We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very* V1 i' u' `0 c3 s) [' P
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ; i, D N5 ~- f" Y$ S6 J' w9 zwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. ; u5 y0 T l. Q0 m, _- Q x" M6 ]% w! J. K: `" s. u, R( vIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,! ]8 _* D) @9 Z3 S6 I3 D3 G. F& Y
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in2 w% S" c) s$ S" R
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as . G8 {$ O" D2 B; }6 wpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort + G- k3 d4 z4 N5 A6 dshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep- K% X/ k0 A! S* B1 Q: O' ^
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the- j* X5 Y4 \- F: L
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ) ^$ C2 z8 y& _with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there." n& c: M4 L# X+ w* M' U
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but9 H0 D5 m" y6 c0 P
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not% `( ~+ a, z: @/ n- S& W1 X( w
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our & |. b; Z+ j fflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through `; u6 s: y9 T) `
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. * V# U7 Z3 l, D }( F k : [3 V8 S! W7 u' H0 g& S. P% YThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 0 r) c% ?1 C8 I# X; w7 Nlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 2 j0 y9 q+ o0 R2 P+ R+ c(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top+ I0 B5 x a' `+ a/ K2 `% d/ G
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ' r* X! y' B0 W D7 V& `stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ) s7 `' x$ m6 m' p6 @' L6 \2 U* G49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes ! i2 ]7 j$ A K( zCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with ( z1 g2 f X5 {+ n, U8 afingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. - ]( k9 O) z9 I: p; B% l4 K4 r# u: u+ m$ w8 @
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are \# Q+ R6 _8 T$ U* kjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made * I }8 I" n; S: _& afor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba / q" l2 O1 l1 htourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 4 B. ~ x! i2 e. |a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ) y( v! {" @! }6 Q8 t# 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, living 8 k7 ]& b) D) I4 |standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 9 W0 T; F- y' Q' w; ?2 A8 Kon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, - B6 u) Q* o/ b; u/ @; r& C"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give' Y( c) x7 m: [3 W* o8 N
answers to our pointed questions.3 C: l& B a2 v# y2 \9 w" x
9 }, P( V9 c2 C6 A: l9 Y4 {- q1 BThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; Y2 w; n! y+ L, C$ K. f1 y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ' M# A1 A! e7 y: G; `7 q2 v- {out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# L: K% J7 e- K- P/ K( C4 v
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 ^5 H- J0 m( _: T- q
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are3 t. i2 c& K( v( P2 z% u* E F1 e
medical schools. " w4 G% x- t- k: a- ^ 0 k i' H: E* L6 `' N, dEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- E$ E7 ^* Z3 k& E3 A
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants : V# [4 s8 r1 p6 _& ~) Q3 i6 |+ h. fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years , T' x( O4 [) N( M6 w- m0 s g9 Z' p8 Aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 i! F0 _' f% A2 s
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ( F6 \3 f Z) e, R% `9 c2 m. nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 2 X/ C0 ]! d' x0 Iseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and/ @; z. P* X/ C7 U. |3 `
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 `1 t: M1 E' e# t- m0 V* D
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some- K) m0 l8 e8 B4 ~: E
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( O2 P8 ?' h/ V) x0 t
& u/ U6 n! N1 w- r) v9 H* K
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no $ O4 a# p- ]. N5 g aprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. C3 g6 B: q5 \5 F
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people S9 A: Q8 R# i: f' W, p' Khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" t; y6 z( _) x* L S/ D
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 8 B! _& U1 R: ~" O5 A# Dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' p/ ~6 W% K3 A4 q( j+ F% i( V
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- v) A* |' f1 t% N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 I9 V4 X% z- ?' Q& k {
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only; S, f! D0 ?% x& r" n
charge the fee defined by the state. c! z$ }$ g' P$ @9 G$ S. ^
8 o8 D* @% l8 W+ `) B/ h
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 6 u. t6 r3 v* don), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type # W! N: A0 X0 i* i2 O( Q/ yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 J, x8 z ]- R2 d+ }
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 8 f t: e, Z6 L8 _seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; q; x/ r: O. ?$ L" J* j2 l4 y+ z& d
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on # Z/ K% [! C; ^; {* aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if / e% |' q) V+ _% Syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people$ ^- H: r9 X0 G* _. p2 I* ^
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch+ A: l3 g# E% \5 \6 H7 m+ i$ _* m
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that % K" R8 r' l- L& I1 {people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want ( S# j2 D4 v4 Jto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 1 d$ m& h1 [! w4 M6 E8 _' n8 P$ S% Ebuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there + l4 y1 @, M- `( j' Mare spaces. % s1 S4 X2 C6 {) T' B. z * S( T% E8 q# P, @, L- L- TThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi / |4 V3 c3 l6 ]$ K$ z% S) q5 ^to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they ' N: g, _! K! v, B& N9 Z6 Down a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the + q% T0 d3 [& Z* [& `4 l8 z. d8 u40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different & @/ _ {+ K# k/ P4 s4 |1 L Hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the; Y$ K! h X2 |( i
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 4 X, Y( ?, ~) @ A0 _nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ q7 a. ]! d5 M* k5 f
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( X+ ~. H5 b" O, |0 \
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. + q: b! f2 w. U8 b 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/ F# w1 `3 b# i. d2 M9 C# f( o
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all : V( j/ Z5 f' E; o7 g+ ]the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very2 u$ q' j) V" P
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep, h* o! A7 m+ H1 e
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 7 S2 @, F+ Y( K" Asupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 8 y' J7 i, B; R1 H; e6 Dthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms ' o! g0 ~5 \ |2 _) x1 C3 y3 ]have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 7 q% i+ J) t8 P: C/ ktourist area. q- P% J/ d. P! ]& B# W7 N k
- R, o" U4 K7 c$ B3 I) V: yOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's & [8 w$ K; [# V4 v- Upictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). % z' w; ^8 K: mCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 4 `' C( F; W% w: heverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps $ i$ _, _' O7 ?! Hless leader-religious. . R' k% c* Y# V' z C) d8 ]; _( r/ h( |2 O; ^/ ?) c
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba , ~" j* o' I& s( p! S- v) Y" @government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big) `, R s5 b8 s1 |- h8 N9 \6 j
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US " v4 D4 o3 c0 I( {+ A3 Iembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).( `. ], ]1 x2 J1 a3 @
6 P* H6 ? B" ]4 L6 ZWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the % s5 P" T& P4 R0 U4 ?5 @9 Mparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not * O! n2 o H8 c1 n; Dthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $12 [2 ^- `) ]! W9 r: d G1 i
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for $ L W5 `( O5 p7 n' Xforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars & I; i8 |6 P+ S+ ~9 {8 q(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 7 x) [/ H1 j4 M; {# ^' R6 fprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the9 l$ d, e& P( ^ _+ c4 N
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.: V" U6 A' ~) |; N% w
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local ! |7 R# k+ x2 }3 j4 C) b& jor visitors. , |7 C7 N t. g2 G8 [6 E: w3 u! {, Q' G. T+ G. y# z
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
快乐的古巴之旅 2011-01-23 09:01:12 ) a) a" ?9 \6 ~( m' v* ^ j5 t
