# G! ?1 i& x9 w. E吃的, 古巴穷,没钱买农药和改良种子, 所以食物是自然的有机, 再加上气候使古巴有三样世界第一的东西: 咖啡, rum-坩蔗做的烈酒, 还有雪茄, 都是食饮吸物. ! f5 W. [8 m3 X ( V# Q8 m7 K s) c' t e本人不喝烈酒也不吸烟, 没资铬评烟论酒. 但古巴的咖啡是真香, 咖啡好resort做的也好." a. O& L+ n) x$ H s& i
' z3 L L! R, B. t- X. s这三样都可在resort或外边买到带回, 各种等级和价钱都有(rum和雪茄比在古巴外买便宜50%以上). 但据说最好的咖啡不零售, 只出口去日本换古巴最需要的外汇. 1 M, P( Y A! h9 N7 V( n2 B a; Y+ U0 k! \6 t1 R! o: i4 j* l
我们玩完回来后写了一份游记. 比较详细, 但是英文的, .当时有几个同事看了后也去了古巴. 如有兴趣看就贴上. 作者: nickguo 时间: 2011-1-15 10:32
We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 7 _4 b( Y1 }9 o, t6 Vinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we % x; ]3 t8 U2 ?& B- {4 X! ]8 K) awanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible./ Y+ G3 l) @7 ^$ w# A$ m) n
& u% z! d" g |& R- t. q
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, ' [: j6 u* N7 f+ c1 e: ]6 X4 o30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 0 D' S5 B5 ^0 Q' o6 z# G" Q) Y8 }a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as, J* ]( v6 d: `5 q8 e* Q) y. e& c0 z0 b
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort: N, V' k# z# D! H4 r
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep2 T% e- D2 g- m
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ' B% S$ D) E) V. Z- Jlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,% d7 o; `3 g {# y. t
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.7 C) l5 z# c: {3 _( }
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but $ F( h# ]+ p% a m. |1 @& Anames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not # j* u, `4 j% Pexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our , z* V& S+ n9 G( z0 b+ ]( @flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through. o3 e0 p" A' W) t e- G; q; P5 R
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 4 T$ \2 t+ l( ?- Z, v8 x) c& T" E6 ?+ o: d$ P( ~1 k }
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,3 P8 R' W% y$ _) ?1 K( @0 ^& C
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool# g% U7 ^# C2 D0 _
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top; h. Z6 m' C' e. P0 f" Z
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the # V# [- K6 l4 Y8 c% K2 S) C+ Xstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 6 X E7 r% j* |' M49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes . o* h' M$ y" OCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with6 T: v# l' `% [: _
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.3 S/ W6 x$ g/ Q0 v t: g* J* f- T
: `/ b8 [, z4 L# n8 Q' ]
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are7 O1 w( f( v! f
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made9 s) _* t" j% K8 v
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba + c/ o% N2 O5 O* u- Q, N9 ?1 Dtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having( O8 d+ R" { }" ?% ?1 X) s
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China' V A% k; Y9 z$ U
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' Y' m) M* f$ pstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 9 R* V0 s9 o4 b/ x5 zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, Z3 C& a, {# g4 O% Q
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give' v/ x q$ z, E$ I
answers to our pointed questions.7 U$ n- |! }3 w' B
$ ]$ b! |. W- U6 U2 J+ v& Q
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,# \4 S$ s b0 T& o' k6 k
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand / C# i: o$ ^ s b# O" v- f+ f; {out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- L4 u9 `' }1 H3 Z' M8 E
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 N$ q# J7 \+ I5 v$ B4 Z- _
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are + Q- W+ F6 L L9 ]medical schools. " }4 D2 t, @- R* ^* ]1 d8 ^ 6 ^: h' l/ k' t1 `) @" p# i, zEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the " ]. ^4 R# o, wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 H. L( D; n. S p6 u; m
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# P7 C5 | W. @7 I, z2 g, e$ x/ s
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 2 `2 T! z; e( H( R3 q; N/ v0 `4 r" _is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to + O) y" s. G. g2 ]% cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ R2 f6 B V2 b$ U5 G
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 J y- |& p4 v6 z& }+ x
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 O! S. [! D0 q6 Y5 B8 \0 Y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some ! K- b" r- e) i2 esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' F* H+ ~) t- X+ }; T/ z1 @
& i5 y5 ^/ ^, y4 D/ BThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 0 v. {& X$ d, p0 k8 ]( X1 Y$ s0 N- cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and / \, f1 }4 W' E/ _8 F* ]supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 z8 {4 Z% }$ E4 `
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good * T, [" Q5 ]3 Nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 3 z" p) K3 S5 y b9 Nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high , t* a2 A" i. N" `2 h8 ?+ Odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ' r8 y- y' j0 v$ p& t nDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When / d5 U$ M9 x: V8 @a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ( M3 s. d( l& j, k! q' L9 Scharge the fee defined by the state.5 ]" t3 X c( ~4 x
) X/ \0 \ g5 S8 fThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get : _+ J* Y# a& i% o. Pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ C) S$ z) A# Q8 c1 V
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big * ^- a( u4 M% h2 z% N% F$ @% a1 H+ Ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel $ A8 H$ a+ `+ s) |. w/ yseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* H; A. O! D v
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ L9 C' m9 V& d+ d! u: W
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if0 k7 Z- \- _# I3 r
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ! _" j3 c! @1 A/ \8 o% a# Ktrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch # V) _; h+ q* h! t( O' Whiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 6 a8 b: z5 ]3 Epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 o( \0 h5 Q/ w& _
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or ' u5 j) M* e0 b X. \+ a8 u/ d6 ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there w! }3 B+ d" ~, j# J3 F+ P6 Uare spaces.2 a ?9 g4 W5 w8 `$ x1 ?
" E9 {" l/ }3 P$ o9 ^8 a" s
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 Y/ P( h8 _3 o3 R* a
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 i; a5 h" ^6 H9 {5 f
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" `. u- W0 H- z# x5 G/ Q) b
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% e: t2 F$ ]; G& y* C
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the & h0 A$ c9 B: A: p/ _best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' y4 t. ?2 o# Z: `4 E" A+ V
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; m1 u. ?3 E5 \* e: F6 s. O
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' T4 y' O! Y4 ]; n, i3 {8 U
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 0 ^) E) G1 Z& y/ ~ 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 , x0 p' S- u1 I) F6 I+ B( ?' _spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all" c+ z2 z- m# i3 r
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very * _, p- p' F3 c7 ^$ a0 Nlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep9 k+ Z( X3 [0 t0 y8 B
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day# o$ E! |* O& Z0 g* M" w
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of, e) S3 a; ]7 I6 w! A7 f
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms - ^+ b' T. |+ p7 O/ h6 E {) ]+ l, Fhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the ) T; s/ e+ [$ W6 l" s% ?tourist area. 8 }0 y: o* A0 k " k+ U1 @/ w3 `5 ~) W& k/ wOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's3 g3 Y4 y* }% j1 h' Z7 Z6 [2 K
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara)., ` m! h" Q, |- W- b( s0 w( y
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ; H# ~* H- K6 F- H/ U, Z) Peverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ; M& Q4 [; L* z" v7 m8 tless leader-religious.1 W5 B: @2 |4 y z- @
3 y4 W; { ^7 t7 Z* \9 YAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba- x; t& `6 {6 X
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big( y7 c' ^( J) ?6 I( |
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 4 J; L4 P4 a. j/ g) r; @embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). e1 V5 ]' I) M V7 s: k3 w, P* ^. \We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the . U0 @# D* N- Yparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not" ]' [& E) ]" p
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 : {# m. X; S) u8 Uconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 8 o7 \% V3 Q c1 q( @0 Gforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars & }/ Y9 \/ @3 A. f. M$ O2 R(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we ) _8 N2 R5 ^) J' }probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the ; g: B( r5 C% ^" @real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.4 \, w5 I( ~( p: K; k6 Z
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local * F2 X+ ^4 w; Por visitors./ V8 V- l3 U: L; P' h" r
3 A& v+ g+ z: T4 f6 N0 l
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
