We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very1 a4 R, P3 e" E4 W# N- r- J' f/ h
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we- L$ h& l2 J) T2 _' E
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.8 Z3 Q! e$ A6 S x- ]
4 a4 D8 {$ m! @: I+ ~; `6 wIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, % ~1 c3 ]6 C( D9 v0 q9 @30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in: v& v5 \# X& v
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 2 L5 A; k p0 u4 rpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort* r9 a' f2 A8 c/ K" T6 {% k# w+ N
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 1 d7 m/ m8 ^2 z5 B# vbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ! E9 u5 K5 h! tlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 1 b. e0 @/ d% U1 h) ywith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. & v; M& B; E3 i X# p1 _ People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but: g0 H+ ~6 B: D/ c3 |
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not0 L( ~; B4 o, R, p: P- t
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our# f8 u: D* e" T' r' z9 d
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through # ?% R/ `2 h! C' Q8 Ra roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.6 l m6 j9 o# H9 b" a, V
" S" N) v+ W1 z, x9 j( Y4 r. Z' ]The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, O4 \' P) @5 d* X% elow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 2 ~) F$ e6 J1 _(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top& h( n3 Z/ q1 F' U( u9 {
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the, v4 q8 \( {# u9 ]
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from - J0 z5 c9 j3 ~1 k# ~# F49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes0 b( w% g+ n7 o! Z9 Y# G
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 3 `' d \2 ^. F1 \9 c8 dfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 9 ]4 _0 v- z R! W: |1 u2 ] K. A& L* c B
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are2 Z2 T% c1 |0 |" G S" L
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made7 a$ Y2 P3 \1 k/ t) s0 \
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba : w! F6 C( k h2 ptourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having5 D% N. d3 [- O' L- s0 g! m# j
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China % z/ I$ e! h l) vdaily 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 ) p1 D) [$ i( h, pstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 3 l0 @, Z3 N3 \$ q7 Q" Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 0 @( Y% R2 r: R, h"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 7 j2 x* d6 ?0 l- Q" g# f# D( a5 ~answers to our pointed questions. 7 A0 [' y* X& j8 \1 f$ |! P- B5 q0 o/ F u) `+ Q* e0 G! s2 D V, E
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% o& _3 A8 H0 }- h% S0 {
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 9 p3 r b' D- g( mout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 f( t( ]+ t7 V& ~- E0 u
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! s8 {8 |3 s( @4 z6 f* ]
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( l' V+ B. e7 \1 E
medical schools.' t5 }0 A6 H4 ^
7 J' Z% K/ t( L4 e* W v# ]Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ ^# K$ |5 g- M* B* o/ s
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 7 f* t8 a9 @* d9 g2 J G U, r9 ?to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. n5 J6 z! Y* g& B3 V
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ T$ O# s a( L
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to, D5 r# k; u0 ?$ I+ M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There " N K0 I7 n, L5 ~$ s3 Z4 N# i% rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and : s# G4 ]9 {, `" ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ' \1 [: @% V: h! l, k2 _shortage which the government is addressing by converting some ) c6 `" j9 _6 U- P5 V0 Ssugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., P) L6 k$ ]1 y* z. Y# m& x% j
; _- \$ f( `; ~' M1 Q# ~
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 9 w0 l+ `- r; E7 H9 I$ d) k v3 cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 6 p+ A8 ~* a/ N4 o0 u! Xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 y3 ]% @9 J! b" m
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good ( D/ `* X7 _; g; v3 {2 W% Athing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 i) V# r& `" I
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 i" E. q& Z$ Y
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. F8 g- o1 i5 I+ D, h1 E( F! ?/ Z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When : |3 n, u) F2 `1 \+ |% D" oa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 y; P" Z+ Y& L5 l8 H& { b
charge the fee defined by the state.% S- X: Y6 h" g( y* b) M4 J
) ~$ i# P! L: c0 l+ Y/ H4 j( IThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ N! J8 f" L: d
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 S" S- B1 z+ k0 u. A
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 5 j- X) Q3 ^; \+ |% Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel" j5 W* t9 `% m, f
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 }" |6 c' ~. n4 ~
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 2 }' c4 v7 n% o# x& t* wschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 z' b, [ F8 N' G: x2 o8 g V
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people - K6 S0 }; n! [; ^4 Atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" k7 l% M! ~/ f9 f T9 @6 J# \
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- I$ X1 H, B* ^- `9 s7 c4 D/ C
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% P! A/ c/ M7 K/ D* n
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or- u9 U" C3 G9 Z0 b8 y3 c# a: k4 I
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there # u# o( }: E2 `$ U8 Aare spaces.3 J" y; s# C* X! H7 Z5 {) {% }
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi & K+ k* Q4 ~, V/ t& ?to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they ! @9 }9 a" ~' K/ F4 U! e. f& }+ Y$ Wown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the # o- F3 K: ^+ s/ ?" f40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ _ o, m, G9 M h5 M6 W4 x
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& [- v. f* |* s _# F0 R
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 G k7 s" u4 C" \( e& w$ Y( Y/ a
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 4 m+ N/ X( Q- ?/ n* L2 ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 8 O2 j3 s. M3 v2 u( F1 His a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 4 `7 O( k( M5 s# r) n/ V. [ 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/ n2 K3 _# ^! B( M, [" W
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all; E' i: y. N9 G% m
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 6 O4 ~2 ?' N7 `) h% elimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 4 A7 J# l, |- D$ Orecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 4 m6 w) t i" N4 F# o; P; n8 isupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of % c9 _9 t! y7 y6 F. y0 | Bthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms/ L* A7 e2 H/ j) i
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 2 P4 r- ]8 R6 ytourist area. ' u4 T( _1 T( K5 z7 ^; @) {3 h0 b2 {! ]- u+ A: ~
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's3 I- J6 k! z; B. G) O; i
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).! |% [- Q7 L4 s" k% J) h# f. |
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ; J& Q% R3 F9 Y! v' g9 Ieverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 4 j+ U9 y9 k0 L- H5 I! Y* E2 j0 fless leader-religious.3 n8 ~" E p/ U
( q# c+ U3 c" N* C: N3 Q7 Q
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba8 p0 `) P- k2 o8 h) T/ d& J
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big2 ?9 ?0 w# n4 |
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US! I, ?8 r/ W# H3 D6 d" P& \* n/ N
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 7 q+ l. T: k, w7 t* z& i; H2 d4 S \6 X" h7 k
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the + k5 b L. F- I& F, V" e* J; T; Dparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not9 O8 }. d. W" K4 @6 v
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 $ Y$ X* }9 b ~$ {- @" y. L! ~2 r% F6 pconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for% z) A5 ?2 G5 L4 x$ C$ A* l
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 7 s+ J# L; y0 }" \* _; K(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we) @- g6 d" c* F* F( q
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the! m5 J/ |1 e0 ]. Y) x
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 1 I y! z- x1 J# L# R0 u7 [And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local" v, G$ b2 M& p; L8 J' ~
or visitors.) p+ z$ j' p( a, D: u6 A% E
+ a3 @; s. x* r9 X' r! w2 `4 Q5 j5 K-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
