We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very9 D$ w0 d. a( B" v% U9 B
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we) l+ H R- L. `) n. m/ d+ w
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.7 i3 I `; }/ @+ @
/ O$ j9 r& ?0 ~1 H6 l
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,8 c4 I8 [9 `+ F
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 0 l% ]5 P# f2 U Ma very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as2 z' G6 R7 q/ V0 E# j' s
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort # I3 p \9 ]9 G& Z, l+ I5 D* R( Oshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep$ N% l6 |0 S7 f2 g' i k: u, G
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the $ g) i3 i' e0 o2 G+ xlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,$ ?0 ?2 \ N/ r6 L) n9 m3 p. L" u
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.- a ^" P+ B5 `2 M s9 G
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but* [: z( b, s( k% b5 e2 Y
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not . l/ ~: w# \! F' D6 ]" T: i7 wexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our2 }* J; h, ?8 l
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 6 `* C5 C+ J& v# @8 c$ r( na roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.. `! T5 K g+ F6 S+ B5 J: b
' |" M& i7 O9 z* j9 m# @The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 2 |+ S& h# k1 g7 x elow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool . { o" @' P1 Y) K7 Q: B(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top2 w Q; B1 }7 G; a+ d; o
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ) H; [" S- X! Fstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from : l+ o u- U, E49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes0 k. H; H. U* P1 p
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with# T8 f3 z, j9 g' c& B% J6 u& O
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 6 V. ?2 T x. M% s n! X+ t { A# ^$ F' d$ v
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 0 ^! {2 k4 H0 b5 ~just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made4 ]0 _. A: h9 k q1 d+ v/ y5 Q
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ; r! B {* G1 Y8 ntourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having . D) Q' B/ U; i9 P& Ra staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China5 F8 i( l; l7 Y2 ]* t* p) a
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 @5 e- v/ _' J( @
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 5 D/ a1 X$ ]: z2 {+ Fon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; f$ Y( {7 X, P7 v0 r
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ p0 K8 c5 S7 _' _
answers to our pointed questions. 5 b: w# O, b1 g9 } m! M/ J b) b# p$ L3 T) d' o, ~
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* B( w4 L( m& }) o
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 8 ^; w$ p. H- \$ a7 i2 Nout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% ~- G6 W" D- X$ {& V6 T8 N8 K
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 g# s. j! S( f0 p7 K
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are ' K6 k2 g9 `* smedical schools." B, y8 ?2 z1 N- K1 u2 N7 ]
2 c# H+ E! U" k% n- p. A, H
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 3 M+ u0 `% [$ m8 ~. @3 l: l. b: |government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! t* V4 l- @6 k& B6 V
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ I( y/ w5 s7 G0 ^
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- I0 L4 i; h( {
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- C! g0 L* Y- k- p- _# e" Q$ W
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 5 I8 ~" q4 S2 d7 p" |0 y; |seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and/ O4 G6 h& F0 x5 A7 S) N! Y. ~+ p7 r
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk # q' ]; R7 P6 }% p& Kshortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 F5 ?6 T. j1 S, m
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. & g' v0 ~' f! z+ F5 r' D$ o$ t" |4 _; { x4 k0 T
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 1 h( ?% E9 g/ l) _/ Qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 A! }& k9 ]6 j. M+ L* g. a
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 4 X2 f% C& g. I; N" d! E% a/ @have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good / ~( f3 J- N% M0 ? A" c! Hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby6 X! W$ ?0 M1 k) I# C
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 j$ g" r+ _9 e& w) ]; t f' z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( C$ C3 N6 V6 t5 W6 U+ ~8 |
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When5 }5 w: S2 @6 G' k% ]
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 0 @ A+ f6 b& D, bcharge the fee defined by the state. 3 `9 p$ t5 o+ { " s! g' o/ b6 X) z, mThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 4 |4 D2 J& S6 Y! a4 \4 s; r% Gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type : {5 r- p7 J* O& |of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big . z2 v( W7 O4 C9 r) J( mtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 8 x: R# i E9 tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* ^/ m1 K3 v1 h/ ]3 p* l
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" Q5 q) e4 l ^
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: ~. _/ Y/ [- p8 Z8 q0 l
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ! d$ ]( ]6 p4 B! o9 ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch , w# K8 g& v8 l Bhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 2 y4 r6 z+ v# t: s3 G' `$ apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 w% ?5 X' \" u( v: y! i) J* H; y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or7 d z, v1 X/ K! K, X
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there " E: z( I$ ]9 q* n% I2 q" gare spaces.' K6 @2 j+ J/ ^- K( _- I* W7 m
) s, b0 c& \4 ^+ G* kThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi % b( X; {! }7 F3 c% q" Mto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they / {& {) f4 P. v7 W. I/ y0 pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the $ f. p: g( w; q' w/ }4 B- E% {8 {40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different $ {! p# P. i: D z/ y8 f1 m, zparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the + j/ H4 n* J1 x1 E, Q& e& |) sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& ]7 c$ P' q: @! P" j/ X6 A
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 7 b5 K0 F# l- ~/ s" o0 Rcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ! x* A3 q! v0 @ Gis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. % C% t+ Q! s } 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/ G9 c7 [+ P, I9 Q5 h" r4 C8 s' M# y
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all5 n, v% P+ I! H! r; t) c
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very$ ~' H/ |' _% Z; E' O
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep5 N J& S, |; {! m' }$ Z. B4 K! \
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day2 @; D0 Z- p9 h( N7 h! C0 f
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of, q) Z# b) ]; @3 p2 B6 v* S
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms " ^. e f) `; W3 K, O6 X4 uhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the3 u1 Q2 Z. J* p! Z; I4 I
tourist area. 7 ]. @3 e( i& d ( Q" a3 {% Q1 N$ d5 ?4 ?+ TOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's/ n* c; W/ \. q" t- L1 e
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).' {; g) b" v: }+ R; K& s- C
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were) b+ a/ x: T+ W0 R$ O
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ' d2 M$ \/ m$ `7 {, j" ]0 b. ?less leader-religious.7 |' ]7 O) Y. ], ]
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ' i8 N: R. q9 B$ c& L% xgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big" p8 |" {( y7 ^
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US + q4 s* J! q# d/ F$ sembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). - W( W1 u( a4 z- `! b" f; P7 {8 N# j
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the6 g& E+ P7 ^ t; g; L8 C
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not: H) ?0 s/ `1 P
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1) V0 W+ @+ q5 D+ U; G+ Z8 | n
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 4 w' S+ ]! `, R2 Z+ ^1 {+ m& u6 y* |foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars " C r; U1 s$ I* I2 O: I# `1 [(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we : U/ N' \4 m7 H0 wprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 0 y+ _2 A+ [9 \2 creal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 9 E* E4 m S7 k9 y: k1 r% F( NAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local6 H: h6 }; n% h4 D4 x! ]
or visitors. . y+ `4 R- a% } Z% o$ b/ B, ?; W8 V2 y2 \: i* e
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
