We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very , Q" B" M- f7 B' Einteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we : s" x" w0 o# Z7 ?* d# Q) Owanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 8 X3 A; D7 w+ M. b T% J 2 g* \0 b9 s& G9 @) }It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young," p: g* e; F# l% n+ |
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in1 k8 L! D& x3 l6 v1 i1 X, r
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as# ^ l" U1 w9 E1 `; w. h
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort6 f/ h% y( l7 ?9 ]- \: h/ S
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep+ q2 q2 J6 Y& ?) e2 G* T2 G
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the # n1 R# k; |# _* alobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, , v8 @! Z) ?' Xwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. , |. h% O$ ?8 Q6 S9 S People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but6 }. \' Y0 _+ D* \; Q; y
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not- a9 y4 p, Q. j* h2 d% {2 S
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our4 {5 [* G0 n) q4 D! x2 p
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through3 k1 G4 Q, J- M# z6 O$ g# l
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ) S4 e5 n% k. T9 H$ K- s3 C7 q# n9 V( b
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,! K6 U$ z0 T4 w8 H- W9 x
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool " C7 J# Y2 x( ]9 L: h/ W$ s(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top0 E4 N6 L3 x1 P8 V
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ' h. q. W6 ?( i# Vstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from) I1 C4 g! Q% ~% e
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes ) u' Y9 f$ b: c3 {Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with* A5 i/ x$ v; O; g
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.! O; M1 ~8 H7 |/ n, j
) z5 L# P3 |- W$ M7 b" [, EThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are V& W- M0 `+ z* `just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made# Q q! B! F5 d, E) G2 H( Z
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 5 _, _* U& X. m4 N0 htourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having % ^ A k5 h0 x0 B& La staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China: L+ [" U) {4 S1 k. N& Z: K
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 w- V3 Z; p7 dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 8 G* S9 j# \# P$ N; W) S. ~on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, k) H- h6 K. J! ?2 `2 V
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" S" g' j; B4 V
answers to our pointed questions.; O V x! K& N& _' R: ]
, @% C5 T. a- g( sThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,/ x( D- u6 l5 G& _+ ~. M
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand, U& n* q0 @4 c" a) g# Y+ J
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is5 d8 F( q' i% Y I% d& \- e7 [4 f
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams " V- A5 w' T( P7 s0 \2 o* ]to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# V# \0 |& Q+ _; M2 x' ]6 X+ ~7 o
medical schools.5 i/ o* R/ U% ]/ K8 G7 r
/ J! P0 r% m5 I) sEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the: x# y1 K! z* Y5 i9 [
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 4 w6 N$ f0 k8 d# L7 c' Q8 |to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years : R$ Z# X @; d0 R* Vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 4 ?- g9 x8 L0 L+ @1 J! n6 ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ) X2 k- P0 ^# Z3 L' [over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ; r* b3 z; x8 a+ Wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 2 \6 S' a0 m6 c3 h+ hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 8 }& {. }* ~# o% X; F" `shortage which the government is addressing by converting some ' A/ G: ]- W X5 C a2 {. Dsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.$ s4 H7 @9 i3 Q$ {. T
" X2 R4 E0 P- P0 q3 E. p
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ( Q6 ^/ q3 U+ E) m u+ g* H* hprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# O* f6 k& j+ G" x- G
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people Z9 }8 W1 y/ O& K1 f3 Zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good + Y% G5 Z2 Q, F$ |, Zthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 H p( M6 G& `! N) A& Q% D9 L2 N- E
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 3 f9 V" t: y5 F: r" Y5 S8 Bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ; m3 Z! ~( z3 \Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When ' w6 q& p) G7 u5 M( l: @& N1 Na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' t$ ?5 |- o9 l/ \& }" C
charge the fee defined by the state./ {) }! O% K: ]. j
. I$ g7 u, M' D6 L- M8 C( u; kThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get " a" j# Y: v$ b) b3 u$ son), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ j% I- S( L# R; j+ @
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big : v: |( @+ c. H3 |, i) A5 Atruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 4 G" p( O# @4 H0 f7 w' W$ i, @- fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the , z6 P! U# t- y5 {4 fworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 9 o6 s* P& W* Y( O! z& Z9 ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if - I- p) x7 z, j P6 p' l# {8 n! byou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 2 l! ~' E, m7 C3 ^' D9 ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 H. o2 }, Y5 C: \
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% a; b# B+ ~# U$ ^# z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want + Q; e9 P5 h) m7 P2 W* q" i3 Dto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or - z& W, \; p, h1 e3 G# \: Tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 x* a! U# W" h- h
are spaces.) D4 w" Q" r& {/ c1 [$ o" N
3 m E2 M# s3 k5 [% }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: L0 j6 V$ F1 W. S- p1 Y% s
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they & b/ {9 t% o1 M' l A0 Cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" c" }, ]4 d' [$ ?
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different) G8 [2 R1 E7 ^2 i9 n
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 4 F9 A5 Y" l4 Obest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; n/ m' R5 c6 |+ [% x7 i
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ |% q G& T; w2 B& p4 ?
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it - Y$ v# D6 U. T0 Tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.% \' V+ X: E, Z! A+ c3 D
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 5 Q9 r0 `# F/ L. Jspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all" p3 x4 X3 ~3 q% P* s+ z4 z+ {# P- q
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very4 L$ p" G9 ^3 x% V+ ]+ e0 f" f
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep . p6 o- J5 ~7 ^0 Trecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day. ~6 V q2 w' E3 X
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of6 e, |, g* v0 o7 P: z
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 6 d0 V! b2 n5 W9 \: n. W6 e( Zhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the3 O6 E9 R- N- S$ ?" s" Q. q) |
tourist area.9 \4 B6 E5 T3 e9 E4 Q5 e" p
/ ]! g6 ^ [; p7 J( X& ?( r
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ( T' m; W9 h. H) t, B, Rpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). G( X/ @- P! O5 C) f3 Q; @
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ) x5 L* R8 E0 X( {6 ~: T; aeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps % V7 |$ g" {$ {
less leader-religious. " f) A! |; h/ Z! b& s2 g# p 8 F+ f9 _5 }! j- ~% I' _! q AAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 7 F k! l+ n" T5 ]. O0 Xgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big% ^ ~+ Z% Y; R* ?4 B
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 2 @( S) g7 i J- a" @0 Lembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). U3 L# c- C+ b' ~+ p# ^# s% [0 O
! s) |8 {" H, S/ Q5 z* _ C% ~We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the & u) t7 `8 q7 ^9 D3 K2 A" Qparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not- I$ F& F$ G$ t2 W, i
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $15 V/ w1 o: Q3 w( C
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for! M2 g D2 T/ c, _* E4 ~+ ~8 x
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars6 U% r2 v6 _& T: t7 @7 P: U' B
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we. E! H* [' W6 V2 |) x3 X% k$ a
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the ; y: B& W* N' V) s' yreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.4 ^5 L! ^4 i" Z2 e# |
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local' @+ d2 C" `1 f9 v" p3 Q6 I
or visitors. 2 `. e5 j$ V' c! R * J, L9 Q+ a B# _0 l! d2 E7 c# q9 L3 O-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
