We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very" }# j6 z' K/ l6 l# W1 K7 e3 g
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we% b- v3 q3 L% ~
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. " U$ s; ]7 g2 ^% L7 I3 v7 r- e& ]7 x$ q. C6 L( D( a0 P, L
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, / D. b) H. o0 M& _( p! t30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in: b% R$ a, @7 |9 s! F
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as) p2 w/ b& ^0 P+ l4 `
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort1 A% ~0 n' }+ Z
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep : ] y% v7 O0 N5 Tbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the3 c7 `( J- [; \. d
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,* E" T# l: E( `5 N+ O
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.! J* K# u( Z8 \& w6 `( A
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but1 r* R5 x! ]7 F w
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not $ R% A8 f W1 @exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our $ u* F5 I; e; ]- k+ Sflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through: Y+ a7 Y; [0 L" {, A. Y. \
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ' F$ v0 p5 B8 _, x % i) w$ s3 k" P- |. @: qThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day," D8 M1 w) D$ K0 F; B
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool * ~5 T6 \3 x* R$ ~, Z' y(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top* r _( S, N' N$ w) N- O# T
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ' w( X. Z' o( u" Ostars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from- ]4 |- N! P) j, U
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes* ~( U6 g/ |! v3 A
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with, A M" G. V& |3 ~
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 9 X: [4 a0 l; ?% a % s! x4 m) s+ j3 D+ `7 V; OThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are- j" n! S' Y5 H" u! J, J
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made% ]) E$ J( ~! p, Q( |
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba3 j$ U) r8 q- x3 y' B
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having9 A! |5 g. G: n2 m1 h
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China! e9 A, |3 a; X( A5 k0 F
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 , @2 x/ |; j* b0 lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 9 ~$ u0 \! S4 _! a9 }on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 4 T+ |6 j4 x' w& m' R. Q"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 z- M- ~0 z5 O0 q: E5 h5 o
answers to our pointed questions. 2 N- E" O5 F/ z1 { : b$ H% S2 Y% EThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 }7 f" O* B) r7 U' ?1 }, p: I! Q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 4 ^0 \, Y* O" V2 J8 H' O0 mout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 W% S# Z! F. @$ g- {
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 J" b$ Q E4 b3 k! M( b; {
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, j9 m9 K D2 a4 d9 D0 @- G+ @
medical schools. & G2 c9 o& ]3 `& b! j* P! Q! S 8 _( }# s0 i4 @6 _& m. u) lEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the! m/ X6 h7 b$ P& ~# ^& p* `
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 ]- O' [0 n9 X1 h
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 J# g5 L0 u- }3 i$ I; f
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba/ X6 z# P0 t$ E+ Q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 4 ~" h) a3 ^ u$ n& R5 w: s- vover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, s& I& r# q9 M% s! f
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& v( ?: V" B# E9 j
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! Z: J4 `( H' ^# j f# ?' w; R) a! p
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some / b3 Y1 y4 O B, ^! q( O& G; ~) Bsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( F3 x5 B2 u; _6 _6 w% {, I
; J, d6 ^" c* }3 mThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no+ S& }* Z" ~; Z, ?7 a, p0 p
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 B5 {# [4 j/ d: p, {: @
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 8 K5 a3 X6 M* M+ Yhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 4 M6 X4 L3 {( M: \, ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby) D* }- j$ w4 |9 _/ K" k
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. X5 |7 Z: ?# D1 d; Q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 8 } Y" l& l: d9 ]( MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% Z; b# d l8 [" n7 k6 k
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only + c- ^( Q u% j, f) scharge the fee defined by the state. / r2 l1 n& s1 c. d8 ?7 ], f8 M' g9 T! |! K
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get* B; ^. u- a' N" l$ Q8 }+ F" ^
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 4 x8 z' H7 N2 ~' V8 Wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big+ J, J! ^0 D- z9 ~3 U: d% j
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: U) }$ i! c+ a% V7 [# i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the " n8 V. X4 ]$ O$ V! p Nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on + t, ~. c6 h4 Q5 r! [+ l4 h) lschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if $ o( } {0 Q, C Lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people E1 e1 W$ g1 X, mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 4 [0 q; X5 Q6 ohiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that & d; x+ S/ S9 D- S& U! W/ A2 i/ Y1 Ipeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 4 `& J' `( L9 G$ \2 F! ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 4 f2 t" R$ ]5 z; S4 W, P* a/ T& jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 b O3 c+ Q7 N" g, U
are spaces. : e, ~1 U1 L5 _' }$ a8 i. F 1 D6 t, N. ~! q, h7 l2 A( @) HThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ~, F+ {4 A' B
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they " G8 Y/ J" C$ @2 `1 kown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the% i* d" ^* M! U# x
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& v5 ^' s5 {0 T8 }: h
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the * C5 c1 x9 y9 `( v! {1 n1 \best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few & M3 c8 a, ~+ ?( |9 Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of e6 K* d ^! D7 Q! W+ ]
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it f9 y( \6 X- }# _6 I) |/ Q- uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., B0 I. M9 i. m7 x- ^/ P3 Z! h
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 beautiful7 p0 R# d/ `0 c9 z. K; z
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 0 ?6 \" Y7 t8 E, J' z, {the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very + r) R) J% } ^% K! f; l# K' `% o. K& Climited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep x' r- Z2 G Zrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 4 J8 h, [( n# A- {1 e, q. {supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of# g+ L0 u: I6 G7 }
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms8 n9 \4 K3 W6 ]) F/ @$ q$ _' P
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the% Z+ y* o- k8 V# z9 M9 B' g
tourist area. 5 j# ^! T: e0 J- q" O4 F$ _' I3 P" e( S0 s6 a m) z
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's9 d, q" F6 d) H) l% {% B
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). - p2 E8 W$ q0 r6 J$ c' T- ^Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were" e7 U: N- X7 U/ A1 i9 E) h4 H
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps / |/ }% A' _' H5 i nless leader-religious.! n( B7 Z. @8 g: j- E2 k
$ ~0 R# N4 {3 `3 ?9 V
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ; g" ?1 a* p5 Vgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 5 h1 \$ U. _- z0 J1 g# `" E# ]( Mblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US : v9 j) ]5 i) aembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).6 V$ q& c) G# ~$ m' x. `" l
9 c2 M# u% X+ Y! }) _. x; x" G' [
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the& q& V3 ?# u0 Q" D: x, \( v
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not; g4 g8 I, o g" Q7 ?3 L7 {
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1( l# c! W- G7 y7 C/ u! u2 E: C
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ?' y% S) ]& x' `+ sforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars6 f1 \$ o* w5 T( f9 a
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 8 z7 R) Q! W/ {probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the " n$ r! E! E& X8 k, N/ [real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.2 n& H7 T) n" L! I9 C6 w. {
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 3 P; F( l8 {2 q' U: ]& n; N. _, tor visitors. 0 c% M8 o% A" K% q9 B8 ^* l: N' }) [, L% O. ]0 |2 q5 K9 M
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
