We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very7 `) Y( \' K1 Q% p6 Y
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we % N. N0 \& K9 j, [/ y2 q2 K$ Rwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.+ o- |& E" ^' D: |5 H! m- E3 U! ]' e
, _4 J7 v8 D9 ^" \
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,' ~" P) j& G$ O# O
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in: c3 A b v. Q! ~9 ?
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as : X* H/ W" G) ]/ c1 t8 lpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort3 O* m2 a. H# K
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep P, j7 h. r2 z6 r! ]: O9 R) ubetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the5 G* T4 C; N7 {+ @
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,! d3 X" i4 F7 K" @
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. % y% z' R+ ^( v People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but2 c, V+ R1 t: B/ {% p- F: U
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not( M* R% a: f( Z( D8 j( t" }0 G
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our5 ?0 L: ~+ {; s3 D/ B9 r3 f8 X
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 4 z0 x% @( K3 q5 X1 {( l# ga roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. : _$ p* ]9 A9 l* K7 N; V8 A0 n6 A( y0 N7 \
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 8 }0 C& b# b* Q8 f( |low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool ! N) X- H" n# Q(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top $ u. H+ ^2 Z0 X" H0 P: h$ nof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the. j7 [6 @2 u2 E& t& k
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from5 N2 a, j; Q5 R% d' ?6 I1 O
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes/ w/ o' U1 k6 B. Z3 K
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with # e% D$ s# z; f0 ]* G- Qfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.# X# k3 z, V; m# A* \1 R4 M
. p# Q7 I7 u2 Z9 H
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are1 K, R7 a* V7 d. _4 D# b' t; V
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made " q8 r O( s% X4 Rfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba. `7 I9 |" ^( c7 W. A5 ?8 y
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having + g7 O: n" U# x" Wa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China |; S5 L7 @) ?3 H9 n
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& d& Q. a6 X& B% V! a
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 T. h1 @* v, O# ?, L- J1 |
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, , V; I8 w8 D9 `6 ~"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 G& q8 F) X" z/ @' `# x
answers to our pointed questions. . o$ d9 S: }6 n+ k$ h( y2 ~ * S/ k. ~" h, C \' i, [4 _4 ^The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. x! b# v( ^$ X- m5 B5 ~
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ n/ N2 h! E2 X6 G% }/ i
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 0 ]: w4 b. E/ l/ V' c2 gfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams # \$ v5 X, Y% Q% N3 \- h& D: \, Dto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 6 B0 s& z6 W' T8 T- {medical schools." q! K8 c" X& ]* x7 O
6 _5 j3 @' [3 g# s0 ^0 m
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the % v8 ?8 {3 D; g6 ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 5 B" s' w3 k9 `# j0 Q8 Dto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years . |" {5 Z0 g% u- K: U- ~5 M6 sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ; J' g8 x+ d0 X1 d( `* Nis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 9 p# s2 C- n$ Q* [" j5 c" f! Zover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 3 P* ~) w0 `& T3 E1 h& n0 l7 x5 Nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ^. I. b4 F, Q* m, h6 K
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk + ^& J: s- M: oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some4 }& f1 k& A/ E4 H
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' T0 E7 o1 w) ^& Q3 o
) i, Y7 Q- o0 D) IThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ; @/ k" [6 l5 P+ g1 H3 eprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and ' s; A4 g/ w8 \' g$ G+ b% M/ ~supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! k: [0 S/ h1 |3 ]2 `7 f9 [
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 }7 V# G R P% W3 q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ( _2 |3 G( b3 X: Nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 x# I0 o. m( h* g5 Z6 [
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 g( N+ V% w* I( v5 k0 x* H
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When $ }5 k9 O- z+ N6 ?a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 4 R' |/ ^- o( D0 k! @5 L0 S) B, f2 ^/ dcharge the fee defined by the state. ' \! C1 x& N, t4 R& u, e3 m. R$ R! w" r2 V1 `+ z
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 H1 X+ ], M4 c
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type O/ o' a& h' B+ b1 K1 K
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big " X5 Y I3 e: |& i) u( struck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel M ^" ~8 Z/ a2 G1 W mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the & _; o- e) K+ O' u S w$ s5 hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 o) Y& A' @0 Y3 s0 o8 X
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if , W) r6 E3 u4 t) u+ Z) x3 s( Fyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ ~/ _7 k D% D& }$ v& H! J( h
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( D, i/ X/ p- ?
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that - S0 W& L& b) a& v; Xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: Y& F: g# T) [( P6 S/ y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or / g$ u) j' F. R6 S- ybuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% Z, q& A% Z8 [- [) Q) ^0 p$ u
are spaces.! K2 ^1 ]# N( _$ I, k
7 y/ t# _ h; Y2 C, z2 N* L
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi D4 z0 |8 X% ?- n+ [to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# C2 p) E0 B; D: m1 W; B6 ^" K! a4 i
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the. M' ?6 x: I8 u/ e- b* l, z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different ( h; F" i3 z6 Iparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" R, g' g8 h6 w1 ^. m: o w( ]+ Y
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 9 N! {3 K; n# O( Jnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 b0 u2 k; _' C
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it M/ ]( [2 n1 t% {- q, D9 r5 H
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 J, M8 c3 Y6 n
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. x/ v$ D. F" p+ f' b! ?& F
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all/ T% o2 s4 e8 Y V$ s
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very: _, V/ y7 n7 e6 Y5 {7 }* y
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep2 ^% O/ Q) u! m+ t) n
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day $ o7 u i1 E9 ?4 v( i8 Xsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of3 o8 d; T+ [( }( S
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 4 b- s9 a2 D2 a( D6 r0 r Ahave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the + A1 \7 @/ N; u" m- Utourist area.9 j+ \( C: Z2 }& r7 ^$ f
& v4 n+ a# ~) R% Q8 ]0 OOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's( @3 K( H& l- ?4 `3 j7 o c. q
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). % S! u- D1 u" r/ n4 BCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were$ Z" z$ c8 K) ]( P* P! u9 f
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps + c5 z6 M8 G# v/ s
less leader-religious.: l) z! z; O) U- J/ h
3 o2 R" Z3 O* [About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba6 ~2 @; V/ ~. k; }; x7 x2 l8 s8 ?
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 1 L# C3 D' N, p. T- f$ S8 Lblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US% t3 [' K" ~/ _8 l) L
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).# S' G# i0 O+ ~5 v9 M/ M+ F9 B' g1 T
* m7 L( U5 K/ L0 S" W
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 5 e5 i- F% a* d4 Q* [parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ( C7 U X. v+ W" o0 E. Xthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1" v+ ]% K: a9 i% G% G9 Q
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 9 H1 t, d1 \& d" R& Dforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars7 u( C: ~# l8 U% K. U! h
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 6 j5 W1 J# v8 y/ wprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the% v5 r9 t$ ?& c! M+ p
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.1 z7 c2 M. Q' b, }! G/ k
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local) U6 c0 D" t; j: R5 b$ A
or visitors.8 P$ x9 u7 M) T! i+ o
8 k$ j$ v/ d+ G( b2 M
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
