a+ J1 pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ' F$ }9 T# n& N0 X6 Q, 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 - }6 j2 y% o. U/ f/ O# M2 S" t3 Kspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all/ C& d- C8 M% \, e
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 1 s' @6 x9 R! n5 n2 Y0 Glimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep" \. C; }3 _, B- s9 x, e5 j6 j
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day5 h, M5 n$ [ c3 D9 E" G4 w
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of4 m6 @3 |$ y) p9 W
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms. c& R+ }% L/ \$ `1 |7 K
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the# H2 r: m7 D4 D G3 d$ v7 }6 |( S" p
tourist area.& {# m0 F1 q& Q- @) y3 O
U4 i1 {0 o6 Y0 `One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 2 e4 T& c- X2 R1 k$ q% kpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).. X, t6 t- ^9 H4 o2 u/ A
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were . G M* c. ~8 j& @' b$ E L2 N8 [2 Veverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ! R% f# s, x$ g. O! E9 A$ yless leader-religious. $ i1 e' Z3 U$ E1 M/ }4 Q# s3 @& r 5 p3 ]* I, ^6 ^8 \2 DAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba! l3 g" N, E3 w6 z
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big1 D7 F/ A: y: q( o: Z* b
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US - K: A" a6 z1 \embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). + E: z3 F, a6 X% o) p " O$ B) n; l- YWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the7 Y. E- A: { `4 t2 e' D4 R
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not . C# F& g( }; z8 ]the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $10 |- L8 U. U! n, `. e' P4 }; k
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for & T0 m% m5 e6 e" O) X4 z7 F. ?0 cforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars & R* s: H: ]) [' E(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we ) ?1 y5 v; P. i# }5 h5 tprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the/ T. M, N% R) w- h$ y! a) p1 T
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 2 O1 b; L: g) `% G" Y* pAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local # k! p3 B* O: j8 e# i4 b5 Ror visitors. U7 t8 r. j1 \0 Z+ L2 r4 e/ W
1 x- o6 n; S0 J4 M-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
