We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very * m4 _2 f& |4 M- U1 `+ t' cinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we / h+ Z( t" E0 {( V! owanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.6 c+ ^# {' {8 B
% C. g% I5 \3 c, ?5 b0 ?. [It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young," c" h% f. d# n
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 7 y% i5 P* h9 Ia very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as% w* m5 B$ v2 ~" L
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort . t O1 Z# e: K! Q- Mshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep+ w4 E" q3 A6 u" J1 I$ E) V
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ; ^. l& x" Y1 n0 X" N1 r5 Clobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,* @, z+ N- j. m) e2 o& y( U
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. / m8 {9 |: S, d1 E/ M People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but * j# V, x. t! x2 x! U( c' s' qnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not! ~, C5 G9 ?$ {. l, U3 ^
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our ; ~( _ C2 `% V. r' l) {& V/ f. L% o1 rflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through- M' m# h& `/ W; }% {2 V% F
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.; d6 [% O! N7 m+ L
% v% h. w* Q' j9 N3 t" m9 [0 hThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, - i9 M8 U/ i, j* u9 c& Q2 n- Vlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool8 w. i, K8 A. b! I/ w
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top: `# L6 x1 V1 n: ~2 M
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the4 J/ _( X' i6 @0 r
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from8 G; I" z: q( L f
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes $ m0 h& a1 N. M: n" Y8 ?" ^* G8 J" WCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with9 Z0 p+ L, G& R# N7 ]" l# N
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. + r6 l. L% u: I/ m/ E; C $ G2 W( y/ _6 r8 N5 d/ h( TThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 9 j+ Y2 j: Z4 f/ v4 ]9 Q6 \just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made1 P3 E9 a" m0 @& X* Y5 d/ B$ y
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 2 Y4 w+ j! R) p* @tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having( _+ ^- O- n1 ]% W, D/ n L: ]
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China * A+ f9 Z* `* E. D4 ~! Pdaily 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, G# c. `3 g! A3 t3 r [: t3 G% p
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% q# c' W# H8 v- q6 T
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- [6 S6 w' |0 M' h: |7 a0 ~- m; \
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# e! C* O, p6 z% e! h) e
answers to our pointed questions. 4 F. T1 }0 B& m: E/ Q2 q: ~, h! a ( I2 W" n2 y6 R6 q0 @. R/ m9 KThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 f$ c* D A6 [4 F' X) s& m& v
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand " j9 u" q A' p/ F( U8 sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is $ }0 n8 F& a7 k5 J8 Wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams) T: ?; S: d+ h$ j
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 6 a: r* |1 F8 dmedical schools. ; h, Q$ d. _- T# w( w+ A* _5 c! _# i+ p$ \% \* K
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 4 V! b" \% m. k) i. Sgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 0 L) M. _8 ]9 t2 }to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years + Y2 Y& F, r' F" R0 }assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ' V; e5 X3 k& s* Q5 |is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 2 H0 M) e8 e! y$ u) {; J# Dover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 9 F/ P) q1 r2 E; l" |7 oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ; {1 X1 A" j3 Y# }% Z. z6 F* k3 Bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk + k/ g3 H# s6 Y# o) p6 gshortage which the government is addressing by converting some 7 l4 x3 {! r- w! L% J( Msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. / z+ R9 b2 K% O, N7 X7 r6 l , v) |/ D. `+ w+ V5 c; nThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no $ G! i$ c) Z% m/ ~8 \private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: h, W% d" f" M0 A
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people / v" p' N4 R' c T! i/ v' nhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good5 \& T& \: s+ \; _8 t9 s H- w
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# v( c. Z" S' Q d+ K, K/ T
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high + u$ l) \9 e6 h1 ^3 tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.5 l5 z3 Y4 A9 @( X& Q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' M3 O5 @& D# R4 k3 \5 S$ S
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only % c9 I+ D9 U& s/ E5 a3 y" Echarge the fee defined by the state. 1 k) q$ ]) i7 L2 ~6 i7 p& Z- @5 T$ g+ P' J# l" d! d
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% {& f" O* h" W6 q9 \. G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type2 y: a9 I9 K: X. M ]% o( i
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big% |3 A k9 X( S9 c" i- e8 M4 |2 t
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, Y7 [& Q& i' t% s% v+ x
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ) j0 o$ z* U1 Q; X- N$ x0 K( oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 0 O3 t7 Q+ V4 @& G$ M$ |5 @schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 1 C/ r$ x4 ~* [1 [9 X' Y1 {you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people u$ y2 K) k8 a* a* F/ q8 e
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" [ e- s6 |! j$ E2 p4 Y
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% [" o7 Y0 E6 J: d
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 5 t. u0 i* M. ^to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or( m; E d0 M7 F- \
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% V1 I1 i Z; x0 a8 D
are spaces.6 ^% J6 `: [- _
1 e' T4 {# n! ]9 c; k4 q% k
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 6 C3 ^2 Q& `3 ]( P* k( m* C" Y( kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( ^* c$ W/ G) r8 h0 o6 _9 J2 N
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& E# l4 w* x9 }1 [
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; c3 L0 r* a ^
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the # s5 K/ j" S" v9 X/ D. }. dbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 0 \- _% Y% ]' R% vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 5 I& s! @9 p0 Y% ?+ ?& hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 8 m' v$ S- @) I. `9 Z7 Y* }is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 6 H' r9 B4 z3 C. p7 l7 J 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 1 V1 Z+ L0 k. P8 A( u, B' `spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all + q/ G$ P) g5 E" X* nthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very N8 O2 A3 |% B9 X0 Y" C2 @% w0 ?limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep / c: N. y( ~- W. xrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day: o) _% T8 g. h; K9 O3 V
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of $ a0 q. ?( l a" O( ythem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms $ O/ U- u+ r3 Z z- dhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the7 \5 S) B7 U/ [1 c0 u# s8 J) Q
tourist area. L& Q) J& _5 u6 \& q2 }5 M6 y; B7 B2 f9 R* t; p
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's * z2 x# T) x; G3 B" ppictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).' k6 U E7 w+ V0 u3 R* M
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ( [6 [& T. C* X% B9 S3 {8 Y3 leverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps & ` O8 v0 j5 s& R# F) p, x
less leader-religious.6 ~% _: s8 L# \/ `$ O/ J
0 r1 y; {0 W6 n
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 9 o5 P" I \1 ~4 }* N- hgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 6 f' p' c" p( r& ?4 |! Z" w* {black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US & C( p ?$ T' c/ K1 Zembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). / }' N% M$ P2 g/ s. Y! |4 ?' t9 _) m* h
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ' S! ]: c' l* {4 m8 `* s' pparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 0 W) X [6 `* }# c& kthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 R/ k+ _( d* m" W
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ! ^. Q ^2 [6 U2 V, m4 {! m( ^foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars. [* `- ~1 F. X8 M0 p
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we4 _* X! e$ j; O: M! l8 r
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the2 y% C5 n1 K1 G, o2 K
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 9 @& J) D0 Y8 F+ O0 ?And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local * W) s+ r' g! q! Tor visitors. ' J) `8 }1 h; v7 \% ~' p. w. ?4 S, i$ y9 a+ c7 m( y) m- w
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
