We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very6 v: _& ?3 V$ d7 U+ x. J* i8 s/ C
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we, F% ~( j1 i; L8 N) S' [' P
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.0 J& p8 H0 Z% x9 ?8 M \
2 d: E2 z5 U( o- r! E8 @It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 0 y! E* [" m6 h30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in/ W# r/ J0 m5 G; i/ e$ S
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as- T5 w9 t% T: R/ `5 F1 y. P F* Y
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort ( H: c3 {% ]( _7 v: S, I! W0 Gshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep : g2 T6 C' ^: e9 S0 Rbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the9 z/ s" E# F3 L* k
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, , A8 M/ L# R* C$ o8 ^ Xwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. / Z7 p! p( h' _# |$ K People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but5 y) A; _3 W5 g
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not, ^2 |4 o! y M" k( ~ _0 Y$ I
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 7 q/ y B( l3 Tflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through . V- P( w$ I/ U Pa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 1 G" {1 I. c2 a 1 `" m# P5 C. EThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,& d0 \6 ~4 s c, [/ P6 n
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool ( t1 O' a2 ?% p( W5 f& o(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 0 a( U `& L% e- tof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the$ K4 a2 E* H% u- ?0 j* m
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from! P5 c" Q) a+ c, X4 h
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes* B' p3 t( i' J5 p* g% O( ^ M/ k
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with ! r& e) G0 n- Z- E% b/ D/ sfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. " _* [ L b6 M 5 W/ z0 r4 l4 tThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 8 i; D, N& U4 ]3 rjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 2 g3 Y. i0 Z8 p' m- U5 ^for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 5 l( e' n; D# w* ltourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 8 {& N+ Z0 \% v @; ua staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 9 z% W- E% a9 C$ ^' w. sdaily 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 * u0 ?+ T" p, Tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ E8 U4 G3 | a: a+ q# C
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' V; V6 v0 K/ o! X8 a' D6 K) L, u
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ r$ ?/ s5 P' }1 j, ?& [
answers to our pointed questions. ; M6 L; p6 T9 _4 d% X% Y/ i" n& w* a6 s( d2 H
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 G& L) ]) o4 @/ }1 \1 W* i% f5 ]+ ]8 [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ' U5 ?# Q. l- p P7 jout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. M: Q; W \. n9 ]
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. u* ~* F! k0 r7 F* D
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 8 b( D1 q+ @" ~! g" k) emedical schools. % h \: D5 L6 P) S7 ?3 n' H, s. a+ N! m8 A6 ]
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ x$ _( E. {1 Y m4 c
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants' `% ^7 V p' y' x0 B% V, \
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* E/ x- w" i, N4 y- C4 b
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba / a+ H, G* w, ^) G$ Lis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% f9 R: b1 ~6 a8 w8 V* P1 W- A
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' t) A( _& W" M3 Q
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and% I0 F& x4 z; {& g' s: Y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- n4 U9 T, J. D
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 7 } z9 r# Z1 J$ f% Osugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* i! L# r! K) `: c. c/ z
: f, X! T- Z f+ NThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no + F0 S" U0 w- T8 P/ `private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and % w$ c8 D6 M; j7 i8 T0 D& Asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people . J" j e2 t' T4 }. ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 7 {, I. i. x% P; y7 Z; m0 Gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ; h# g) g6 Y9 Ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ) A4 X; ?1 ^% W% G' L Gdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.& T8 C6 V0 q) }, T. Y% t
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When ' k2 F5 p4 I4 ^3 Qa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% n8 ~8 \3 d% H( E
charge the fee defined by the state. - W1 ]' P* G. ^4 f, ^ 1 I3 e" q* p; b5 J' e( M1 C$ `( QThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) x1 X2 s0 R2 P {' B9 j9 U( p
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type% K; ^7 K3 S* P7 S, a
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big & Y1 h8 T% `# x( F3 Ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel % v; Q0 I: W# Y$ ^0 U) K0 d' Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 2 H4 ~: Z8 z2 a1 j' _; ` V+ uworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* C4 @: a0 a, U) m# D
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; m/ t" @3 f. g, W- f
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people, n( M+ u7 p# i% ]2 z- D6 V9 l
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- Q0 s2 ^& A# Y9 c Q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that / ~; \9 W7 C* Y6 h* Tpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 W! m; X7 z. T8 F& b9 s
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* ^8 W$ @5 i c/ I4 X) n5 f9 j: t( S
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there8 t" O7 V$ k/ H2 T
are spaces. k+ M- U7 ~! A
T. d5 {: M6 T$ _& hThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi X; @. q, `, W8 V. y t& zto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* k. R( W+ v$ i7 C2 T
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: {; v: x! u" ?( d/ \
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# D! z8 h) A& {8 z& L! J- @- F& w' U
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" g/ F7 F! t* F
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few- \0 C5 {+ B8 ?6 X( d* v
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of ) \, J% G+ |6 E) H8 R6 e9 z4 mcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 r. {6 {2 w' E% a+ o7 R5 t4 }' @
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 n: u7 ?. o, ?% T/ F
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% N: K* E# T5 f) D
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all9 M( k/ k6 {; `9 l' o w
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 3 ~% V5 G3 m0 climited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep4 o2 P. R3 ~( L0 K3 Q( s
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day - I0 S4 V, h; f6 \8 l, Xsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of8 `: ~" `1 N) ^9 t; Q) h* M
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms1 S3 ]3 a6 _& b8 i- T0 v% \
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 1 ~+ C0 U( v3 @tourist area.- T5 J8 ]! x! x7 J2 w/ {$ e
* v3 U/ A- @5 n; E
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's % M& w: \9 C' r! Mpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara)., j- ]; V$ g2 q: H
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were- x* T n6 f7 u3 O/ [" }
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps : H$ m' l/ N% Z X0 h
less leader-religious. ; g# F5 j8 z2 M8 `7 \ & N) }# v( }! D- A; w; a# \; }# mAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba" ^$ c- B- b+ U4 A
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big8 ~- Z$ d8 g1 W
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US8 `5 B6 j+ v9 _* ~
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 9 z0 O& E! t. t2 X1 A 1 K" q5 b8 u$ ~9 t& x! {We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the & ?, R( N7 k$ w! K/ Q6 ?parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not6 z6 b O l Y% r3 a y, a
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 # l+ [' o# i4 N/ S7 G/ Uconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for! r$ _+ O& N# k7 U! `7 u' V: b6 A
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars% J2 s, l! O2 u5 E
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we* z) s% p* `& o' |6 d. w: P
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 5 S) L+ Q2 F1 {; ] k Treal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 5 p4 r% P1 r1 J* q. M4 v5 K h" pAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local2 b% \- }/ X6 V5 H5 P
or visitors. 7 `5 M* w+ S7 o: P 8 y; d3 { b' C' }, J& f4 Y-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
