We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very& k& J- X6 x* {5 P. [" e* V; W
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we! {; k+ [( o/ j1 a+ D
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.$ a- R4 O }" E2 v
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, a+ j% F2 @$ g30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in , k- G/ l! Q. g9 y, |a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as# d: G6 z* v p% [# I. I | S* l
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 7 h1 H7 \; d, ?* pshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep1 r7 l% a Z( L
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 1 h- p4 A6 n* C5 olobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ) |" B7 y0 o5 w) G( C# Twith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.2 b' @; p; w. L H0 s% p- ]
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but# f3 I$ `( Q/ _7 [, C
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not/ `6 ?) Q- T6 q6 o' _
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our- L3 E8 i* Y# o; M d9 u' b5 x
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through' I0 z; | n5 R4 W/ ]; c5 n
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards./ n) [2 R' a! Y$ q$ b! @' X
5 Z% \1 u6 V0 mThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, % E {4 L: R. c0 t( K& l4 plow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 9 N3 u G% H( U(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top * ~+ R8 q! D7 v# K% qof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the $ L. o3 ?2 J4 }2 W) d$ n+ pstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from }/ e. V( B5 d! }5 p! O# t0 p
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes9 z1 g/ c3 k. ~3 v; e
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with {) P7 y5 ]$ ?fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.+ O3 c# D4 p/ F; X
9 G4 p: B! x6 Y9 A# }The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are3 A, t- ~' @1 o$ ~* S) f
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made # e/ F' F5 n" j6 cfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba! d2 w6 w2 x! b: F
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ( Q* u+ \/ @& C' i: E- M9 M9 U# Ia staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China+ A% j; W7 B; z5 z
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 % Q* J! I% T" o: _+ r) `% {" Dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 r$ L# F) T: P9 V0 y S8 l" V7 [
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 0 X- p1 ?# \9 A( F: l"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 9 P! f, h$ l& {8 y; O' _4 B# @/ nanswers to our pointed questions.; O8 Q' Z1 L% S% E
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 X7 {$ n6 @5 X
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. L2 S2 z9 q, b6 a o1 W
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 2 X- l( [( w! j5 \. L; pfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- ` l8 ?" L+ ~% r Y; Z* @" `- b1 ~1 w
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! Y1 F& u [8 V9 z3 ?1 V
medical schools.5 c" q" h% g3 [8 r: Z; N( E
% O1 y8 h# x3 O, `: mEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ k. v/ j. A$ A3 o; B5 ]( W
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 e% T$ z, |$ E# U, c
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 a8 S S) n7 n8 L' w! a4 }5 N
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' v' X; I. c2 K- e( ~, o
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 @) o; }$ J+ ]
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! d0 W" V& A2 W! Q% p7 C
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 3 @( x% h1 n4 v2 M# `/ s+ H+ {' ?mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk % b, o7 I% M4 |4 {- z( j# Lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some& `, D/ i& [) V* k9 m9 d
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 F+ G2 p7 m; k" p1 p9 p
% S3 m# b a* e6 P* pThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 ]% {5 k4 M8 ?0 e: n' |) i- k
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and) o% j! S7 I5 N
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) U6 y4 g; Z/ U
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 3 K" \0 j2 Z6 E/ S9 Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# j. x/ a6 }% L* H7 `+ A+ s" y! A
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 b) r$ F6 @6 g8 H |2 f
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. + U5 T* b7 l( oDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 2 C3 q5 c5 Q6 va lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only/ t1 a _3 l8 {
charge the fee defined by the state.7 @ e2 n, u7 H9 F$ w
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get * R6 n2 l( U, Z/ j6 W! h6 C9 z& P0 W# ?* won), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 U" ~, q9 X, p* D
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 1 X% x! ~; U# y# E3 }. R& Jtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* y, e a2 y% S1 {, A
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: @1 s- N/ I/ y) N' z9 f3 o7 n7 N
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: r( O& z8 q# @
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if & P" H/ P% K0 M+ L- B y+ Nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 2 y$ K/ X+ e- |/ e. B+ f) E& Ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 w+ J. |1 d( K. H
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 `) } @3 t3 u6 Q$ i
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want & f, Z; L+ l7 D* Uto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or( N- t0 C+ j( [+ h0 H
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* j8 K5 C, V( x. @8 g1 v# c
are spaces. ) j0 l( @9 P5 J0 n , p5 _/ h8 ?+ L9 Y' q- c: @There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ; r6 T. s3 L' H5 ~& @" N. e) mto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) h7 q3 a$ @3 P: ^7 J& r
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the% }9 o; R. O) t: l% ?" W [
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different ; o$ v1 X/ z: a2 \" iparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the . r9 H2 I: k3 l8 L0 xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few / B3 t0 a- k5 G0 b( Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of/ g2 Z5 R; j j% C! {- A- c
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' N4 x2 V. `) r t4 c
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 4 X% ^" o+ D+ c3 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 1 u1 R) i+ ?9 {' Q" Xspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all. Y1 R `: `# W4 n) c ?! U
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very + o; T4 \3 a, f# K$ olimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep3 R- ?* |& }: F) V( d1 u# K
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day o* w5 X$ B! {' R+ ^
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of . }+ X/ S) \1 j0 e( A8 l8 R; E4 Gthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms $ m5 \7 a' D1 \1 P8 E" g: nhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the & \7 {; R9 ?$ l* l3 i4 N* T" e" I# o9 Ltourist area.9 W- f, v9 x; I! h0 K B
7 ~/ ~- v- O) H/ {$ H8 ~One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's+ @, n; V( l0 D+ V" g
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). , J0 g$ [9 Y, v G/ C* l S5 X% jCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were; H. Y9 t0 K: n" d* V$ r; j
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 4 K! w8 \5 ]2 G7 e2 }
less leader-religious.6 F }) ^& l/ y: ^% M. f
+ t# R8 A* p4 S0 I5 DAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 0 {3 F! x& ^$ O3 q7 |+ agovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big7 c, y+ D8 E3 `1 o7 @
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US + t5 x5 z6 q4 ~embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)." T7 Q/ V. ]% a% M
: j1 \# K8 U' O- U+ X4 \We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the . X8 E; t! u- `- R/ Fparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ) G- |7 R/ l, K2 H8 Dthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 v0 A2 ~: t: p4 I) Z" s" r/ Q
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for $ O+ |' k% s# W+ n* sforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars . K. N4 E% u4 {(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we+ ]4 O9 n- ^9 d' j/ U1 g( Z
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the ' Q0 l6 `7 y( N4 \7 q8 @8 A$ S$ a ereal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.4 H4 F R* m; V4 c8 i; Y; I
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local. l0 l% S# b$ P' B8 k
or visitors.& S9 W$ V0 ^" a, h
- @& n* i. s# N-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
