We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very9 f$ N) m; P& w3 q5 y( S6 t! }8 b4 P
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 2 e1 y' c c4 }- Wwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.0 R) B+ f( Q5 o/ b- n
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 9 r8 q/ \1 V- a( k7 b2 U30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in + D2 B8 v: [. t5 Z3 D- ]$ u2 d. sa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as0 O- X# X! n' s& I: s
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort" S# r; r9 M, o8 }1 |( o4 Q
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ) m/ B& P/ ]9 ^" {4 N# Xbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the# S( C- V% B. M% J
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,/ B1 U" |6 m' |# _# j' i' g X
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. l- {. [9 l8 a w% ^7 P' q People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but! T4 f$ k6 t, `# I* ]* m+ l- d
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 8 s. o% v* ], u2 f6 M$ N% Oexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our0 a0 o7 z) X( A. V0 a% ^
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 5 T0 q6 k0 r$ g& f& S+ V4 Ja roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.# c& z$ S7 E( b8 U+ N& W
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, U2 G# p, V/ w1 Ilow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 8 b: m! ]: c: S/ ~- Z$ {* V(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ( W4 o5 s! `8 W0 E3 f# n# l+ f& }of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the6 C! L$ @: p; W [ j# l3 s
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ( f: i4 w( O3 p49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 7 Q& L# j7 A( C6 a8 ?Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 0 ?- s6 ? C; s8 w. tfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. $ T: {9 Z k+ K4 L T6 L" A; N: K7 `The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are/ F0 O. ^8 x- w- t6 z1 ?7 p& i: G a3 U, q6 k
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made @9 `# b+ O5 [: x+ }) w) @7 F+ D
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ! }8 J, ^+ D4 O2 Z* V" otourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having% Z, B2 s8 O& K$ u
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China6 B0 |$ B( G, W: ~* 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% X5 y4 d- @) W+ U7 t2 A! k" I
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 U( v- M0 o3 i1 v
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, + T! Z' ~& b. {: p+ x: t4 p/ {) V' M"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: b' S5 w( q' S$ N8 `8 ~! Z
answers to our pointed questions.9 X8 |2 ]4 a/ f
. W4 [3 M0 e) n, h
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ' g4 A, V8 ]1 L( I3 a, Y+ l; f0 Z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand C( o( \0 S5 m! V' Eout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( U: G* z0 ^; e, U! q6 L
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 8 h0 E3 F! k& m; Uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 5 M I6 |, Z& m8 I) F% M" Kmedical schools.6 c/ `1 I0 j& p, d+ K0 s# U$ [9 T
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the / X, _) h7 {& D6 C% ^: ~, {government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 5 C- |+ Q. m( f& J( R) g0 ~to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ; i4 m6 p+ o0 l1 ^0 xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba % s2 W' f( g- j, H6 g- j, yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. i: ^8 P, u1 _" I
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 9 ^# }1 |- V, n G, Iseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# g4 j3 w9 U7 ]( ?
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk$ G9 V$ ]- _ {$ {' R6 P3 u' d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# K9 {; U6 J% c% J9 g- z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 R$ I$ c" i7 p3 W2 v# M
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% M7 ?4 c7 s2 h9 W+ h0 X# \( ?
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 8 F2 X& @' d! T5 R9 P% m$ ^supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 f+ l# e0 }4 |
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good3 T( K$ t2 t9 g: S: Q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 d) M: I- _* W/ Y. k8 Y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 j2 w: N" q- W: V6 i9 O2 r
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. - G; V) w0 C4 [- i; \Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% ? Q d! B3 k) Y6 i5 U6 J: y
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 0 Z# A6 a, ]% ~0 d4 ?; `charge the fee defined by the state.+ }! Q! i/ S" J- J; ^' o) n4 `
. u5 c8 v0 K( d+ eThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& ^& `1 P. R! W
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type% x5 a% f" O( ]) s
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big - D; n: \& |6 l2 Q# Y, xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel$ E$ E% K* M5 m# p9 X# d6 A
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ! }5 ^# j; ^ t, S3 T: wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" r6 v' Z. Q! Z
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: O% w' F8 W- b: i$ }
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people Q G' C! Y% y* d" x6 g; [trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch J$ I5 ?6 w1 i
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that, b d X( P: `0 x& l1 F0 U
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 4 ?7 F8 T7 y* o0 K( P" M; D$ vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or ! |2 v7 W4 K% v7 S+ j# \1 j; ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there ' k5 b9 S+ ?0 H# |% Hare spaces. - S* w1 b0 P) a1 J! X2 u3 l4 M9 h7 |* V+ ?8 a# ]
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: i; j3 A) f* a3 n" m
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% l. I( M2 ?) S- r1 O
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the. l$ {, ]. v5 L5 U% m- Z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" d& r8 q& | C. B+ }1 ~
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 8 K* G: F( h/ E1 R) `5 Nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few# u, A. s" h) o7 h y7 }
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ g% ?, @5 L. Y6 B' E
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) t0 N7 z$ e0 G9 |7 G0 d8 M
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 3 b1 h: q7 {( d! {$ g 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 E& K5 k% \# ?8 Qspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all : K6 L$ B, M+ C8 l! k R; ~! |the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very & L0 p' j7 t& U" L$ B6 J o) g( N/ |limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep; c' P/ J' F( G- w
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day' H: a7 U D! K; U
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of ! g) C( E; b& d; m, J5 Gthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms& K. y! Y/ K( Q: u$ O; Y3 i; v
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the , ~% P1 ^5 U' E; t! }5 C4 x! M% btourist area. 0 g4 e- I& g3 S" Y c7 b) c9 d4 N. ^+ I& P5 S- }/ L9 B5 h
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's- g. N( ]; u# [
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 1 q$ _; f$ y, d7 a/ m5 |Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 5 T8 ], h# p& n- m+ i+ b0 I& T6 C0 veverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 2 r% o8 J) C9 c. j) S, H' i
less leader-religious.* m) K$ ^5 T+ S3 {, [' ?
1 ?% o% t. w$ o" B! i! nAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba1 [: G. ] S& u( a# q
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big" e m8 N* Z1 A) B
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US " x$ e( b! H# j6 hembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). % C& F+ r/ T& L! n* {' u6 } d! l+ L9 T+ @3 d9 A
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the$ f! o: e+ l5 @+ z2 W
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not # I5 c* d: G& l* r x9 |. sthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $10 @+ B. g4 Y/ ]0 X8 |. {) A
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for' |% p, _' ]- O1 t E0 [, d
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars t3 b! ?+ ?* J3 f( e0 z
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we. b3 {& e& B- \, Z' u* V
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the! H/ b9 O. B6 ^
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 2 L# w8 g* W, W# s. T1 }$ T* F; uAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local) H! [5 |. c" g A3 f. k4 }
or visitors. / x: N! h- u8 ~. R2 P& j) L5 l: M G6 P. q1 `
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
