We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very % _7 R' z6 z3 xinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ) U& @+ ]+ L6 z6 M% Twanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible." o2 T$ Z r3 z% \9 b: y* @, Z8 v
; g% _+ D5 h/ N. uIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, q$ }5 w/ F8 l( L' ^1 N4 W
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in/ f/ [ L w9 [- T' r# u& B
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as9 C5 @& ^( ^- A0 \. n
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort" E: |6 a) R( D l9 e1 j
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep , M2 k" S" z$ r3 {% }; Tbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ' T: o4 e8 V$ d( G' H' m" K$ D7 ~lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, % H: O& Q1 E- G- [4 `! U( Jwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.' A) _) N) @! W$ t
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but/ |& d7 |3 `( s; Z- x8 U* g- C
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not1 K! W% A4 a4 v" O2 }& I0 o: D) o3 P
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our : i( K% \" M7 z! [9 M4 D/ pflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through - K) }: ^* P1 u3 [a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. Y! E8 P$ ] Y2 t. f
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,4 @/ F+ U7 L. N) B' b$ q, m* E
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool8 q8 M+ v* j, Q
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top! L3 P# F. n$ S+ ]
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 1 w3 r3 H$ `( [$ @, xstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from8 y) y) x7 z% y$ Q
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 4 ]; x0 h/ m- T4 ^ _Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 4 B( U3 g R0 Z6 p1 gfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.& o; X9 i0 }4 G' r4 q2 G1 a
M1 l3 Y( o3 G7 J. C$ p1 e
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are * x9 r" ^; _/ U: ijust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made $ X5 m6 d7 a4 I* Jfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba : T" @ v" z! X5 U1 F* vtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having9 q* V! l+ B$ `4 Z) l, ]% P" C" s6 c0 N
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China% |( u+ a/ I, j
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 * X9 s# V0 k8 S; ]standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# F* ] x1 A! L: S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, - d/ U4 l" G4 F1 E0 j, u"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give$ p* q2 c+ i K9 L6 l
answers to our pointed questions. # }6 v1 p, l& p/ H+ d 7 N# X6 r( v5 Y7 a# sThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 3 z2 K$ E' j) R# c! u45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand / K0 J) z$ R& m9 v: rout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is3 u* o2 A* Y8 s4 l
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 9 L8 V* m3 o; J) |! Ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% D# t# C4 X/ {$ ~0 I1 A
medical schools. ' K% H/ n I3 l % f/ A( L) M8 Z8 @9 m! [7 s" X- h2 |Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the " m" s7 C5 o3 p2 Pgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 7 ]( v( ]9 d3 H D. c( Pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- p4 v8 ?: {8 \. N
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; o" S% b) ~7 F, l3 x& `; [# C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to / ]4 V7 `. G& Y; `: Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There# I) i/ e7 _& h
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and + i3 H8 n( v0 N$ \* l5 A! V1 imostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' j7 \6 F/ o6 S4 x/ ?
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some , s; ~3 I3 G+ P) ~; Wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., o$ y. X; v7 h/ b8 X
/ B% K$ n. Z8 ?6 X+ ~& {; q; X* N- c
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! \% Z) q3 W# Y z: E+ I
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 8 E6 E& `- G1 v+ }1 Fsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 Z5 t5 e* J/ M9 J0 |5 L% G
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" T+ {8 `* y. X6 U% g$ d& V8 D
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 1 d0 s6 m9 P$ msitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 0 r) t. R: o. q& p' K2 k( O4 m( odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 2 x/ o& s) A$ c' c: I/ NDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When . c$ \: d0 n& Q. ^. G' xa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ' i/ Z. `" C! G- G. rcharge the fee defined by the state. 7 T" m: t3 k2 z. I0 \( J4 J # |. a2 Z, y* z3 Z6 @1 t1 r. QThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 7 _+ t7 _( X+ O1 P5 ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 1 J8 D5 G5 E5 lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 4 ` D. q9 V: Z! p5 o0 T: rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel # _% D0 k7 P. T2 P5 useems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 m. j7 S" A9 U* M# R
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on % M8 ?5 l q* q3 {; Q% gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if , Z8 t2 N; H: Z. lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! c# c$ V5 N) X& ?0 v
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch . H( w- ~& c* j% D5 khiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ o+ L+ T- h3 S8 Q" @
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 2 a) J" ^6 Y! D( gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 7 ?* ~$ g$ G6 Ybuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 9 E$ M' {. o* z- Z8 k7 Bare spaces. : L! W0 ?; i! P) W6 T# S $ A- @% V; s, X2 r, e$ DThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ; [# ]! k( V5 I8 t/ Q, e4 Bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they $ w) F1 @ |. n \own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 7 [) X: b0 x {0 ]8 S0 |3 f40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 0 w Q4 o7 J+ T3 ?! Aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the + _: B# l, O4 H% w5 Y8 Dbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few , a2 ]- B9 t; r) v7 _1 s, enice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of , n! b5 v0 ~* B6 H: ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ( D) m7 n Z- ?4 \+ Gis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 0 l; o; F5 C/ W. n 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 beautiful6 O. |9 t3 |5 A6 g
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all9 D% {# Y, g1 x$ P. S) ^* m0 D5 M2 ~
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very9 u; K( c& s* w# j0 g; e
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep : J# a2 u5 a& y7 @8 rrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day8 H# z3 n+ ^5 d: Q
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of ( h5 z2 x2 A; d, ]them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms ) Y1 S1 W' t9 u* p9 |; y$ @% Vhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the5 K7 w% K' Z& h& X- j
tourist area. & e1 p8 d6 u1 P, {% m7 q5 V 2 h. f* p# _5 w* X; d9 h8 G8 T4 pOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's & g! X0 ]/ n1 v; Npictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). D5 k0 b$ o8 d6 H( \
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were , b" i% f$ M* Q, x! Ieverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ) l- k% C+ ~$ H( G, o' ^
less leader-religious. " t# d* J w. w& [; Z$ I! n : M& g5 l; M2 y0 K* B- XAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 4 B* A: ~2 \1 r9 k# ^' kgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big' ]) o& O& \$ ?9 A! |! S2 o8 x6 X
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US2 c6 \3 g* `( p" b# A6 {9 W- k
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 3 w! O ?; ^6 A" v% W) ?: s8 e: t1 a8 ?0 e, E8 \( e4 J7 `: \* h
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ~4 l* s1 \! P" _
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not" u5 f; T# h, I) n& S
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 1 w. q& q8 D' C" Y# N2 t1 D2 Qconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for . ~5 c7 X# x1 B! |- @2 {foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars ; | j. o4 D! w8 G+ g( r8 q6 ^) J(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 0 o1 A! K3 ~, I% w* Fprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the + {! J3 z9 T8 i/ l3 }real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. ( H# B! W9 a) M& m+ @% q' C; F( DAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 0 i6 W/ `( W3 u/ _8 V; \' f' for visitors.$ n; a2 `$ s$ s5 Z; S
/ k' E1 x _, U3 j) v. S-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
