同事刚从哈瓦那回来，虽然国家很美，但是经过多年的经济挤压，哈瓦那有一种老人暮年的沧桑感...0 H o. R5 G) y. t, ?! \" u
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古巴天气很好，这点他很肯定。。。 作者: 房屋翻新装修 时间: 2011-1-15 12:20
We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ! c) u0 }+ U! c; |9 V% Q5 xinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we * i8 Y; Z4 G6 b6 A& Ywanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.' a4 h* R! a) d- U
) `/ L0 Y* }9 U7 H! ~) K$ VIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 2 Y2 U8 \! }% o0 i1 V9 P( C( K30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 3 r, W' K+ X3 F7 W* _7 A. za very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as : n9 i0 o/ U0 u: apossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 9 C/ {7 ^! m8 A! Dshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ) v% \! }. F- I% b n# M7 }1 T/ D a2 Y2 ibetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 7 T/ G# U9 P' _9 [7 M) N+ U4 k' |" Nlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ) u! ~5 T, w! t% b0 v/ Qwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. : B- g$ A5 T0 D& D X/ j People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but( g/ w8 X A- A0 B- P
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not % l* Z' i( g+ iexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our , U0 ~ M, ?4 H/ X/ C- [% vflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through; H0 L+ [8 e6 s0 ~; o8 `- a
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.# I$ P; x1 Z3 u1 N1 m+ W5 o0 N
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, ! [- {3 i( G a) Z# P1 Z w3 Alow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool' m) U" Y, h* K' R
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top t4 z/ X8 E# [3 t1 e R
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the , I/ V; ?' U5 b& b0 e9 V d" [/ }stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ?# x* N3 q; B) ^ b( q& D7 b49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 5 g, k+ ^, J) W/ VCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with X2 [, w8 [# @( n' f4 {fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.; }$ o. [+ i9 r0 m u
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are# M2 z* Q1 k0 _+ _
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made , P( i4 |' P+ Z& |* ffor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba % q; b5 c3 {3 Xtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having, K2 ]0 L6 F1 s7 m- q! m& T
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China) g, u6 c; b# I7 v( p
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, living4 t9 m( x" Z1 p( @$ e: B$ l
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& M1 l. z. @3 `- {* R
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,7 M/ _, M a7 y/ p
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 1 i+ L6 m. N% M: `1 D* Wanswers to our pointed questions. : r* m% W6 L2 {- k! n8 z* `4 U }
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, * C4 L$ n( }' k( A; m9 G' \45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ! ]* e0 u; x) Y- y) V% h* tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# k2 |7 X& H1 w& V& D9 W* }! n
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 9 L( q5 ~8 p9 e! C6 r$ I" N1 h2 Ito get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ b- Y. v* b9 k) c3 O: G/ C/ h
medical schools.. J7 J8 A$ Q. V4 S4 B4 q
& `5 O+ k# a+ |* F; P' a* l. IEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the + A( G- t; C+ @government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants; t3 _( l4 l& Z& ? v
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. K0 [% E& T- H! V
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 j# d- |- Y: A0 R) [
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 t8 l/ e) U+ F3 k
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There( C+ A1 Y4 T# ?5 {! e ]/ v2 F
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ! ]6 Q2 B2 z$ p: X3 s1 _mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 2 K G1 b/ O. z7 u8 K5 h( tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some . Y1 ]9 u* i B0 l" V6 w# G4 ^sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# x- C' L# }/ J/ `! q3 i
& q8 l4 |# X% ^/ r0 L4 ^The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 C- q( n6 ~% O6 R& I
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and , h/ g( c) j" P" {( b, P6 msupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 9 R6 r, [, e: G- `" \% E% ^0 Vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good/ A1 P; n2 K( P6 g0 G7 m$ r0 l
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby : Z9 D# C! s: X; xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high / n: w4 G( b) B6 _divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 n7 V7 V8 C3 D
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 l# P5 L6 b# h5 Q! M! v. E& Z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 [1 s0 W+ R$ S ^! @. _! Z
charge the fee defined by the state.$ j) `* M; b1 L& K# T6 T
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 6 W: o2 Y) r2 J4 H* @7 @on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 1 Z) T& c" A8 K1 K9 c6 Y! }of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 ]6 v0 |9 @" o9 ]' ]2 D, l* X1 l
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. d7 O- X# b8 ~
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the * K1 c8 M$ w$ B+ }% }" jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 ?* U7 N- y0 }" p& H( ?& H0 g
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if u+ h8 B( g9 Y# Uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ' w o, h7 p. j" jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 [6 s" {1 p% c+ r
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) V( a( m. y& x0 W9 O, h0 u/ t6 P0 ^
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( A c E& f/ f9 W
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& N! V: z# o2 u$ V8 x2 O$ r# g
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) }8 C: r6 S2 K( d
are spaces. ! ]% [1 n% Q N. l' P' G5 r" O4 Z7 B- u; b8 w% w7 X+ L; n
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" h; p8 w' T$ L5 H( p( d) P0 }5 b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they5 L! J' Y( H/ O1 Z1 F3 n3 U( i
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& A9 X( r7 o1 h- a0 F: ~- p% P
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. k6 U2 M8 V$ _- k& K
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 z7 [9 w: y& \( n) I- V
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 9 ` q( \( O) K- a) M% b# Inice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of m( i: A! F- O4 Q+ J% g
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 4 C: e" H. N6 I/ ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& U& j2 _7 O B6 X* r- @3 s
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 8 b. l- G; X1 c& ^- a3 bspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all # X: a. v' z" v% ~( n5 L) Wthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very & c3 P: |# X2 @: B* f( D4 D" ilimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep0 T3 N! r7 u8 M. \: X
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day5 G/ k% F o" v0 O) i% ]3 Q+ t
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of * d$ S. I3 }6 X. zthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 7 F2 E' ~+ u4 G& Ohave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the( z& K/ e0 U' h" k+ P, ~* N. S
tourist area. F4 {# O7 u4 _) G( T
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's- b7 r$ R9 m* A. O7 V
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). * O1 C9 y$ m3 ?$ \Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were( o- }/ r$ s, z6 ~: \! _
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 6 E2 P: t: ]1 B. Z9 W0 z7 L" Fless leader-religious. ) b$ R/ k6 | f5 k0 t5 k t% B % W6 u9 N/ P, ~, t! ? D' LAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba+ c7 i$ B. r2 {6 p" N2 A. F" i( _9 t% o
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big* W* b+ ^7 l9 ~$ v3 Q
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US: T& w6 }7 D! \5 |( g) v; e
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). + Y5 ?- [% w% {$ _ E T2 m+ E # x9 `3 Z& X3 [ ?/ g9 O8 @( FWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 8 ~& m& t$ _1 W' Q0 Aparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not " r+ i/ H: x3 o. V& mthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 ) C* d+ |0 S/ h2 G3 I- F7 Yconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for% h9 J# Z; v* l2 n
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 8 @! ~; D' }$ ~' i' t/ P) y: c$ q(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we0 f3 x( x2 g" g, y' M+ ]1 p+ J
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 1 T5 w( M; [+ i0 @. b& X, o$ Greal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 3 U, T/ J; A5 l: u- eAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local9 t8 a# U) D! ^! n
or visitors.1 f0 }4 R) Q& y; G0 w) H
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-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
