We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very . {7 }' d& A4 l- ?$ V ], n3 jinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we$ g% h% Y) E" o9 H9 v3 O
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.) z; }2 f2 p# e" k
# g( T8 c2 u) [" F7 i8 ?
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,9 m3 o) j9 q0 s* O( d
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in ( L; k% Y6 B* }% {0 }8 qa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as% O& x( j8 d1 ]& \9 }9 `
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort/ Y# d% e& v, L! m" L4 Y) b
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep, P0 f" C' X# A8 n, h( \
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the+ U; X8 |6 `3 h
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all," C0 B9 X6 v5 p( a4 Q0 }6 K7 K2 f
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.6 \5 m( M/ ]3 q! O" R
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but- z/ V' {8 v E& b( a
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not) _* q5 l: ?0 v( `# N
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our - U7 d8 i8 Y+ K" R$ @! u4 ^2 P+ c% kflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through" p! l6 q9 t6 O6 Z h: y* Z
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 8 F6 R; U; v$ x4 d* T" U7 D: _+ W6 @9 n/ O$ E6 Y$ a. R
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, @* e2 Q* T3 n3 x1 M$ K/ y; |2 Klow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool+ M+ Y0 w- X. f' |# ^! B# E
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 8 o) n, @6 [5 E7 V) K& | P- Zof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 0 {, E; v& s# p& S4 q" L. |stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 7 p4 H M, G* l49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes : P* L3 p- \# S/ O! k& I" xCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with + p; v5 w& D7 U" z" V% afingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 1 o+ C, W! J5 P7 d9 Y- x5 D* V
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are Z1 d6 x3 ?1 N+ |0 k! G S% hjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made - D$ K$ h! t5 r5 U$ Cfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba) O' M, }! V' f& X
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having4 @; J% r% ^4 f* v6 Z+ a" |; P
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China , K" f; n4 C0 d4 B, A0 rdaily 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 0 i: O' t6 z4 c ^% f) fstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- q6 m) x5 a& e5 \. W
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ s9 Y+ c$ k( }' p! e
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 4 `# _1 I" _! B9 R- c( H Ganswers to our pointed questions. Y' b6 W9 K3 t6 ` 7 h; k1 R' i5 y7 @% S4 w+ C+ sThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, + E, Y; L0 j1 u0 G0 z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 5 K+ R( _9 K1 {- {7 oout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is f1 X, G5 T/ h% i5 i! a
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- a, H; D$ E9 d+ ~0 c# S
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 i3 K' }+ G8 c9 o; [
medical schools.# N1 s0 }4 C& \+ F
$ c/ b( t; H; d# P: T9 R
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 7 }% f* T" |! pgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants + _, v) W; M& I' c7 T @to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ]; ?8 w$ L+ I- L4 N7 n) g$ h& rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 3 t. d( @+ j6 p) J5 j* lis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ^- C( R' p9 ]
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 8 z7 B p% ~2 | M7 |! eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and $ i* b! R+ @/ H. |9 `5 Q+ I, n' ]mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk $ G0 j1 ^- r8 Ushortage which the government is addressing by converting some D0 u; \& I& L$ K* \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. - U( H" Q( S! w& d8 v$ T% A5 X3 A$ n9 N" d1 i
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# \: R) x! X% w
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- e" |1 i, a1 r+ P% M6 N
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 E, U/ ]) w7 }; k( R1 N2 n
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good $ R! h1 A0 Q) W& g7 pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby; m9 G) ?7 t7 c7 T x% C3 r8 e
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 `% X" X6 W: E) H1 Q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 0 U+ h; k2 j! Z" e0 v# EDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" D5 ~4 }9 s1 [
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ r% ] N# w6 B+ {2 d
charge the fee defined by the state. ( r5 {4 Q+ }5 ]* r: \& m* p% p5 I# d( m
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 S4 v6 F% y3 w, S% ` U2 r, [
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 P1 a2 N K) R/ B% G3 l
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big . W! R1 Q0 ~6 H1 ptruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 a& S {4 R) f5 ?! n. R W) c
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 f3 c+ X' E" y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on3 m3 I& m5 v2 B8 V8 [: u( A; r
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 9 H7 C1 Z4 r" a9 n7 Jyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people * e* f _% _* r! v$ S( u% E O% atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 7 D Y& V P- y( s3 d+ e: C6 }hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that ! W' E/ C' |5 o/ p# Wpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want F4 |# f3 I2 v2 |
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! ], j/ T z4 Y1 d0 l
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there ' o5 _! g# ?8 O$ {1 Y1 c* _are spaces. 8 g: \' }1 `/ t9 m% ~1 o, O8 F3 [8 k. z( h$ ?( M7 s6 q
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 C. n! ]4 G2 c3 l
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% z! u. @: ~% G% f/ U
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the ( Q% G, H t# v+ ^4 E0 d. H$ w40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. c) s+ \. }/ M1 P9 f" R0 S
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ \! e1 r4 A9 |% z9 h/ F
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few( F4 o6 E6 Z# \
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* [( ^# Z1 K/ ^; c8 q6 P- A+ l; V
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& v& w/ {2 @" k
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 3 |- [: e3 c* {+ P/ R 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, r' h+ r2 ^. w# ^8 @( W
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all : ~+ Y+ G1 r* X+ {9 [7 \& _- |0 uthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 5 C. I! Y3 _$ [7 m) glimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 9 A# a% o8 I( ?6 J! rrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 7 T1 y' J9 \* M1 |. ]) n1 G Lsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of2 n- _5 v4 r y1 a
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms : r7 Q0 q8 c2 I& t5 M2 whave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the( z6 Q! O' T: i& g! c$ O
tourist area. 1 n; U5 M7 z- \% {! j, \ , D# F4 m' H8 I' p9 A) \; AOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 9 c( }9 e: Y. f$ Dpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ) b% r' F; D, k& F8 o, ]$ l1 OCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were4 T, K/ U! O3 s& Z5 ^: @
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ( s( V* h3 k0 b' H" ^less leader-religious.! P8 f/ Q) P& I1 ]. ^/ D% w
7 r" o# C- D7 k* pAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba# S7 c8 Z$ D% a$ |
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big: A6 b a- L8 y* F/ N
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US3 b$ O9 ^( q, U3 J. F+ x
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). " i- R* V/ A. U2 Y& e3 N+ U# o ! G( c6 c6 m! qWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the" A$ [% ~% a7 E9 c; {; s
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not8 i3 N @# @% R4 _' i! s( c
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 ?6 }" ]+ A( \& h* C1 I7 A, |* G
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 2 {) {1 P! c# q# _% d1 O8 E# kforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars ) }7 {7 |6 J& |6 q! n1 i8 r/ b$ x(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we1 M2 `( w' s0 n4 F. U9 v
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the0 T/ T* d! [9 k' E' N0 `) u
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 4 ~, r8 W0 k8 h) J' O2 cAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local! Y P1 s" z. Y0 `2 P
or visitors.1 n" T3 W. N( V1 ]( T3 z( ]
5 V9 D; u7 m k4 \
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
