We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very & M; m- |) a r/ g7 R2 f* @7 Winteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we/ ?+ j! s L0 L7 Q: ?& p
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.' k; D) F( U9 v+ Z, B
) J- r1 g! ?$ R+ zIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 9 b4 k9 Y; j1 F. l9 [4 k30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 3 s& M9 v; j% Z2 [) P! @% k( ka very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as6 z0 F8 y/ o" u' F3 d
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 6 ]% ~ a, o3 l1 X" H$ J4 f8 Mshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep, x8 i% Z" ^# M; f+ x
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the - V U- G% K4 @; | f' E ^) ]lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, $ Q! {% O; j, ^2 y; D+ K# twith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.' w8 Q' ?9 \2 G& e6 ^3 Q/ l
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but & \5 a* _4 i" k" E6 Q1 R: f' Gnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not . O! L% Y& ~5 O3 C4 y" _exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our8 b7 y5 ~# e) X- J1 ]$ y
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through* I9 _# |' Z/ m2 {9 B0 Y
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ! e) C4 W5 p0 i6 }* B3 r5 ~ 9 G5 t1 \' S8 {2 R" V6 \1 _2 P0 OThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,4 r9 `" r* l, x2 g$ V9 H! v
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool8 [+ U* d; L" V
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ( Q8 Y% Z# P* I1 I8 i1 Zof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the3 I: y6 A2 R4 J; k1 U* l2 P
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ; [) o; E3 K1 Q49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes ) y4 ], y/ u. L; {Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with, k% Q; Q: y4 u
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.2 Y& i: w3 v: t
+ ?4 H/ s3 v7 r4 T6 H2 B" Z
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 3 T; z3 K; F0 qjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made, {/ y! Z; c6 @9 N
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ) g$ V f2 o2 O7 C2 Ktourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 5 P, V3 \$ P0 S, g8 ?9 Ia staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China2 p; z2 j) s" O) W
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 & {- W" L1 ?# n# X. H% d5 n7 jstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 ], o$ M" F, y! Z5 w
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- K" W' y, \8 @2 b# L
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% r% C/ g* G3 H; N1 r A
answers to our pointed questions.+ p, z8 p& Y3 f
/ \; A$ A) t' M! O3 B# dThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 @. Y+ u& F6 C- c2 |5 ?# J- U
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) x1 A! ^4 M/ V9 y7 S+ N- R( V
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ w# V( s; N/ O3 x
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams# P+ }) u0 z$ Q* l
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 7 J4 s, |4 J. Q! c; c0 C8 D. ymedical schools. 9 r x( S& q3 _* p: | s$ s& ~) ?# X 2 B+ j3 g1 S3 b5 e2 cEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the . a/ x4 X* R% v. z" X* L/ t2 Tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 0 ~6 e2 n8 ^' u) vto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years) }* u, t$ w/ K4 N; b
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' H$ j& i6 J9 C' i! b) M& f
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 6 y. H: v' E' O" iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 T5 S% f; y1 B$ C6 m' L
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and : a- n8 h) P5 s" \: p8 q5 ?mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 6 t4 I _- g4 N" x# x- i2 Q+ sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some! R" b, \7 I1 X% m% P
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 C' B1 ?1 y1 q# B7 p! X( P' E
: |/ l# x9 q4 Y# E+ A
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no7 r& z0 ~3 j( E# s2 L4 y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' f1 Z* Z$ G- v
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people w. n/ X- b0 G5 X
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 c: l& M0 @* X, G0 L' b5 S
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ P9 M; v! _" A) z9 S
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) s, s l, x& q, W+ z* P$ C
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.1 E" {% x' k/ t4 V& q1 }3 j4 ~
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 1 g) w' E9 u/ [: H, g& {a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% ], J" p5 H3 p+ K! B
charge the fee defined by the state. 7 d0 V3 ^6 g- O ! X/ z6 Z0 v; ?( Y. r. b: dThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 W" t- i* u/ g7 @6 ?4 i- `5 c# I
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* \5 ]+ y4 a( ~( d
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big & X) S' c( L+ @* r9 J. D1 Ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- S3 v1 Y: V' d( a3 m
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! T; E X6 } ~; _
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on . M' o3 T. r& e* H: lschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if # o& s: M% O8 K9 M+ U7 I, @$ O2 Tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 6 f& U& G& }6 f4 f! `* z3 {trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- _, N! F& q) B7 L# ^5 ]
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that d6 Q9 G t2 y) z! u7 K% B
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want & t) G6 r& H4 y, ^4 \1 ]6 Tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or + ^0 Z D9 O- g8 l N% t5 x- Gbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there / S) @" n7 y) i* w8 Ware spaces.: Q* ^- `; Y* r n% G. W, T2 Z7 L
0 d f* k& b8 ?; s2 _( zThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi& ~0 W, H, ]" y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 s T( f+ n4 _' @# m A
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 0 G, V1 m# {( N! e# v' w M40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different $ ? p; Q% {6 ?& lparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: [" k3 V% p" Z/ y4 J! H/ ^
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% i* ~& m0 `6 S+ l
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of # I, i1 Q8 d: }2 P" Qcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 8 ]0 T$ Z1 b4 p$ L! S) i( ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., [ L5 L+ q: r3 t( s/ W
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 |4 e6 _/ d" h/ S& z2 ~ q
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all7 e1 [# K6 P7 t# d/ H+ W
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ) n! p1 A' v( _. u( mlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep8 \: d Q& d* m) J, G$ u
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day % \! h! s% K& Hsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of& ]. Q/ i5 [2 P3 y& M: A
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms % R" I) l% D9 V! jhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the# Z. \0 ^* E- N- C6 X* k
tourist area." |. M( V; R+ Q; H1 w
7 B" x+ y2 e, a1 _% d5 ~' wOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's' F6 M) w+ w+ C% ?( k4 e. Z6 z
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).( M4 l8 G4 ~$ U; r6 W+ B5 f% i
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were( `: v! i( Z) i2 m( S, u
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 5 R' N; o& @! e) aless leader-religious.- z& L# \ P+ A8 }( t
6 h0 j1 j# e5 M: W. pAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 9 F: V' W4 F; W+ w# p% g/ Y9 h& r; tgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big. q6 V) c0 K# X8 i9 ?4 |* f/ F
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US, f, o' z& C8 m, s6 ^
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 2 i/ c( n( y3 |) u" f' R U1 ^+ b5 \$ f( O: KWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 0 q3 t+ L5 a# C% f! _parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 0 g" K8 {! U2 m7 c. K$ ethe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 4 w4 F- Z4 }/ A, [4 a' D& O% hconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for : U% Q z5 d4 ?+ \ lforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars% v2 i4 S9 G) j( ?, p0 H6 h
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 1 P# }: z- x2 D; ~9 \8 k4 e4 y0 Pprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the; I* k- d0 B% f, S2 A
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. : g" |1 C+ a; g$ GAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local " R/ d2 N! Z6 }4 `or visitors.* u5 f8 p* _1 D9 }" @5 c
0 I9 {9 Y( @: e# V u-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
