We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very" y1 g' A# u' l: O6 i6 F7 U$ s4 e
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we$ n9 X( v( G$ r) T" m
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.- U7 {/ v8 O! ? g6 q
# w, b: u2 G! ZIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, , f7 E! n( Z G; f30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in# |- G/ }" U' ]6 w
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as / @) G, d" S7 Z* M/ O5 |1 U& W- @/ ypossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort! ?/ _# y7 r) Y4 `' J$ i
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep & g2 O+ J& ]- ~6 S( k9 u. ^2 ebetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ) B/ y$ s0 n( s& L) [% v, jlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,3 x# w& E! x0 @' J) a7 ~; B
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.! A/ F1 C( H' e; R \ S
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but0 u. ]$ J8 u" h4 S, \
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not9 e% p6 J4 Y9 }7 R. {
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our " F' K" A. |& ^7 Y: |( A# }, Xflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 2 f# `: z* X. ]a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. H4 e- C0 N1 ~
( L h9 e- d. u) O" ]% k7 _The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 5 p6 y, @/ |" t5 ilow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 6 q) {5 x# y- O0 ^1 y4 i+ f" }(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ; H, g8 r5 I; L# z: X zof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the% C& F0 T, k2 b* E9 T" S# U( Z
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from # @8 r/ `! ^8 ~1 h3 \49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes5 }% S) Z* n; l1 {
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 4 {& E3 d! _1 K. C5 l, ?9 t& hfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. . n" J6 Y. s, u% A: V" \5 o$ w q- j& v3 S0 ?( R2 |! h$ n) B
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are/ o Y: M0 D/ t; E- v8 `
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made) l; w4 F$ @9 p* U7 l
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba . [( _, |% h/ Q& mtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 0 _1 y: d. d& [$ d% Ea staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China7 |; h, X* [, j( d9 }* u' E
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) B \0 j+ S! @8 v9 l* J- X
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% W6 J! b0 M2 W. k0 J8 h7 u6 z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 8 S/ y% b- ~' ?1 ?; B"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give6 E4 ~& L( N" Q: s
answers to our pointed questions. * N' l6 R" j5 ]. g2 G2 n& n$ W: j% g3 M0 m+ ~0 s
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,' u: D$ ^0 c% x' D
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 5 F# R5 o1 {* A4 Sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: u2 L" O J3 T- U0 A
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams . z3 [8 y" O- [# uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are , z w; o( v2 \4 R. v# tmedical schools.2 H0 |) S* I- B+ N3 p9 v2 W+ t
' ~" [6 Q8 [/ w; j$ A' aEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the & `6 l5 B/ M4 igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants ! H0 b- Y( n2 Z: l+ ^to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* t/ w; ?$ \" n$ ?" O: l( R* M7 f
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- h' S: J& v/ f# S) y. Q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 x3 t+ r2 c# O2 B# @% N9 z/ w% E
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 `5 I U" J3 D0 t' C2 F' e' ~, `
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 3 H# U2 J5 G nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 N) W' N+ v" ^% j* G" F( i9 ?
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some ' v! I% F& |8 Z p: T- R9 \- csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( X& g+ M9 s/ i* g, ~) C! ?" C3 F
8 s4 O! T8 b* }0 L
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 1 a; X2 I; H7 b& |8 C H6 P3 N+ l" yprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" N' {3 u9 ^, w) H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, w( D% B) x5 E( G- X; C
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good * ~1 t* c( ~6 `/ @, s( z% sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 y9 S9 G8 G, y2 ~/ s9 a6 A
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 3 U5 M; z2 i6 w( x( f( J4 hdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. $ c+ v: I4 \9 U" Y+ tDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When $ ~& | H2 @8 @a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only# c- }0 P" o/ l/ O' [( A
charge the fee defined by the state. $ }( e% O* Q' z; Z# V$ n& z 3 T3 S6 T( w5 f7 KThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get & S2 {' L* S7 ^7 \& z, Pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- n% D; R0 L- b( M+ I& m5 I% a/ A
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" J$ a0 \+ ?. A; L% s
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; h2 R6 E$ @4 ?" L! D
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the " g5 T" G% u- a- N' l7 tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on+ P% t9 G1 j2 t' J
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 7 | Z# Z" _' c( Fyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people# [2 D+ S6 j! M- d
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 g9 r- A* X. k
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that $ B+ {- k W! F4 R5 _ Tpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 W1 H1 M6 E2 b. A# I
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or ; Z$ R; H& J# ebuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there $ O5 P8 T! h$ A# o" ^are spaces. 5 A* [. K6 t, h* C( w 1 Z* r9 i7 O9 X2 `' Y* ~! v) R2 ~/ MThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 ^! M# D4 E5 D8 p% ~
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they $ @9 j; J& u, R1 i, b, }8 i( |own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the$ [, M/ U$ Y$ N- w0 e4 X+ p
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different * M5 E2 y. B/ Y4 Rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the , |) Y! @1 E% ]1 T1 [best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 V# g& _6 ?" H A& Z: F' k8 O
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of & q9 s. H/ B3 e, Kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ' M f6 i- A3 Q1 Eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 0 G. n% I; o( e* W2 k% l6 |8 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 beautiful0 n+ q# V/ S( [( U/ \! {- X
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all& _2 d! Y! q- `# {6 q) u+ A' t% e
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very / T! T* d2 l6 R% I% e( m8 tlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep- b" `8 H5 b9 s! |5 O
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day" A2 c0 C5 j z3 q/ Y! R6 m( i1 ~
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of' I9 T; e4 H0 H/ R9 _* q3 M
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms6 m+ A) I9 |5 G/ d" @
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the& K5 P. F, ^ M8 d7 p$ f# E
tourist area. " b* s' V# ?. `# M/ v1 B' F: q, v) y% B
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's/ n. y6 D8 {5 x" \( J7 N
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ' X- K* X6 N" C3 HCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 6 c' [% M7 g# f8 c! Jeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 2 M% p. L6 J/ |7 a$ v+ ]
less leader-religious. ! n: j; l2 a& m6 V ) @ s& Z/ D0 m% r; pAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba) ^& x1 d9 ]$ i6 G: S
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big' X# \. {, o9 ]& k0 u
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US) A, n" v, c- Q
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).% E6 ~, I( K: f1 W2 ^. i* ?8 M( [& j
) E3 P$ x: u. Q
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the% R% m+ P- Q- `2 M
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not- q/ b1 C( ?0 W
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1- i' m4 F& y% ]- B+ n6 C. ^8 [
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for5 O& z: x7 Z5 `. W$ R
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 7 B3 ~, q; h! J! ?+ D& ?. y. S(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we " u$ O2 p* E. {# }probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the: V- U% G7 I0 @/ B- x$ T
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. + n0 D% X, Z) }8 D9 jAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local- U" l, _: [2 g3 P
or visitors. 2 \9 Z) P7 C* s* a. ]: U3 B, S; T3 X7 Z+ T- I- E* B3 v& B2 F
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
