We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ) m2 x" _9 g$ @$ `% hinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ' h: G" y v8 U/ z/ }wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 3 F% P7 m6 R7 N ' n, c9 b' ]1 x0 IIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 2 C- ?& |' a+ L P8 K30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in / s1 r& @) r% t8 ]4 h# x# Fa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as ( m1 a/ p% y* l# i8 [possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort . d% v9 P* t3 {/ _5 z2 _show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep$ b+ J( i5 \+ w. U% Q
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 3 K, a, K. K1 o* z, A( c* }# d4 ^' v/ llobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,* p* A! E! v8 x. b
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. , A0 Y4 A3 x, G5 q5 B- N* \( s5 F People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but $ B+ `, F% i. O4 M8 h" e* x0 x4 unames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not / \% r" ?* ~' I2 J; gexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our4 _: [ C- o' Q* a2 T9 Y# ?. R
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through - S, Z5 L3 s) b8 K% E: Ba roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. * l3 ^# u$ D5 D* J7 u2 S( b" c5 l3 Q& [
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 3 }/ r8 m: m s Q* x+ H. E2 P3 slow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 2 Z1 [/ o2 r$ T3 q, N6 h( H0 [(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top; ~6 n( c1 U/ y
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the, V. B+ z, [3 t
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from* q+ s+ d2 P& z, `4 @- \- o
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes " ^' Q; f5 O! h! I4 p$ ?Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with ! t. z. M, e. }* w) ~1 J! D1 Zfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 2 }# m1 A. }# h& ^* O- L! b % M6 A' L4 I/ l: H$ g: qThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are ! _7 M0 N1 m Y& A+ g& c: Vjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made, |9 F7 b' S0 D! y4 B% ?& Q" Z" e. o
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba8 S( S/ F# M T/ u& e
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ; |9 N5 ]% ?5 q& P% N5 b$ ka staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China& S4 F( _+ l6 @
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 , r& g6 W, `% l) Cstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went # Z4 m& l! H7 B+ C* \on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, P9 U% z: N% p( y$ p0 L, R6 q"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) d8 ?) T+ N2 |2 H; z+ F
answers to our pointed questions.* S4 \, _: Z1 U. W$ a% [' u/ D
$ ~3 ^( Y" _0 t6 ] _6 MThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 7 y8 H9 e# b1 G. k' k45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 6 H y# `6 x; x8 Q! lout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 h& O, a, P1 f4 L/ v
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ t( \6 F# r8 e* @! p0 a
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 6 D, A0 k* |8 Emedical schools. . |+ U( l" V5 _ b/ k5 K L. o* `/ i3 t- q3 m: C9 O
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 9 u; C. W) P4 W7 [) S; s" u" ?6 s0 C% ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 0 a- n7 E B. P: F* {* t9 f& Tto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( [7 _ w% ~9 A: H* q0 Z, ]
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 O* K' g9 _3 C6 \4 d5 z) v
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% d0 K# |) u0 V. V: I- e
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There + i8 \! W# G9 u& kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 F. V' e9 _" G1 m4 p
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ( y) X" ^8 M* f) ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 M' V& o5 F5 s% y. {
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., l& t6 L7 H: \2 |# G4 ^ ^" F
) @$ e, S% B' y1 A- {# JThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no % @. t6 B$ a; E2 c. |private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and $ H5 V9 }" Q% L! csupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; i- u( y9 K( a9 f; v9 y- I
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good $ w6 D9 @# r; F* xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby # a0 A& g4 e% Y: Tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high l9 M- s, I3 [5 e- D$ r2 w: X
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# L; u7 b! l9 W# M! [
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When % O7 ~# v0 C* i8 i8 ya lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only + P# f" `5 q/ Y# ?$ ?7 |+ ~' ~charge the fee defined by the state." i4 b% J. N/ J7 i* c# d+ T- z
' P' W" Z9 _( p( m
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ z/ x( U- l9 k) _" ?) y' n
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type - \9 n+ \6 {# [5 B3 V; Jof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ( R3 k* T# d5 ~7 q: y& a9 Ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 3 ~' i8 h; k' S; Vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 7 }5 F1 I! a; vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on / @4 [1 h3 C% sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 w" P; A! T, i# _; K$ Z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people / b5 \$ @, i/ t8 D# i# Qtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# q2 f/ b% X; N
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: ?6 R7 i8 B' B- g
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" J* G& f% x, P6 p. W* V1 Q. D
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# D1 W2 p( o/ b- p |3 x
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there ( H! D+ `6 Q2 |" ]7 Eare spaces.- Z& n- q& [) H
# j& l d, j4 @0 K: M: l! ^, h3 i( y
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" h# D4 A/ V8 |+ H% A6 r4 {
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they: ?! ?) W; w* s
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the / L/ {3 J8 W' [! m1 M8 E# s0 X3 C- V40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 4 H+ Q) `+ X4 x4 f8 Oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the- u9 o4 r. o4 |( d( t0 I+ z0 N/ S
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& O# Q, f7 n( y3 B/ A) X
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( ~+ h7 z0 a5 e) d
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" i/ \4 K# Y. q- u2 x
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 M) \# T3 n) \ g
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/ u$ O/ z3 O) y4 d
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all2 `( ^9 w5 V5 x
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very& ~9 u& K& k: Q, Z8 ^ a
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 5 A5 w p$ m; y }' ]9 }recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day5 A6 L3 }$ ?3 P
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of # Y8 K6 b6 z1 _( @1 O K* b- ?them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 5 M* G4 P1 D6 Q& n- [have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the h5 L& X1 ? \( w7 y$ l4 }+ p7 Vtourist area. 1 R' y$ U. a, y4 X* m1 Y5 J6 B! b) V: H
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's5 ]: J6 d) D7 C' r+ m5 Y
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).9 Q( T* \0 I2 {% g* F- w
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were + m8 W2 x' y4 T$ E( E) Y1 Geverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps |$ }4 Z0 } D, i% \- ~1 r9 }less leader-religious.3 D+ ?8 F4 e9 }$ J
5 f3 q% C- p( @2 n% _; W, K9 c$ JAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 9 H6 N, n0 p, c1 a) f7 \0 j+ b7 ^government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 1 M1 k( w" Y% nblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US - X4 _3 F! Y: u9 v# k7 Pembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).6 |0 B' ^2 J4 c% D! z- [2 g
/ c" u, n ~" v* m! Y6 @( ]
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the" C; o& H* e3 R4 ~) e* j
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not! B) q* d( U! a |- [
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 Y4 r# w; v& D# ?* lconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for% P5 i& h, V# }. i/ s" }* P9 G- j
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars, E1 k4 Y) }' y2 o( v3 |
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we " V" i/ C' w1 k/ S/ Kprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the! {- t& N5 W: P1 R5 W0 d; I W8 f
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.* q* S9 A( g' ^5 }0 i
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local; `6 h: g% b8 H" A5 a& v6 `! e8 j/ f
or visitors.) b: V2 n4 B5 Y! y& G. K3 U- m! u
) e% s" z M5 M: x-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
