We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very8 f, m- ~: L+ c$ |. R) x! s
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we# |% V$ a! ]: v$ t: N
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. $ |2 ?* g8 ^# O, |: U 1 B' d; `9 ]. N2 s5 @3 S5 gIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, , Y( ~! p# G% L0 R30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in) h: d/ F! H5 H9 ?/ x. ~ z
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as7 Q7 W( b9 h) g8 S6 p1 j" v
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort # V O+ \* v1 lshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep/ R3 D) H" j% l* o6 \; E& i: \2 ?1 x# \
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the, F+ [+ C# Y- q$ B+ c
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 9 p8 f$ K' c( Hwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.# n, l/ d$ `$ [
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but & b. s/ u1 F/ T; pnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 2 a# \' r/ B* V, _exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 2 S0 Q; D7 n$ uflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through1 |* U2 _( o) }3 X- J
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.1 E, {: B& \2 [% X i$ O3 {# j; H
* T0 D6 }/ x2 `9 S, q4 n' B8 H. NThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, \3 C M3 K- U+ w% o$ p
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool& l; c2 Y- n, v2 P
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top3 N0 \/ C! M/ e0 u: L+ Z
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the $ c8 \; `5 _: C3 C* w7 _4 Wstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from % `" N- V! n! x3 h) ]49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes - h/ ?# ] R- W% hCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with ( w5 h1 ^( p+ B, ]& z- g, Wfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 6 y4 |) k& a. H# Z8 E' M: {$ i0 }0 e0 @4 w& d$ R; ^7 h, S
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are8 e0 K$ ~+ Y% t4 f( C
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made) w+ M' x& c1 D% n8 w$ p
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ; n6 \3 p# t) otourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ' b' c" g! t4 @( Y$ Da staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China : _- c) e2 Z, i E1 Bdaily 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 ' f; d+ C3 W# ]standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went $ x+ j+ S0 H% ^# S# @2 ? Pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# Q: O9 }0 r6 E# Q, }" }$ u% C- s
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 4 y6 u; {( v# v$ ~3 H aanswers to our pointed questions.% T- \; R( H" A
& h, h; t2 w+ m1 ^; s4 N
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ; |! }8 x! b6 A45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 0 L$ W5 j/ C9 V1 jout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is3 \' x' g1 a0 e0 N4 W& A
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 4 T1 D( V' g" B* O( Xto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! ?3 I# |* D2 Q/ P4 a* w
medical schools.. F, h) a2 ^# v
/ B% \; s' a' s3 G9 q
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the9 X% j7 A2 S- x8 s7 g
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants' ^0 e9 H F9 A! s, F9 ~$ @
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, Y/ I- m @9 b# k! A2 V
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ! M+ Q* }( P' J* bis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to , ?9 j) ^& M" x n5 {over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ! L" t( d4 i# R; m' lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ! F7 k, k; B6 Q' x& e6 c* Wmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& M0 _% i. j' C3 V" d J" r
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# _/ c+ ?0 ]1 ~+ P
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 0 n- Q( n: J5 |8 @6 E / C3 y$ ?5 A2 U8 m0 Q3 _The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 1 Y( F4 D4 @3 d- p0 c6 l. Xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 0 ?/ Y6 a0 T9 G0 A4 ^# msupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people # t! A* p( f1 \& @& P2 C9 H1 \have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good ; N; s8 T$ q: H+ J# pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby + \0 @6 l3 D; }sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 5 n% b2 i- p- D( Wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ' Q' a B; d% |# eDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 9 I# H, T# R% T3 v0 M" d; ]a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' Q" d5 R8 g! X% k: u
charge the fee defined by the state. ! B9 o% \4 Y( E9 i$ W2 [' z0 S2 q: N4 _% a) F
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 ?3 S2 Y! H& ]- y
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 4 S' ~+ @/ U- Pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big0 e: ~1 V$ ?1 @/ v. T. A6 a- [. H
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: p* `; v0 X% u& s
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the + r8 \* {0 ^/ r+ d, b. T# \9 Xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 9 H9 E- _) \- gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 k, B; ^. ]3 n$ X' Z* q" }
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 l2 P+ w6 \3 u
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 G( |" G7 t6 z6 I4 c
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that ( \* d! W+ y9 E& Opeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 y% [& W; u2 i" N1 Q% R* @
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or- A+ w3 p- K, Y$ R- b( r8 t! v
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) ?: }9 j* @) ]/ ]
are spaces.$ E" m- Q3 y+ e3 `3 f; ?
o5 [8 q4 Z s4 FThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: d8 ]: ^7 j: y3 [9 b4 E
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! {6 S$ w8 H9 U! K& s, J
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 8 B: L9 E9 M, |40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different , Y0 {* ?* L6 {5 y/ U) C! R# Cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the : N+ Y7 {% ~+ Z$ B6 P. abest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few * S! |- n- Y" r* H6 I# h8 Dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of ! H" M& P! r7 M" F* Z+ qcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" k/ _# ^/ W8 _2 R3 {# E4 K' u
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.9 x7 s) @, F& L
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 beautiful6 @- V% T3 N) z& O) p* v' F
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all & s, m/ R3 r u1 v- @9 @. A) jthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ( X; {4 Q# f+ jlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 5 L/ |# A3 Z1 T" yrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day- N# D& i9 m, z
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of" j* P$ g5 F; k$ G5 S
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms8 M3 C$ C, r- q, ?& f
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the ' V0 V( g* L2 Ctourist area.% v& }$ h9 Q: b% w8 O- f2 J
) C- e9 S V! G5 V& u2 p7 cOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's8 H) q- @( k1 d
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 1 M* F5 \' t3 jCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were5 V! \: ~" B! f, u
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ' f8 M- g) ]/ o- a+ w9 Aless leader-religious. 7 E8 k/ E, `9 U9 l4 q4 y2 I" Y! L1 g# l( A D) i1 A6 ^! K
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba5 a* o* T" b5 {# |1 A
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big$ v! U7 b( Q9 U' m
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US & I$ Y, B. g! j+ V1 p& s& ?7 Hembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).% i* a3 {0 z9 W. j
5 Q* A+ _9 k- U' p N( |9 [# `We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the2 U/ S0 ? Q* |3 B
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not7 U( r( X% m% M4 z
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1, `/ C1 H2 L' F# y# ^; {4 _. K
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for5 A" o% V4 D3 D- B" Z
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars & z0 \5 f5 T: E* }2 e% Z2 _- l(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we |' ~) s, _9 W
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 8 ?) ~' h/ L, N1 y+ s ~real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. / I }' B+ a1 X _And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local: E7 a4 j- ? J/ e( ^
or visitors.* O8 |( D9 O' r7 n0 M( `- M0 ]
" }( e! r+ g6 O2 t$ f-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
