We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 7 V- H4 r- S l' Q: i; o9 A$ `9 Finteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we2 P4 Y1 F& H; t) b2 _, z" G, V
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.) c9 r" M$ o+ P5 c" H3 i
# e: _9 O+ }" R! @
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,/ F6 s! |. n" K
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 8 o1 A0 m* ^; @: Ha very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 7 k8 c9 L7 A9 v" y9 _# epossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort0 c) n( l2 H K
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep' }+ l" w, v: m+ y' n
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the % |! T3 n, c5 Y& _ Y! a( l2 Plobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 3 \: h4 h& i! y4 Y" mwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.0 Z$ t/ U( Q6 Q! Y4 r$ z
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but & i/ w7 l2 |+ T5 i$ r+ Fnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 5 f x6 E7 v/ e' C1 A, Rexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 8 j* f8 w3 p, l0 X- M* J8 Lflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through) Q; P( t/ Y8 \ q6 o; ^
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.. M% K$ Y2 @: o
5 b: h; Z; Q$ {: v' T1 q* JThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,+ l w+ B# G$ O/ g5 K I
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool6 h. Q% P& `6 U+ x. a8 P/ p* B
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top * m. g( F. X! ^/ O/ A" Xof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 3 w+ D# t& X2 ]& c1 a/ }' [- ?& ~stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from5 k$ n- r. ]. I8 T
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes1 f8 w6 O @3 h) v4 K7 n. ]" |
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 9 g4 Q* u6 y! F, ifingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ( _/ G6 ^" T: j3 t " Z' N4 ^3 ^- h/ pThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 7 {% _% J! z! `6 P5 rjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made7 `9 K4 v- a- ^6 z) ]+ J& b
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba9 y' T9 R+ }' K) g
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having9 l. f: p' V2 n/ N! d
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China) c, V2 x1 Y1 E& H( h! b
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, living2 @! _' H' X( @+ {9 e$ y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went $ z i; w' |, l2 k$ `9 l0 z) u% Von a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, . C9 V0 b! w' A0 a7 B Y6 r"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give ! {2 L0 r$ X0 S* ]. hanswers to our pointed questions. ) T) M! B9 S# Z0 |2 V% m/ h9 V) }0 D # k* n9 F$ M. ^( b3 g# K8 C6 hThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. `/ a9 S* Q, s/ `5 d
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) B8 {7 y" h! r: U* F) p
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is " H: W% P0 ~# |% Bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 1 _' l) T2 R! \3 v' [' p5 R% G/ [8 Jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are ' L- [7 x+ U; `; m! [2 kmedical schools. ; L& b0 t4 I, i- D ; S: f0 p. M9 c/ B$ z/ JEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* r: N$ A4 X$ Y. j/ R
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 Z, L7 b& Q( V/ @( R
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years + q; Y$ ^5 V4 b* Cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 9 h0 R( n y# _7 I0 \4 R% Y/ F/ wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* M4 R: X# H/ P
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There $ U m+ |* H5 h' U7 J( gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) _9 _/ |, A. N% |$ T' i1 R
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 K l2 Z9 K. C* o }: N& v0 }2 G
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 X; `3 | H' R# N1 k
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.: @* C+ V: L8 P W
" a0 p0 x+ c, }# W6 e/ y6 Z
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 O! V7 _4 C. v( f- G, s/ f0 o) l& c
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and ' t5 S! V/ ]. B, K0 Y- Jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 6 [% P9 [/ L3 Vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good , G' l3 P$ ~2 ]) Pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 9 Q9 |8 p8 {& t" ]; v5 a5 X9 qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high + C& z+ ~7 d! s; rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ J6 E, s) e9 m- G" W3 {5 X
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! S) p1 ?# X- d- e) i
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only + q7 s" A0 q/ Z( c4 d# Zcharge the fee defined by the state. ! ^& p6 `/ Q5 z. ]3 h4 | 0 Q: _+ j6 ^. c# {There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get " i: [! P# K) p g7 q+ I5 f- C: w1 i. u4 von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ' }% t B% L p8 z$ Y$ ^of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big i+ o, I5 d4 ~9 struck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel . ?2 r' k8 }5 Pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the - ~4 |6 r3 S, B# G# v7 c" zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ' ?% [0 @0 h& b9 Xschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: y8 d: D) {$ Z/ m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* O7 ~$ V* \; n7 [
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' ~" D: x' p2 W
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' C& J: k, e% c9 A9 H
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) Q9 A& n E u' i
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or & _8 a/ X) y2 _2 J3 qbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there $ {# P* B W8 n, T2 [# Bare spaces.- n- m; F9 X, z' _" X: n0 H% v
8 P% I" l+ F, A5 [/ f
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 B: A' l" |/ t, \# v9 A- D1 m
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# @' x3 |% ?+ O, _2 y8 c3 r
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) [1 k! g2 J( U* @; Q5 e
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 2 [2 {5 }: Q/ }- D$ X$ ~& s. F* f3 iparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, M0 E7 w) u' S
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 }1 ^4 b8 Q, c- `* @
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* A" e( d+ D7 B5 a" x
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ( \ u- [+ |4 w8 P0 }% J, Jis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ; P9 }% f1 ^. N, l$ V' I; l% Y. @ 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+ s: \- ]+ B) I
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all : N( R1 s* k% ?/ Y& F/ D$ Pthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very) y" J0 X: k& H( i+ ]0 |$ m
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep X( I r" E% n5 \! B; R) ?6 Precession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day4 z/ L6 C; H- f& g9 u
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 3 p0 X( |3 A* G. a% _- J0 bthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms . I' K' _ Z+ Z2 { z3 P& vhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the % N8 a* o' m+ y% Q9 A3 Rtourist area.+ V- ~* ?) X) B; t+ R ^- R
. d6 x& Y, x; S9 c+ X) b. v5 o/ y
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 3 c T+ `) O; m8 E6 z3 n h6 vpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 9 \% y* N( H$ c0 d# I# I4 X; O. FCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were g. U4 @3 }7 C9 I+ e( I
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps f3 B" W' }: x! w+ Q! tless leader-religious. : d0 j4 x7 D A. O g; T- ^ 3 N; k* u; r( N& z6 n5 nAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba4 U4 w' Q2 Z7 p
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 6 i* j: u# [5 P) J4 z/ r% zblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US1 O( k; B8 y; a/ M% K: ]$ i
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)./ V# B/ f! z7 p/ a/ D
0 G( H: a6 k* D/ T3 e9 ~We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the8 x& [: m! J% s1 l; N6 G- H w& K2 O
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 3 I2 z7 @4 C' Q# a* g) ythe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1: o$ S& M8 a; X2 X1 x8 {8 M
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for: \9 a/ [! ]' H0 w& }) b
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars / X6 ]: j r; t6 [- x( _+ i' Y) j(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we( I. H9 d* F6 B% H& A
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the. A+ F) _6 Z4 i
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.2 V9 F& |) U1 w
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local' H& r9 ?9 |' O0 p. R) d
or visitors. " I, M8 q# a. s) C3 @1 u; Z4 m, b ]* K
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
