We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very0 L% ?) i: X, C% W* W4 e2 f+ p" D' z
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we E2 L. j0 \& _* c
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. " |2 S2 g" H8 _9 M( i/ H8 e; E5 j! V- e `
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,- }5 z- e. u+ Z/ J
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 2 `! x s& |8 g+ ha very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 0 n# t! g" p: C$ [; S r0 P" zpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort7 |1 c/ _ G1 I+ c0 G
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep * J$ V2 t3 p0 O' W' _between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the6 n6 N# y( b6 {2 T5 A7 W8 O1 w
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, + T5 q# F" e6 i7 cwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there./ A/ F. O( K: [8 i5 m8 f$ W2 I- S
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 4 T% L" C2 j& X4 p$ T& fnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 8 \, y, X! d. H! vexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 2 L. Q! J7 l$ m0 pflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through. ^3 z, B2 A( p7 L" H0 [
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards./ u' s+ c; o3 s9 _9 u0 D8 H
/ e9 K: t9 ^# b+ O" bThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,- e5 H) `# t& b h! L
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool . {( \7 |/ H2 d. D4 i0 ](when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top # V( V! _$ q6 o a+ m0 Zof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the , W% d v% S: v7 I) b4 p0 cstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from + E( k4 e$ \1 Z" K49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes$ U8 n2 N6 j+ s* L) x7 K
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with% t1 E+ r; C1 i
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.3 s* J" X: t2 a, B
C( m4 i" ^. O. q2 u' @* y. sThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are- V) C2 Z2 G' C# r# ~: }
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 6 A( \/ [6 a q" Qfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba + k$ Y! k1 J- Q3 v$ J" L" E% M% xtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having & c$ @' k, f9 |- }/ ka staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China7 Q p+ `# t+ S6 u4 X1 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# ]+ G3 t) Y- |) V
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 2 O' ]/ |4 J4 Eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 V' w3 ~+ @4 g' v
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give2 z( v- n* l: m" `
answers to our pointed questions.2 t0 b! ?, ^9 Q) }* ~: f; J9 C3 o. Q! D! s
. `9 `' @' T- M/ HThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, / S9 f A _$ ^/ |8 e: V# l% i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: f1 R* Y3 J% K& p6 Y" p6 m
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is* f1 f$ i) S7 q6 f+ z
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: |6 A5 M4 K9 g# }
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 v( i& l7 G* i+ X; H, L0 i: x
medical schools.% g5 K: z& v% U% u O F i4 s
) [+ h; ]- S2 U$ O4 _
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 _9 m- N6 ?& ^4 \. T6 u; N
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants : a6 X. x3 M- \) o9 }# d' l8 S/ vto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years / C7 z. |& m* j: M) Vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 9 r [9 m; l, f/ o. D& }5 a; r* }is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 _$ M2 {3 D3 e
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! D6 n# v" V0 r! r' W3 v: K
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and / D6 K7 l8 e: j2 l( cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk , ]3 k' n* M& ~& P- Ushortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 r2 ]( F" [* c2 z- S
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ! n- j9 W+ J! u # F5 h+ ]9 H7 W! v' [- j% JThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 H! r7 \$ E. X& M% N3 M1 S! h4 R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and j; |8 |" B j8 l ~/ `9 Ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 K/ u0 x0 k- U6 a
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good ' n" ` r5 _ g) R3 Xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby + i$ K9 e6 e3 W% p/ usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( f/ O- O4 L) j q/ i
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.& T) `% g$ ?3 m$ ?. N2 B$ Z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" H/ L6 T! c: h: y( n i
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, F1 D4 A0 C8 B% }3 Y
charge the fee defined by the state.) |+ k( m4 ` c# l, X
f% N, W$ V& PThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get5 j7 L2 v, d7 x8 K {
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ r% R& O& ~; w O/ R! j) ~
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' I: X1 w8 @, ~2 R# K S Y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel # G8 r# @2 c( W+ u, Tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 7 {8 j* M% C) z" o& qworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on : o4 i3 ~2 w% ^$ k' Vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( v; u0 M* u) l1 G4 `- @9 p
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 o2 t9 M3 l! z9 |' b) W1 z: i$ j
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" i, u( c8 R) ~
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 9 N/ k+ S( L: o5 J' l6 Epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want ' R0 @ q; W# |0 nto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or - t' c/ L: ]+ S5 Dbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there % k u$ y6 v7 o# V7 L3 {are spaces.* k; I" @+ R; J- p
4 Q/ Z$ }. y, e1 A4 ?9 lThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 2 P8 @; y# [$ u: `2 w! V- pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 5 f, O2 `% d! |( N' j6 {3 h; a" down a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the K/ x. D V" h4 g40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# f& N( d* `* h" l. n+ ?
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the ) d8 ~4 i2 r8 I" } bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few ; R3 v$ ^# Q, y2 o3 f. J. bnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of + o2 p4 t5 D' G5 b2 _; _, ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it * K( D2 b) J k. W1 gis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. $ Q, \2 s5 ~' m6 a 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+ o3 Q \/ [: `* \1 k' v- }! M
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 7 q1 Q! O! ]- _/ h8 Kthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ! m4 f% V6 h; P2 `6 E! M. f8 blimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep0 r0 A0 }8 _4 J+ T4 ?* ]0 r" q: T
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day: v/ u8 }; H+ R0 Z7 e
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of . W) b- ? z0 o9 r4 |6 D" tthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms- G& L8 ]# ^0 a% a6 i
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 8 ?2 c1 ]: ?: h! ^* h0 e3 utourist area. 9 b0 C3 e/ F! e 3 f& }) V! y; P# l& tOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's% E' K. }, I/ K1 p
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).. D5 h: X! v' s ?$ |% ~1 Q
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were7 q2 P! P" U2 E4 \ z4 e8 _ W
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps $ j n- m7 k. k# N
less leader-religious. l) U c7 |- H# `# A/ f+ k
( c/ s& i* j* O5 R5 e
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba5 h$ q' r" K+ i' L8 J: G0 A& ~
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big, ^- J# V$ T8 q' t$ `# l
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ( g" s4 q' r5 m1 c( }% A& p. b5 Nembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 3 n0 j5 |0 u! K6 y ; K4 L- c) P0 e% G- C5 yWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ) D: G1 O& Y; Q& j* Q5 M2 [! \8 vparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 8 D& L9 m/ E6 [1 f2 @ d/ z& Lthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1% v+ w" a7 q1 a: k/ H( ?3 Y1 K* }
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for % }2 G, Q; u; N0 K5 m9 Q4 n% aforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars " I: V1 c8 u* N. q1 S& n6 ](less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we- Q \, @+ m! [# m5 B
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the5 R. P1 }. e- k0 d* {4 s9 _
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. n# o: ^$ x9 B: t
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local, m8 E# y2 c6 l2 ]
or visitors.3 r% A1 z% [- L- l# f
/ M' I, U2 A! F# a
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
