We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very& R+ `9 }* W8 J' u# {5 x5 H
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we) `! `: T3 T# X4 O+ C' M3 h
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.5 Z; y: ~9 c) n5 t/ t
/ Q! A3 y+ R/ B8 o; g5 Q, oIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,# V: F- \9 ` W% S& e4 S
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in$ k8 [3 r. b+ E
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as " P6 a8 _; x! B! P0 ]6 W) w$ lpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort; I" ]8 F- G4 f3 `
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep $ I4 ~* S* B# |( y$ b8 R7 P) {& Abetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the . i" |2 x H/ ^9 R2 [lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,- J# r9 F7 l& p5 }# H4 w# t
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 9 H Z0 ]& v2 _! x+ g9 C- I People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but) c8 _; b; y& [3 S# @( e
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not& a; w! b/ u' Y4 K i
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our. `6 _% r( ^+ y9 j9 K3 d' z7 q
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through* d% I! d# L. N- [$ o
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.# i4 g! D$ u( |: ]5 i: D
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,2 ?8 a/ Y* _2 q7 T
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool ' H& T' p" N$ [(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top' `9 D% j' o+ H4 m0 J* T
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the . ~+ a2 h3 t4 q2 c' I0 b/ J" Sstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from- v' m z- W6 N# F
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes - S8 o* v4 L" h4 g0 f" KCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with, W0 V/ [& f5 ?+ g
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. E2 H. |8 F7 {# r2 ^8 J% J$ j6 j, V# D2 M. h: t6 Z1 ]: Q
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are$ k+ [6 p& n* Z) N0 ], L
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made % J: D* v& _4 K2 m5 Efor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba# l5 t4 N7 K1 U: d, x
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having & B) e- M$ z1 K' I+ R7 ~% H/ Fa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China' d2 t3 z) Y y0 o; ?
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 - l3 H! v1 y$ ~1 ?2 B6 G6 c3 d+ xstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went5 H$ q0 o4 n6 h
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 9 U6 g4 H0 g, w: m"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give : k" d7 j: f3 `answers to our pointed questions.5 t! u+ a5 o+ x4 P, V
! E9 i/ |* o# |& R) MThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,6 D9 j/ y7 d% ~9 U* p, |! ^: |
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 6 o( {/ Y% L% y' I D _out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is! t: k0 T+ F* Z
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ( ~. o, C+ c, t6 {; M$ M( G% Zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are / V5 b" t$ Q5 Umedical schools.7 U! C. s. k( R& C- @7 J
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 0 J. ]1 u- ^" C( J- i- x" J# q9 Qgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! \, r, {) _* ^& r
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 8 Y3 `5 ]' ]( b# j8 Q5 zassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba : z% w# N% ?7 l& ]is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to4 ^" e9 O# m/ F
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 3 X4 x! n4 I# lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 9 w- G( F1 s9 w- \/ }" t/ jmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 0 Q5 a3 N- G% m/ a6 J) p2 Qshortage which the government is addressing by converting some 6 I1 n; ^& A$ l9 y n1 Z/ esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. z4 ~7 u- _9 g- ]8 I9 D, R0 x ; ~7 n9 x4 E! b. ?$ b: e" t. KThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 1 ]9 |! E1 }8 A& \private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and ! m9 `' P |; t5 y: W8 usupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people . s, f0 L3 e- \have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good $ W! n4 k* r! q) v8 Mthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 9 x( H- }# k% _+ @sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& n3 u, s/ J1 Z+ f2 @' u, W
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- i1 {+ Z# ?* v5 @# y
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When J" ?9 h/ K. n4 \3 da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ Q# N- o) }4 r9 L8 C
charge the fee defined by the state. , R1 p; p3 j# {8 b, |' x6 k' i1 _# P! S4 _& n
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get7 q) p* h: L: Q3 m/ Z
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type $ {5 ^$ p# E& ]) k8 n9 r1 }of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- k: K! m/ i! l- }. j |
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! `5 U7 P. Z1 s* v8 y3 V
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* J1 `" i( [5 l4 L; P, B
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on9 r$ v) M8 e3 M3 l( C6 N
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if" f5 E2 G) Q8 m2 W
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people $ X# u. H5 f1 C2 d# _' F" c! }trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 ?4 k- k) J. j }% L( O6 P' l9 j
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 m8 n. U! V1 a$ X# ^
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: s7 ^9 A) k! n3 |: r2 s
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) ?' ~, t- R3 L& {
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there w$ D& z* k6 l, y+ ] Ware spaces.: U8 q' \6 R8 j) m% Y# y
5 r( w- t- Y B! E F% CThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ `6 u8 r! p8 {2 P: D
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they; m: [0 |) T0 r6 A$ r! V0 S9 e% \, W: B
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the ; ^/ U! o$ L: z x. Y5 C+ C6 j% P4 H* [40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 5 I" ~$ Q7 E; S: R0 @. Uparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the + _+ Z. j* L& k, D8 y4 a# T- Hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 j% D' {0 [3 J$ c
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ s' V' i! r0 b% t1 W- v7 u/ N
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it / A' V/ x# r: j+ \1 o1 \7 j* Cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. % W* N3 L. [. K- f: P: [4 r# R 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 beautiful1 @$ ]& q1 K6 s2 r& T1 F
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all . G2 Q2 `, T6 tthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very : k; J& @8 B) d7 v# O r8 wlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep1 f- r/ A6 I+ J
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day6 Y4 H- P/ |1 _$ w
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of$ g2 S+ {: K$ ^/ f, z1 |
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 9 G' S. v$ ]& x* L' b* E1 |& shave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the % y- v( W8 Z6 q5 J8 Xtourist area.& M- N& L$ ~9 w/ l, {+ ]
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's$ ~' R$ k9 b, d# x. H# O8 X1 N
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). % N8 h$ Q" A' T( \6 b6 |+ jCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 7 t; D9 G# N2 s% Z( i% E3 Ceverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps * ~% ~! f" `& c" Uless leader-religious. ( I/ j& v7 A: M7 R. Q) D - {) b' P: t( d6 @( ?About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba & {" e! F9 |' f9 K3 x# Ngovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big* `9 C0 O6 F& X! D0 \
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US , U. P/ Y" ~$ }% [2 Membassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).1 {8 g% k# { A5 \/ ]5 n
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the) p% _! W8 t$ ^$ H9 F% p ^
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not0 ^* k* w9 i7 s3 O/ T
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1* j, {' `# L) b# J. `# ?
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for / j7 a9 l1 z- Vforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars" d2 s" q& \& o v Y# ]
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we! v, x5 D# |$ J# J$ o- ^7 @, ]( S- d
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the3 ?1 k) i6 A( f; p% @2 w2 u9 U
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.( ?' O' u4 S2 a( _2 y* @: {
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local : O9 x# Z! M& V$ m3 tor visitors.: }% z+ v1 N3 s, i
+ C4 C( @% J& ?% L-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
快乐的古巴之旅 2011-01-23 09:01:12 ' }0 f. X8 a% x7 M* @7 c, z! v
