We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ' t" t: p: Y9 p, Ninteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ( p2 a0 Z8 i& [, X1 F7 ]; n7 Twanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 9 |8 r! n' F$ Y2 Y' m( M3 A* ?4 c
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, : I5 r1 V, x6 v30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 1 K8 V. V' x! E; z6 D3 |! s' Ha very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as [" |) h5 d5 ]$ r- S! G4 ~possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort' L, ^- @, W( w9 T/ U# a
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 4 Z; B" S- {: b J- ^, Ebetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 5 g/ T; w( L& A. J' L hlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, |4 D2 E- S0 B7 I* y/ d
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there./ v: i: x4 K( ^+ b8 s
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but- b- v! ?3 @3 E( z* c9 f+ N. @: x
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not ' M- V8 R0 }+ @8 B# m% Bexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our6 V( s! a% R3 U5 [6 X$ b1 _
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through; K9 S2 w9 w% |% Z0 e1 [8 H
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.# }+ T5 v2 [. R5 p* v' ?' c7 i6 \
4 z+ R; B; Q/ s
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, ' p' F, ]6 ]: Wlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool! f. _3 G& `: B, }7 S& ]
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top! w; L8 w# \4 ]0 H9 K- i) x
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the: Z! I8 s3 t7 L! T v
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from * l3 S7 @+ N/ ^$ p' O; o1 n. |6 ]49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes . x& U6 P( @$ ~6 E" T/ H- R; _Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with! D$ g0 i1 u& E" m [. H
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.6 o$ r( E, A/ q2 f
~- u; e ?' d6 g2 xThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are9 j9 F2 Z, G4 A+ q+ a
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made , c* e3 I: l) E* I9 e& K0 Xfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba - ]1 N4 t* M/ m4 Q9 r4 Ltourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 4 U; n+ h! u6 Ua staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 5 _5 f* C, |$ Z& N& Z; c& S o/ Ydaily 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 9 G. A- |2 p1 `2 R d1 Estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: @ E# G+ p' A+ i) Z/ k9 G( T9 A
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) w) m( Z; F) c) ]4 h% z* U
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 A9 G8 ~* Y9 a) I8 Y6 p
answers to our pointed questions. & |, @. M7 r8 P ! \1 G0 k# [6 |9 o4 X9 HThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 q+ F3 _1 M! q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand " e y; R- ?) Bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. |! x& h2 x4 c$ b+ t
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams) \3 ~/ y* S8 p; j
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% V: J6 k" n0 R' P
medical schools. 4 _9 t. @, x+ D; l- j' _" m , n2 r+ [- N6 h$ ~Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ' O( v$ t+ W; x" Xgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. N: {- n( ~8 x* e' K9 I
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years # Z( v& B/ ?0 T; e8 F9 ^assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba, ?' o9 i: R+ R- I8 }; H# g
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 6 r6 C# ]! C+ K$ s6 J; ?3 hover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There $ T1 |6 a- A2 V9 o9 pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 8 i, V2 u! {& e- bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk + w% Z6 Y8 W4 u" q- w1 Z/ a% pshortage which the government is addressing by converting some , f0 b( ^% i' J2 }sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 1 U& I# k; J8 N* b& R3 W, n. K . ?2 L6 N [7 l& VThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no $ S7 ^4 o' s) Y* o7 W% A+ M$ Lprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and1 G7 Z$ P, v" H' m
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( {6 p0 Y4 M. }1 T# i7 X: a: Q4 ~
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" `& Z9 o: \! W; p% ~3 l% o
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 9 c a9 \8 O. o5 F! e5 E bsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 1 L* E, X b+ l$ Jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.5 I, P, i. [5 y! @& A+ A
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When . \+ ~: h, n* Ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only# s8 Z% e# p; T Z; u" z
charge the fee defined by the state.. _0 X7 l u* T5 \$ j) q4 @% f* S
) N% u% j S; r8 L9 J. E
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 f- k4 Q% T+ e: z& e: q/ l# v$ i
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type v! k, y ?. ^8 z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ Z8 A$ R4 Q0 U; ^, S* m
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel : G. b" h* ~$ _# S' `$ u6 eseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the # [$ b8 o( n, s. W2 R% yworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& _+ O2 l% R6 T* [/ c
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ! i; ]' W' l" B% Y1 ?you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people , y( a% o7 ?9 D2 W) M6 Ktrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, Z- d" P% m: c: u) Y) @" r
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 K, k4 O: L' r3 p1 p
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 4 k( ~! u% d8 w; n0 bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or: I+ k: P/ B) s' K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 `3 T6 P2 e) L( n$ n9 J& W* D
are spaces.) W4 Q; L* f$ X, W0 g
9 s8 i& d$ j9 k- L1 b" qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 7 U% R; H$ M7 k0 {# ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they " ]1 F6 \* Z# ?5 m. r3 m/ [own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 5 |0 [8 ?: _- l# e6 E) c2 c40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* ]) J: \3 ]( ?
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the . L( Z0 V. Q/ U" k- W; Ubest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ T/ P( s/ r1 L4 ^6 ^& l
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of + x" {7 Q n5 u: [( ^car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 1 \* Q& ^/ n' Q# t- dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ @+ q2 u( e; U& C7 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' l/ E/ W" |0 [9 k
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all $ ]0 `0 N( G- H+ M- pthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very0 _+ ^8 {+ {0 G( R9 B5 Q+ K' |; v
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep : M' @ w3 x1 }- S+ v/ h: f: Arecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day7 a1 C+ w) P7 o& W7 P" Q
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of / }! Q% P4 f' W& @them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms3 g) x Q/ J4 e6 A
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 0 j$ n. m/ }5 b) U1 {0 c, qtourist area. - C! }3 j* I. ^1 x+ J" M9 }* d* V* V- ]% u8 B
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's $ j! o. M+ V. l4 M7 }pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ! t- Y) U! j9 Y7 qCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were5 ~$ |. g* B& P
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps : y4 E1 l: V/ ^; l& i B1 n
less leader-religious. ' k; J! `6 C$ P" G: X" ?- q+ n% C/ H4 D) A7 @5 K
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba& z; A: P, `5 }" y0 F6 y
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big ! n7 A; I! R( X3 Z6 Cblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US" Y1 @2 ], T1 M5 i8 Y
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). ^. ~/ g8 {7 U" w3 A 8 C) Q7 }0 v- h4 S0 B/ h# e7 [ B* wWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the2 K2 j- o0 C6 Y4 l
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not & m! V4 {7 O# B5 A1 m; O% ~the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1; a6 e- A; \! X( D0 U
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 6 p/ x% |) e5 |; L! u- t& Fforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars8 X. ~" P# l5 b7 M
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we + U. C6 w l: bprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 6 m* ~7 e: v$ m. qreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.4 ]( a( v% \# t% r6 }
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local; P- p! `4 u" d! ]0 h L3 H* D! s, s
or visitors. ; B3 C4 Z: D& M% J/ s( g$ B& u# ~$ O ( p, |- V( n# M. M/ k. J-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
