We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very; t- R: Q! E0 n' A. w7 h
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we q2 R; U/ i; T" P# r7 B7 V" r9 N
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. & C" C- B$ C- \7 Y6 W% Y$ i, ]9 a' W- e6 K1 C4 Z
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, ' Q. l& W. e8 \: }( H30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in % G' @2 N# \9 b! W5 Pa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 7 A2 f( B/ G0 Q8 c- opossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort" ]; E6 R. j/ S0 t0 T7 Z2 ~/ r. y6 ^
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ' q# S' a! i1 f) s1 e9 }1 pbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 8 |. O$ X5 H( t( m* i7 b0 y3 Y- ~# a* Globby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,# j/ M2 N1 |6 k3 L
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 6 p1 y7 e4 l& m7 U4 S5 d) G$ H: ] People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but. k$ d1 B; k9 H2 j3 V# V Z
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not , ?/ N/ ~, R7 C2 b8 k1 Bexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 7 S/ y" i- x. G5 i! Cflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through ' S' A) C# R1 {6 da roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ]" h$ u1 N5 H6 Q0 T) u; g% R9 k3 [ x7 X4 [9 U4 l
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,* Q. N/ h4 B: ]) v
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool) r5 H% K/ v# P- S
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ) j5 n8 H: M8 |) a2 J6 H9 A1 L& Wof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the / U# T. r6 W' q. b8 V; ]8 ?- wstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from( X" @" x l0 V" k1 t+ {
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes; p) }# E7 P% n
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 7 Z' F. ^+ B t, J& f tfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. # G* W' H7 x/ t8 a+ T9 ]% o5 [! a% f" e; p7 l% X: ~
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are# B% t. B% D/ _7 W+ v- ]$ B( H
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made0 [" D" F# ?* j* w$ u; _& H
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba# ~; F: T9 U2 }9 W2 F* j
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ; Y" } l, o) J# ?a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China+ X- l4 t$ a5 Y+ O+ u3 ?" f* c2 p4 h
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, living2 k- \2 V; Z1 B) e: d
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 3 T% y+ b0 F2 [8 Q* W; Pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 5 b9 T3 D' \' \2 q5 L; M! d( Q"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 d9 b* z9 M" N
answers to our pointed questions.' ]8 y; Y8 b+ r, j* x
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, " O( |0 ~6 r) U4 }9 i# j45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand + ?( A. H a) M6 T' q' o. o; Bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 0 @% P" p& ?8 K# ?/ Gfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ h+ _9 c: ]! d6 ]9 |
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- C# {: t4 b0 I8 w3 W: f" G- T8 m
medical schools.4 j5 H2 v$ z& q9 G, }7 Z. R
6 w3 H: z* Y" d* k- C" g: C
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" k( r9 s& A7 F* z" r$ }
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ X7 M7 Y! d2 |% \: w
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years $ w7 m2 p% W3 {assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# [( S3 G& U4 F; ]( |0 W
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 6 t( i% P3 P7 [( c2 ^over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 8 d+ U( \# x+ ^seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ' [6 R4 u R+ L% cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk & P* e, n* a [3 i, O5 Vshortage which the government is addressing by converting some ' N N" s- H# ~; a Fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. " g& O+ H. m) n7 F8 n; a* C* B8 o4 f% L+ T9 T- p% ~8 [
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ G" Z) u0 l- a$ i
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( {9 D! ]! m7 q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people- |9 s: j7 H2 R
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good: Q3 _7 y4 I( |% A+ t) ^
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby a0 q4 f) h( ?6 asitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high & v5 ^' B) S8 |7 Tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- z" g) q: i- ~! f: }" F, f
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When # C& n+ ] V* Y! Q4 \a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" g3 z, x! t7 y! ^. \
charge the fee defined by the state.+ f+ Y" |5 L+ j$ w! R. A
( b) ^7 o! Y* m/ U( q5 k5 a, ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get7 m$ x0 j3 s( ` v& Z8 ]
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type8 X x& ]& u, V5 x2 h" o( f4 w
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big % |. Z8 y1 w( o4 W! Dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel - o2 B3 g" D0 h' K6 V/ x* O6 ?( iseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 5 Q" |2 K, J) u, Gworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 7 T( @% c1 p# jschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 a, I* \2 g- k* a8 ^" G9 B
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 8 a. f9 r5 ?( k" p. M( | [7 Etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch ; t9 L5 ?( Y* J: Q# Phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 9 ?# ?' i$ g% \3 @- I, Qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 7 N) Z4 A( v4 I8 z# W* I, `! ito go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or ' m9 @2 k; A) b8 |% ?$ a3 Ebuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 m: |9 s1 q, f6 X8 g6 J5 ?6 z9 w
are spaces.$ ]" |9 ^' b3 [, K4 @1 B- F
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi u. B' [: ]$ \ Ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ L$ _5 \ l* S$ J$ z1 C; h. H/ {
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 5 H: d1 B& f) W5 |6 c; b8 v2 k40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different % a3 O. ^% X- B# F! Nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the # }$ |0 r7 E4 n# K% q8 b. y$ obest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; d) W# N) O; v6 O8 D, F/ L
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 2 ~. T6 \' d0 scar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ k- ]6 _2 E5 x1 P5 Y* R1 J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 R' q0 J) e$ t G6 O, r! H9 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+ E2 \* S* f, P
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all' o' h# K8 t3 Q2 q' t& R9 N
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very7 U; c% ^2 \7 l) V' d
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep . K" n5 ~4 }- a6 K7 E4 Jrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day, [4 V3 E2 G8 @# M8 H, `& O
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of . y0 l$ S" o7 Sthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms0 |' r0 ?2 j' d+ b0 }/ w; O4 `6 H
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the3 A$ I- F$ `3 U' W5 l: E5 S. c
tourist area. 0 d$ n. F3 N6 l) z8 c! C$ J2 u7 V6 o' o& Y, X4 Q* I' d( L2 G
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ! S! \+ S! u& h$ |* \3 mpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 4 Z" \' d, @4 h! i4 }Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were5 ]& g6 O% d* X+ X( h) ]7 c9 X, w
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 8 |1 y5 V2 |5 I, S3 X+ r
less leader-religious.1 _- m; i3 s1 {$ W
9 D, C) Q; U `; B9 C
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ( B7 ]2 ^4 Y) p4 Q3 f3 i7 a- ~ v0 cgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big + f3 G ^3 Y* q& \8 Sblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 5 i' D7 J1 Q: jembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). , F& `. ~- K: Z8 j5 c x# H ?4 F( E/ B3 XWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the - o# R0 b* u% p0 @; i7 Nparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not, N( L. R' q% G; j$ Z+ w
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1. v# a9 d) |! J' N N, l
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for* H% S: B+ ~" U( I
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars % f9 k% E5 P9 y2 a: v/ y1 U(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we7 J8 O" ] ?4 O7 c9 M$ i
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 0 Y& [* @ d; ]' x# mreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 6 X# b" P' p+ U0 _; L* ]( g- yAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local3 s" @! c9 ]0 l1 ^, _# Q9 N
or visitors. ( ]2 U9 N) S: }6 I1 j4 y) C# {1 b
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
