We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very( t( m/ X8 |; J5 K5 M3 i
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we3 A, D6 z1 Y! u# [; N+ I
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 6 j# S2 M5 ?& ?& s' [& l' w5 k# |; e/ K% T' n5 g# S
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, # b$ r) \- @' @30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in! ~4 E- s6 m( [4 H& M1 T
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as! u, U: S+ k5 O1 q8 n$ N
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort k. f: B6 L9 m) a/ dshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep8 u; g% N# V' c8 G- Y. y" P
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the D' L" e- F2 P3 P# F- F7 w9 Qlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, - ^3 I8 ^$ S% g. Wwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 0 k# c! [5 k0 _3 D4 l People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but3 }) X+ }, N6 R9 R2 T# R* A$ g
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not + Y2 d( p/ Q3 o( u& O! }exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 7 I" u5 [0 s! h5 M+ H) R8 Xflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through- Y3 _ f' n' L$ T6 P( E
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ( B/ e/ B; N$ C0 c" S' _% ~7 p! s/ N0 m( s% {+ Z2 i
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, & T1 l" u$ H+ B7 ylow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool5 n2 m' d- [$ L* ~
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 0 `' A" U0 y5 i5 P+ Y6 k5 U! |of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the& N0 r) m& N7 d. H: R
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 7 m3 a5 q3 K# |4 ~* \5 f, y' o3 Y49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes . Q& A7 \8 d7 A% b, ?) e, I( \Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with0 O7 B* i: f8 W, j/ N5 F' ]0 v6 B. B* }
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. + Z; G2 v* P/ y5 @! T/ C4 w% j2 [% g5 V0 E% [( D" ^5 ^+ O# c3 }
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 4 a; h9 K' ]% O# p0 F3 C% Zjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made & V! T# U: }2 W; Tfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba * b! k, ^- B" dtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having: b- }) a8 j5 b* C! Z# {
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 0 m/ N7 x9 X1 E1 Kdaily 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 . d8 z$ I$ P! w+ Astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) D: Q" y5 A' i, }0 D3 h; ~
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 2 t' U$ g4 Y. _7 F/ O* Q7 \"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give # j: X* g! B, P6 G5 panswers to our pointed questions. + _$ z- P+ v% K8 A2 ]! S% ~' N) P; a9 v- I# e
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 i* G: I% }' a$ P, e
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# F6 P5 M( ~; D/ _
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is; X+ }7 m8 d" \1 s& w+ r
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ( S; D# t7 P& {4 d$ t: y8 W) ito get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: i2 `* o+ W) b' f9 h' s+ r0 q, c
medical schools.* s% |& ~4 d& ~: Y, S# ^: l8 u
1 B2 P* k7 C( ~9 H1 v/ n# w( mEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 4 f: O0 B' B9 K# V& d3 ?government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ k J; Y. y* p. {( N# l, J
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 1 w2 s7 ~! o; O: j5 F$ p1 s" Rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba6 n0 r. Q1 V. m# Z J
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to # k* S: c/ A- a! e/ w# hover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There: E/ B7 M% Y1 s' `' ]
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 7 p' m/ u. X8 m J; @. Lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 4 l" e8 g, i6 Bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some! M& |9 R* E2 F( `
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ! u2 x# F- h% u$ l$ \/ ], F% s9 [" L. ]! c6 z0 `: I
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no: s1 S- l1 G; }) c) l) x& N
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and0 O8 m! n! ~) T6 U1 W7 d
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 8 C7 }) Q; u# F7 G) jhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good / [- t$ k1 H! I. F3 P) G$ Fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 `0 x' i) B4 P; o+ f
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ H6 W/ o3 ?+ y/ \" w
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: l+ s" I0 `9 j/ r5 Z6 [
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When : E+ M' C) T4 O4 [a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 7 {0 k1 l! l3 ^7 L5 Fcharge the fee defined by the state. 1 Y3 }! m, x# P& g n K5 f1 u$ y- v# Y! J A. C
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# A* h: c$ z* y! K# x7 {2 Z) k
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 7 A& [, j! Y. A: m0 t: Q% p( oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# y$ p7 |4 H' y. R3 Q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ! ?! Z0 K! g! M$ J9 q& pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the # c# e$ m/ i7 z, W! u& h$ b: Yworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 M( X7 K2 s9 W8 A
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- x1 r7 y/ D) O3 m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. ], v" B# p# }& @& i# M
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 7 A! U& g4 D* p( n/ Yhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 6 C: Y: n9 B" z% Npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want & B8 [, E7 |0 G9 |to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or/ ?8 F% u1 b/ Z* M. b9 L$ G
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there Q7 v4 c( E0 Y5 Lare spaces. ' o- J. p# V# n2 ?! v2 |1 _1 O! a6 G* _4 ^/ u7 M7 u5 M
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 0 W X6 c4 X' E3 w" ?to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they7 B6 l O# F7 {! F
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) j+ z( d/ G3 I+ v
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 g& x+ @! c, W* U
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the # O0 R! P$ E% D2 ]8 kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few ( |0 k5 \1 A3 ?2 O& i7 inice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of ; Y2 f8 |1 [' g" ?2 }1 X. Jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it # o7 f2 m. i, i% J6 w: h1 R, his a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ h+ f r U3 Z4 I! N( ]; D
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 7 G& r [+ L/ \* k* _4 espots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ' e3 |8 r: Z0 V! ^; @0 Y) O& q& Mthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very - t4 j M. c# g: D1 ?limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep $ O0 R* Z) {) R) yrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day " [- M+ }) a' Y3 N; r8 n4 j( ]supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 0 r1 y# v% `! ]: ~1 vthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms & N1 i5 ~# p5 ~) `0 ]have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 8 y; o9 ` x& v2 v) @tourist area. T, H+ s/ d0 n+ R( t F4 c8 P
, H8 U. x3 u# h, uOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's1 y3 k) |. {3 Q! G. |
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 9 k+ c7 ~) |. \) c+ J" FCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were . X; A: Q4 T5 Teverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 3 Z# p% q+ ?/ ^4 v! O/ |
less leader-religious. 2 t/ w* f. ^( _- \2 n2 v5 b3 c9 D* S/ a+ g
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba4 J ~% e7 r( p# D& B% v/ q
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 2 {' [# E0 b. m! P" o o* c6 Qblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US. h; {3 `" X. w7 U2 q2 n
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).$ e7 m5 m4 j! b2 M* ~ l
9 E# ^/ r! V' ?' U" \0 M+ y5 k( xWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the , } u$ z1 Q. c4 z O) s' Eparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not2 y2 u' V8 }" [4 b& I5 y
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 & o& g, p5 H; m3 xconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ! i) l: F C$ _- t' s7 Xforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars ) F+ N6 c! R3 d7 w(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we1 g4 F. I) M; T
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the ' T b# a/ f# s! n7 ^$ n9 n* A2 n0 A6 T% mreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 9 i9 g0 `) S7 P# S1 ~And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local3 ]" _3 c: B4 d Z% t4 o
or visitors. + U1 w0 M" ~3 ]3 N - v) X0 U6 q+ J" e-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
