We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very) c2 a! d) Y6 j) S
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ' S4 w# }3 Q$ Q$ Z1 A awanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. / u# g' b! K; f1 F , ]8 Z. H$ Z3 c' u* R8 ^' GIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 9 B6 S& e$ j6 [: P+ {, A. `30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in( y/ e7 o5 U- q! Y, S+ V( z
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as( t0 l' f- S% C$ V0 a4 U3 c: m
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort# W' O! n3 Y' e% R# Q7 Z, o
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep: W+ v' x2 L+ q) w6 u) p7 O
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ; X- o+ {3 U! D1 klobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,5 g: H! b5 O$ @/ Q( X
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. - M& w- H' u4 Y& ? People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but + |0 D4 i% n% T( `; L- e' t1 ^names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 3 o' x" d2 f0 X4 f# B( z! dexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our $ | P0 k) W2 M, E& l( B1 V* V2 Hflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 1 T- i% L8 G& G& ^' |1 u' _8 Aa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.: u- ]/ }' [/ k9 u; D
8 M0 X b4 O A; i7 R
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, # b% H. D' d( r# c8 zlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool( D6 @6 n0 m; C% `( R% Q& b+ o3 e
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top * p+ E" v8 q% T' vof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the : }9 e2 ~7 t) R* Hstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from; T1 i& n$ T8 K7 b0 q7 X u1 v
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes + g. s( [3 V& sCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with ' Z5 W1 n! |; j5 Efingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. % p) s* Q* [1 q- l& Y$ v & u7 Z. P6 X) f9 C/ O5 c, _The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are% O& W5 b( p$ }
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made9 I7 N7 F N$ ^/ t
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba* i+ S: x. K% Q4 k4 W9 P
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having m' d3 P2 j2 r7 c
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China8 ~- M: k) j; } M3 @
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 $ c4 q2 V: [* ]6 ?& astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 k6 C% Z0 f r9 C2 J$ y, ` r
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 3 H+ D3 E+ J: {. |% U"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give( d. u8 V5 i, o, `2 j/ ~ Z
answers to our pointed questions.* V+ q% u) ^, z
7 y& B3 b9 W8 a) QThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, , |) Y" d" i0 U4 W- }4 o45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand2 V/ l- g- B% K: N) ]
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& ]; i: n$ U! k1 X5 [
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams) k8 M/ L+ T1 t4 a
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 8 }; l( h7 F* _0 v5 a4 C X3 B( [( ^medical schools. 0 L- p" `, h* `- P) D8 L : S7 J; K& Y E' e) y$ GEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 7 u( a4 ]" j9 w, Y% `* agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& b0 `5 m" ]5 Q h1 o
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 v# O" h- U: Z+ z& n" B
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( ]; {" m3 y* ^% C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 v; n# f1 @; u) I: T. P
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ' k7 a& r9 L- w1 |$ m% I. Useems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* s D2 t7 |, @ G( P
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 U. E8 ~& ?! F* i: X1 P1 }1 e
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some + `" k& G! r# {7 X6 Zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. r2 z! C7 z& U& e( ^
) B0 x& P' L9 C% p9 a! h' X% NThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# T1 }4 }7 I4 B& n+ a3 v7 S5 X
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 3 _# i1 X7 H! a6 M* Csupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people ( z3 x- Y& A- u0 E k; u$ i7 xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 p0 {- q6 r# c0 s! ~2 t, ^
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ( V8 \7 E# z, H# Esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' t" j; Y* ~5 D p% ~! n0 P' O
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 G% r; E& E5 K2 x# k/ i' |+ N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When $ K, A6 `4 O6 b1 ~9 `' a) I5 Ba lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only0 q0 I' ^) c$ U+ G% M
charge the fee defined by the state.; V$ y) A! o; }) S/ ^
! \# l' u% V+ q9 {
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get* I+ v/ f: @) e0 O6 U
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) u% p- c6 S9 |6 ?, i3 [
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big8 L' ], E# [/ y) c! m2 ?
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 c' x7 D* Z6 |$ r
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; w X5 K6 g9 b6 L7 P
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 i) K4 t( g/ }" q& Y; w* U
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if / g8 W7 V) |6 x; ` Y, xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 8 d3 ^) _& Q) d' S' B- P Ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 5 z3 k# _" D7 p1 f% h. Vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that % S' ?- h, p/ h; _8 s6 tpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 4 {2 Y" ^: S3 \to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or ) F5 K- n; L. C1 g3 {6 Vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% P3 Z! j) l" v z/ [; w. M
are spaces. 5 G, N5 v# D' [8 M) P3 ?. w# z 5 j7 [+ H5 b* P0 `, v ]1 ]There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi % S. O c8 J8 d1 E g1 vto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 0 F: z9 y2 \2 A" P# @own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 V, a3 X7 {3 \. K
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 G3 \8 r: t9 ~: q. u
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 3 [, S I& G8 Obest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 k' i( F0 \- g# Z$ ?, ^
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 4 }! k1 H/ z7 s/ }" ^ pcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 @* r, Q- P, Y, F8 e# ~3 Z; _# A: \
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ! z) }. [8 a# R4 v$ g 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! \) k8 c4 n7 b6 }
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all( V9 y0 D( k. T% t7 r
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very0 N# ^/ U# m2 r2 n1 ^, \
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep+ C- ]; f: x1 I' `# Y: t A3 q
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day+ n' d5 L- _% r) G" S
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of / L5 X8 T6 _0 T4 ?6 ]* ~them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms7 J( r3 P9 N4 z1 S
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the& \0 B! s e. Y8 L
tourist area. {' K. M' [7 S% i. n" u8 @1 M/ D$ [ . A6 Q9 w: }. u" [( vOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's * N8 @; g: W, F: I! {pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).5 y$ m$ I$ ?% A; O8 D7 L
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 8 n+ A- [' v3 T1 e \* M% Severywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 1 k6 |- I& s- Y7 b1 c7 _8 e0 z
less leader-religious.* {; ^+ c0 M% f9 L
- R7 c/ s6 J# Q
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba& D3 y$ b. c* z) X: C
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 7 L+ A& h7 ?+ p6 X; Yblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US& h" q, ^( e; G) R- o; q6 g* `
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).1 U$ V$ Y& E! p. _# L7 @- w
7 Y* F) ~9 X# r, Z0 k, L K
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the+ V9 \( O3 W* v$ ]9 N9 n
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 7 v# Z) K# q1 F9 p9 ?the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 - s+ M$ `) \ j5 L1 v# _4 tconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for+ m( w2 B! v5 t- X4 q' |
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars / C! g0 \! j0 L(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we + P# W3 L7 N: W9 mprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the0 A- K. o3 w4 E- l4 e9 N( Y
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.8 B1 Z, V, L v* I' a. Q
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local : P6 |* {' a/ \1 @3 o4 Xor visitors. . ^- f" q2 ~' D+ @3 {" j* {4 h& \5 V
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
