We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very }* B" T+ {# V/ s+ c9 {# V# H
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ! w% r V$ c ?6 {. Q3 m! Gwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.: I+ z- v( u+ F y% u
% S* D- Y# b8 Z# nIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,/ L" y1 X$ f6 `/ z) u
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in - y' H/ d" I# k Sa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as/ C0 i- q, a5 k) t& ?7 b5 d
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort ) s" e2 v0 p1 ^show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep # Q: C+ B! S' q$ c* |3 p& H: }6 Ebetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the& O3 \( k p+ R. a" ?
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,4 X* A D3 I _/ ]2 G) Z
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. - G3 M* b/ ?( [. A9 D People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but! L, m" _3 [) m3 s" [& u
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not% E+ D( E/ H! c
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our . N9 y8 s* ^! B- k$ i1 i+ rflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through * g0 V: ^, H! [7 da roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 6 R4 H' F6 D1 l) b' {( j& A: ]- l% c( O1 y5 w; U
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,: A3 s% B. z8 @3 P
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool1 r2 |# S J" ~! w0 {2 f
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top % `; A) k$ h6 K5 X% e, ? Uof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the1 ~6 v4 M6 M& P, n1 i
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from - D& b% Y* w- w6 H! F49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes9 q. w) u P5 X9 X: r# j
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 7 K2 K# u( O1 L( \$ k5 F3 Efingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ; T. j, n, H0 W! p- A3 W# U6 o- u % o' y$ ^( H9 w+ k! f. k) \/ @* {The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 1 G& a+ y4 ] f5 y" K bjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ; C/ q. b' n. {0 x% gfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 0 t f) Q) f! m( ]$ X( N, o) ?tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having & q0 ^( v& w! Fa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China " r$ d X2 q; a3 |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+ ^4 e, ?: z" I* V0 \
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 g) k! a8 c! }1 o& c c; H4 w
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,% K0 u) u* P6 Z, {
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 2 C q6 P7 |$ p F8 Q7 W( fanswers to our pointed questions. 9 |* @2 p4 ?) V1 X. {3 o# S6 V) t: }+ a
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( ~. A; J$ \6 t% g# g
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 s+ q& M4 C& i' V
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" f, D" `/ s) G
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ) B& C) Z2 t. ]! |3 P6 O* @1 f9 gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are " h7 s Q) w1 hmedical schools. ' v& R& r' R- H u , e& a( g6 V( v4 }* Z' S3 S* sEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% W5 @/ t, @ w. `3 [6 I
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 j1 w: M: Z' e& ]
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" j- e" X$ |, u2 M2 J# R
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% `3 K3 H+ l: ~3 H% d7 Y. _0 _
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 0 ^, R3 Z, q( L8 dover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There3 C* x! z9 p; G8 `' u
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and " ]2 \% m5 r! l) M5 v* Hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. q1 ]: n! C& _ S) u6 s
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 G0 Y4 Z9 v! y" _
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 @7 d* N% A _+ i: B7 c- A8 i* x
1 f: q- G4 q) g UThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ) j/ u" Y6 A- A7 y: ~private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and0 x% u' x5 D2 B! l% a
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; x7 s' W4 B' N3 n2 W: {
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good $ |/ M9 S1 v6 C6 X6 f& H$ O8 Tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby * g& D1 {* @! d, Y5 u$ C. rsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high - W5 p! E- r d2 m" d" Zdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. # K! `' y) E6 h& v* U7 ?$ EDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When9 n6 M; D- U# J# Y5 Y
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only " d# g& I/ P; m) ~0 qcharge the fee defined by the state. 2 h- Q) Z2 r' U8 v- ?" Y) X8 [/ I( }6 }9 F6 A2 R% c
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 5 x9 [+ G; K' F/ }; Ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type & x7 U6 _* v# I4 Wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big " @% m m# \3 R- J$ N- Ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel " }* Z7 y6 v3 t: S$ ~& J; f! Vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the - n& |' S- l" I0 M$ s5 D& {& sworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 0 P+ K- r, V# Y7 z1 R3 D! ]schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if - D! J6 k, j" gyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% g( B8 D" a9 [
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 L9 V N, t+ I0 M1 L) F, G# V& W2 X
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; p7 a! \0 U& w' |" w8 S y$ [+ i) w
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want ( |: Z( Y" ]+ d! X1 ?* Kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or * l- k$ c, N+ S$ g! x% Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* T# a, l$ K6 U1 V
are spaces." _# S3 O! C% X# I
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi% Q% k* \# `. J( |. M
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they , v" q6 g# `* F% b* ~& eown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 0 |/ D p: b, l% `40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# ~5 B Z, N7 B' }1 S% S+ a6 Y6 E
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 6 L4 C& G9 H* x |3 ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) ?1 |( [. `8 c: G& h
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of ( H& [, U, b/ y7 @8 Ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 5 i' S6 M" ]4 d. h1 His a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ ?- s) V* k( q% D9 ~6 `
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 e3 S: {: N# A0 T, n4 {spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 6 }9 q$ |# z. g5 k( [, Jthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very . W1 b% }* q* w i7 C6 ~7 ?limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 9 i+ H- V2 E& h3 ^3 e; z/ y% R orecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 3 |0 p F1 p! P; ~& J3 m7 Usupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of& z& r3 ^4 q! G- _ X0 K
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms % k4 A* K( ~ o2 x0 hhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the( A2 B4 N, u: n9 y
tourist area." M2 A7 ]0 u) ?5 ~
7 v5 L% d, c* j1 @6 Z& t& a
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's I) R; u9 e/ ^7 m$ J2 l' Zpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).; y, ^5 _/ y& r0 s; n7 T
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were / l' W1 i: U9 Meverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps % h! B, U r0 [
less leader-religious.! l4 c1 B& _- {2 Q2 Y& g; \
/ ^7 d! @3 W4 ^* N+ T
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 5 e4 v( f% Y, L) n' l, e+ s# B7 {government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big2 r0 G; g" G9 L- ^4 p
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 3 L% {4 C6 N- z* N. L+ Yembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).1 R5 ^" }8 W6 ?1 C* k$ T, m. S& q
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the. x, a' S. v6 e4 z) R) Y) |
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not , z3 G% u* Q# U+ N. N W- athe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 + c) p' K% e( n1 N7 q6 }! k$ C! Kconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ' Q! E1 W" @' q7 ~. P2 p2 aforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars ! h* A6 e# i% p) Y3 j( h! V& d(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we " g# F1 w+ Z3 x- l7 k* O1 }probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 5 p3 p d. Z1 @! |8 `1 Yreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. % ?8 F& E* y o0 p @, TAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 7 E2 _2 q e# o& i) `or visitors.# G& G& F/ U3 u1 E7 f1 C& W
3 a+ I8 o$ e8 y% C+ r- R, a-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
