We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very, o0 {# c* w! L
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we }9 k. d: @# w0 C$ F. R3 `/ s
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 4 X: K' D1 E: x8 Y5 J k4 f z/ F 2 T/ w! G/ T5 p& M3 Q1 nIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,% S+ A1 o+ h* k4 r
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in- ?& R* ^9 } y( ?4 D3 J5 ?
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as : P. w7 ?* I: h1 ~possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort* T _1 _6 O; h! h& a" i; x
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep/ s6 U9 O! _: q* p6 \: z
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the % F# J" _+ F9 _' w1 S/ s6 tlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ) b6 q( T9 E* N9 g! d! dwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there." u1 _( j- b* v/ f: V
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 0 p5 ?8 V, [* Z: Xnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not+ G; }+ y* p* i& }+ I
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our ) ~- x' ~8 A& V) D- E" Wflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through' o9 H( x# e( C3 y
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ! Y& ~7 j+ s, N 1 ~! P3 D$ \3 U. aThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,, t1 |5 B# X/ r7 r( e
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 5 S3 y5 A+ ?3 C(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top . ~% l! v$ R4 [ c/ bof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the, h6 ]* t2 X1 _+ S& B p/ \7 \
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from! v' ?5 b; w {! k
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes( t3 |" H8 T I
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with j2 G% s$ O3 d0 rfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ! [4 E( L4 Y1 P' I5 V3 a# x 0 W8 m) \! w& ^+ S# ]( E+ E6 fThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are $ {1 x5 P+ p7 h7 `' o* rjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made $ Q( Z+ Q3 ^2 E$ q$ Z- x% B8 G W6 v0 tfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba. {2 h p! @( e+ p" u+ q
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having& ]* D: ~6 E1 t8 ?2 V m( M
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China : V7 E. F, ]: E* q8 S Adaily 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 3 a4 G5 E$ t% B7 Astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 9 y4 m: {6 @+ g* y" N# non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, - ^7 Y0 a' h1 U, _) T"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! I# v5 s. {1 Y1 I4 q; O. n" V8 i
answers to our pointed questions.+ {" h$ t2 L; e! ~, F6 B3 Z0 o u1 H
+ t7 G% T+ d+ w! j5 H4 kThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 3 C- ? ]) F" u45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ' }, c: R1 m- ?$ v+ Gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is ) `3 @4 V! T" Jfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams + P* b7 l) Z5 a9 o* z& Eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are # B4 e+ c5 F) Wmedical schools. 4 o" e/ P) b- t# j6 ?4 m3 {8 s9 C; P w; ?/ P
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 3 ~3 h! s# [- J4 z8 Igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. P& S( {6 s" K8 m; z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, [+ C3 Z& N3 K: ?: |
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba & d2 n+ ^8 K4 Q' eis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to $ J; u) Q- I. Kover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" F, S# f$ ~8 V4 [1 x7 r: m( D
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and( i2 k) o7 k- }5 k6 u1 v, y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! c, a* c& j& p" o9 p; G. }
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some B* d. i& u j& Q% i _
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ P$ G( r9 r# P8 O9 C1 b+ e% U
, Z: X) c0 F# m
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no7 @: L% J; s( F ?5 ?0 j* e
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# D9 f0 d4 I0 o( \
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 ~* ?: S* t: Y! y- M8 d
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- {* |' v7 ]; G, K$ q) x( `( J/ `5 M
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ a) {3 |6 I8 K; D; t
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 ]% g* l5 ?% p1 ]9 x% ?; q2 q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years./ E# [6 M1 |; w1 a
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ C1 j- P( G% G0 O8 V; l" |
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 4 {: I) j6 w, S! }8 Jcharge the fee defined by the state. ! f6 M; h" ~4 H0 v0 Z( j/ [! z% ?2 S) g I) \
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get9 y6 X2 f* `6 q& ^9 B9 D6 ?( U
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: s `& P" w4 J6 v
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big : k% e: K0 ]5 D0 [( P p. j7 n( a% @truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% G; t1 t9 _0 a6 _! A
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the : C( A0 w) T B+ }5 Hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 z2 R [4 x: \1 Y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ e5 g$ @7 o& M) C5 k
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people1 k3 h5 x2 V' d7 ?
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, E' G$ z' K' m( T+ M# N/ P
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: E& Z1 D0 G& V2 a
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 6 G3 T1 M. ^/ n Eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or ; Y; a Z% Z( A$ ?+ b _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there8 Q9 Z, K# v9 G8 `. z$ f( m
are spaces.' u' O9 y* Q( @1 }" V# t# N0 r
" ^6 u9 Y8 s) M: _7 h8 {There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 3 e u+ [* g& F# i! u4 b/ \to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% ?2 x+ I& J9 y) q6 G; I4 _- M. M
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the % ^. _# b" H. f# t3 l40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 l' g, A9 D# ?- e" ~: g! ]
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 d O7 D2 J: T) m3 R4 M
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few B! c& i% U, W8 Y, z) I. w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of * h! J; V7 V4 l+ d3 ~car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ g, x0 I( M0 Y+ R
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& \$ W7 P/ j7 t% X$ z! L# I
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 ) ?- i* n& ]4 l% }spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ! H: z' u' z/ G5 k( t3 [2 t% P9 F; uthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very . {3 Y) s2 t" k: H+ slimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep , n4 _' p! T5 `. V. r' urecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day ) P. c1 M# n `! ]: T; t& |supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of5 L' l" R G( k
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms. A) W4 q8 ^; d$ A- [$ C+ ]
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 3 H% @& s# V t/ @: J5 U( btourist area. ) u) o0 _9 b% Y ! ?2 Z6 @6 F& g* YOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's. f3 B: y; S8 ~1 J$ q
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).* j7 S- s% Q7 V, L
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were - F- {4 O/ g, O* A" P, aeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps & r+ f) K3 u5 m" p. i6 F2 \& m* `less leader-religious. ) [5 ~9 L3 R3 l) c7 P5 u y * [$ a- i; P& M) QAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba. J$ I, ?4 j: r4 y& [6 Y
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big * |3 c/ |* y, ~) Ublack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US& R8 z" i2 D+ b. Z
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 8 |1 A& U1 S7 _3 K- m & ^4 e$ |1 }& c6 ~& c2 GWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the & F; T& \; q9 Iparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ! |. ~9 P+ b1 ^ C( Ythe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 ) K9 c9 u! h9 r1 d4 p" pconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for; R6 j$ g) F6 E, c1 z4 W/ H8 X
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars + O5 v* ?# ]2 F( R) q& ]9 e8 l' y(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we% d, Y9 M& n! c$ G
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the5 [$ A& ^7 m2 Z/ i
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.2 x# l, W7 t( X: A) N
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local3 c: C/ K/ B( `$ P/ A1 F4 {' n
or visitors.6 e2 t+ G3 ?; H: u. i/ W
+ P: X; y' K9 f! P/ X. k2 A-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
