We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very * ^" A) C- ?5 v7 a S1 q# y" e: g Tinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we2 n& v% n1 r6 L: D( H1 |
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. t) N, r- }, U2 I& L3 { ~% l( l$ P+ @+ k. w( ]( ]6 s* Y
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,; O7 V* X. h' A9 @2 [; S; a9 B
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in% j6 ~0 o1 u2 k
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as. g' ~2 K2 }4 `$ j: g. S- H% V
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort . c8 L8 _0 p/ n1 n- t' sshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ; Q S; g6 g. h0 {$ c9 A% f- ubetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 1 {4 v& d2 X$ b# s: ^1 K7 T% [lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ' F1 t% c7 t" \2 X3 C9 Qwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. , U. K- j/ r3 `4 g3 r People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but; j% _1 G7 t, k6 W
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 6 V; p7 f" N5 t( |9 }exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 3 b; b& ?' v) B$ `* {) Sflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through& t b; W; g) b: a
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. . g% k* S% P3 P 1 k: w! v! K) i* R1 EThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,4 y+ Y$ R8 Q" ?
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool( z: e |) C% H. R, E
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top8 k2 L1 F% F% h$ x2 E
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the . l( O$ ]. j* y! d; Hstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from , ]: N. _) M$ L$ X" b49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 7 [1 c7 K- g( UCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with2 s2 G1 t4 A; q$ b4 q
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.9 B6 F7 k. o4 `8 L/ h6 v0 m1 P
& g: c/ o: L9 _$ a. y/ e0 x* aThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are & w, _. R' j$ b) }5 b5 Njust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ( } t: s" }5 E7 r6 J& B( L% R# jfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba + k, j$ d6 R( v: T! k* ftourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having0 M+ P4 A$ c4 e- h8 u
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 1 E. ?4 A0 O. t0 @& h* |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 6 Y$ v C3 r0 K6 ~% ^6 ?) ]2 o8 ~; C vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; x2 I' P: C- o! x' y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, " v* C( ?6 v( L( q1 z"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give2 v* l/ `: c: M! i
answers to our pointed questions. 9 X: }* _% [, \ ( a" Z/ X6 {) W0 Q0 jThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, & g3 G; J9 v' l% [9 B" _45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) P+ ^& B7 d# P1 f L9 X5 x m
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 1 Z! Y( O; V$ Vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 9 A$ Q1 I- e0 J7 v3 F# qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 X* I# p, j6 P% S/ A: w. J
medical schools.0 K" R- O6 L- D
1 u- P& h3 Q! w: ^ TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 n! W6 Z4 ?/ o+ I9 A
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) O5 z4 ~; J! z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years; U. _/ I A; E4 s8 q) O
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ; `( \- v" P7 t K% Z# k' N$ Jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to / D2 d' {9 c9 R$ E A5 J/ ~over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There( c+ A& v# Y- h" [
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 p0 r5 G$ O0 r
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk . W+ P' d% ~* E' ` f. l! S* gshortage which the government is addressing by converting some. k0 s2 c/ n3 u- V9 U
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! a" V% C6 k2 _+ n x. X t [
! L1 s) [! z; t6 M( Z2 b
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ F d" c/ n/ `/ q' Z" q `' Y8 ]
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& f4 O- k @$ N" C! p) S
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! T) m. p4 p8 Y Z* m/ l
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good - E" g8 C9 U2 K$ K7 l) U, ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby * K* `. m% B) E" Z' P4 Zsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ Z, ~( y9 ?5 S1 t4 i2 g: |
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 7 F7 w3 E# e' u. k7 LDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 8 p& n- T+ w- V, Ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 9 U9 t& S u7 C6 V6 H0 T9 _charge the fee defined by the state.9 B, {/ N) F" Z
4 a7 o" W, L, r2 D, nThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) e9 k( |( G2 \8 n
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type% s, G1 U) t! O9 |+ I9 Q
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ) ], H9 V5 h" U3 }9 D# W9 Gtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel7 M( Y" g, w0 { g. d( ~
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the, C( B' Y: z4 P9 o3 `7 W
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( |- a. \! D1 W$ i& C- {* d
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ( k% Y' i" k/ D2 kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: R; }+ n2 x. ^2 n! ? V
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 J# Y1 o3 j8 k; w7 h q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that ) }9 T- C7 w8 m; t' e9 e$ o/ fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' P- `+ a6 l z) [
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" N: n7 E5 L" w7 t/ C' \# L) m( s( Y
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ T9 O; S$ t! N( [( H
are spaces. % m" N- Z' J# V & |. N2 d v( H* S; ~( @There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi - _8 s" |) a, M$ lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 n2 w* t! T& Z! ~
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 n$ {# t5 n! a, j
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' G' B! X7 h+ H5 Y4 e, |: L
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the " ]8 F1 o' l3 a4 V: N5 Hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few- _2 S) y; p; |1 P
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of / _$ F% ~- f2 T# V/ ?* [car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it + C3 l0 E7 Y% l* `2 Eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., X- b% l F+ Y2 S9 A% T1 a
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 Z8 R M' Y; `+ [3 w
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all . w( Y. ~7 i: l; A ithe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ' T5 [8 j/ I3 {( j$ c2 i* N6 Nlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep$ A; b% l+ q# A. Y0 t" o
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day3 b& a0 u$ J9 z0 O5 s( ~9 P. c
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of l+ e9 e5 j6 _: r; V* ^them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms P7 x3 u( t) H* u2 T m4 \2 r
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the : X# q8 z1 L$ S, \tourist area.8 u3 P' |: @7 Q! q
6 V: i6 F; K2 YOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's. B+ m/ u9 [0 S2 L3 q/ ]
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).& w9 R3 u7 j; L5 D4 L, _) ]* ?
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were * l0 }' V0 M, F7 Y- U: qeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps & @& z! X T ?* O" iless leader-religious.8 N0 `$ ~& J8 p$ V) q( ~, Z: M
^/ `2 I& f: @. L: X" u# w1 M
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ! [3 u- F. u0 j+ v: n7 w' Ggovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big . O0 A8 o! s0 u, ~, b1 rblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US( _( w9 ?# b1 D5 p
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).& T# Y; Y3 {4 z: F4 K) n
5 C5 A+ r$ k2 f9 F. x
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the5 T' X. m$ p2 |6 m+ @9 }7 a
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not/ p5 Q: t3 n7 j. A9 D
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 - d+ e5 T% A: y/ d% ^convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for8 X. z, N) `& G; r
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars3 E/ B+ ~# n- t& Y1 F3 y5 l
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 3 o" L' C% w+ P' p$ J" f/ nprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the ! V+ ~* x0 k' j8 V* j) lreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 4 H, o2 U* R" SAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 0 t! L8 h* I8 _; vor visitors. / U) a! c" ]3 I) w * |1 g5 t* y# o2 Y6 U( q, `-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
