We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very0 N4 E( ~! g$ @4 D) h) }
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we . L6 \: j, L7 R, Q) y* \wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible." m+ W1 n7 [1 ~: l8 K3 C
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,# R) E) W0 s+ n& a, r5 Y
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in5 i: a: h5 B7 S5 B' s9 J
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as+ [' t2 e7 d0 \6 H1 J. @ C! p# @
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 8 G) ?5 k, Q& ^* Q8 V2 Wshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 9 }2 p/ d# O0 @; G: Kbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the3 @0 G! @/ @* P3 ^2 W; ?
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 4 C; I9 @) L( M5 ?0 Vwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ) \7 T/ @! G* l: ]* V0 N) | People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 2 F% z% q; `5 K: I9 ?5 h: Snames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not o' J. `& s2 v$ k5 C
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our6 Z* p9 ~7 f$ F: L7 v
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through; Y4 d! x4 d* g# ?4 R1 Y
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. Y; W( v- ?; b- m. J5 H! ? . j" ]& W/ B5 eThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,/ V/ f' `* Q' o0 ] |9 o) V
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool) E" V$ h0 w2 b5 J) F
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top+ r2 Z) m. L, d. y/ H4 ]
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 7 _* h; d1 b+ R7 I( N" nstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from $ X, y* l6 ]! D6 M3 ]1 k49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes* h5 N8 {) K; k( H
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 1 y, r7 q4 Q% b! ]) ]. nfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ' Y+ \3 U7 o5 h2 ]1 b0 s( W, y o5 Z5 n5 X7 q4 R6 }$ iThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are! r0 X" f% D( s, A
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 7 O; J( ], R+ L. k) ~for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 2 Z' M2 e3 j6 ]9 _& f0 _) Gtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having8 H/ e) m& d2 h& g: E, A& t. R
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China / f3 Q: F( y- l# g5 ]1 Z0 q) Z& {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 & p+ O0 e! O0 H( z2 e+ |" sstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went % M/ J4 q: A$ q! V# n! hon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- t: n9 J4 y t' }
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. G9 ?6 D+ a3 v! O9 M
answers to our pointed questions./ k+ l' I4 A2 d3 T
! v- y' [! _! H! P1 h4 KThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ' X2 G8 z3 T+ P( ]" x45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand . ?+ C+ c5 W/ b6 @; Wout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 j) Y3 @2 c- _. `- r/ t
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 6 k4 y1 }7 u' S- `5 }to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are7 V, \0 i) J- L$ N$ q" t$ G5 {
medical schools. C0 }' q) I9 j8 J/ |
8 f2 v; R U% I0 |( O/ L2 a1 qEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, q# G) `5 c( u
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants * C8 A' S, |6 j+ I4 g- ~to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. w: O! O ]8 }5 U/ U; `) `
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 Y: f0 d% v2 l0 A; Z' E
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- z( d- M; a; B; z
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, l6 X4 r" ^: R% X8 |
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* p: z! Z" W; D8 b7 n
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 C: f2 f; C2 D' I8 [4 h" @
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some( f4 o/ [& y4 C: z9 a) y: q3 G
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ' g: Q0 @+ q1 v7 y: k 3 L8 S* L0 L, I! Q/ H/ _$ x7 GThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no+ ]2 @9 L( w4 d- B. }
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ ?5 f: X3 [- o
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 ?' f) {" r& o' J8 J
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 9 [( D1 n! \: l1 a0 {8 y- @thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 2 n d' x6 ?* A; B. bsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( h( D. d8 Z6 }# ^, e5 \" L
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ( _! Z% ^3 z3 E7 O% i: ODivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When - ^5 B4 b' D: ]% R! Y8 k) ea lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 4 I/ c) t4 j: M7 b, c( U. u% Pcharge the fee defined by the state. ' C% z+ I$ ]+ o+ b0 _2 C: n [) A+ {0 c4 R2 c+ z" H7 ~* A
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get % x3 \! t7 \& m, v" o0 a3 K. M$ |5 {on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type : ?! ^/ _) H4 o* |2 l4 w* Tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big * P- s; R, k3 C7 Y Ftruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ) H+ u0 K# M2 j/ z; Useems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ^3 G: J/ r$ m( _working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 7 i% Z* o: C% N7 V% Sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& E p- }3 r8 A1 h, e
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 z4 W/ Y9 L' g0 o" f: f
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' i: I# `! R$ l3 }( W% r* A6 V
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 1 u) g3 t. _1 A6 U1 R4 Tpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 l* G. v+ k: ] M; u2 d7 ]3 N
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 n7 g5 r7 A# V
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 M0 b+ ~) L7 U' u8 r
are spaces. . `" ^4 @% o5 Q% q 9 R. u2 T! w* n- g) i: ]- rThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 1 [; B6 ?+ C3 g6 c3 Ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they + ], f4 {/ z* U& Q- gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 6 V1 }6 M# U( I40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different * D' j, W2 {' U e7 C+ Rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 5 ?( Q* x" \1 e0 G" N) mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few # A8 Y1 B5 G) k/ \nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 x9 `# S2 z& P& e) {9 {: W8 m
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 M t+ s @# C" B$ V# o9 J X
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 s s. C% S y, U
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/ D" `" [6 [ |0 z) G7 V0 f4 i
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all & k, L/ n: h/ R- }2 p+ @the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very & O0 D9 X$ P5 Y# O/ e8 ]! P) climited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep- ~) A5 a4 c2 ]% u. s- D9 e
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day, N4 Y0 {, k6 u4 z/ N& ?$ [1 ?
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of4 w4 C' V ~ w" R3 P& H! T& I# c
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms % L9 J- N2 e1 V, Y, V* D/ W% ?# s# vhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the" S# k# W" f% R, b
tourist area. + n( P! k4 F$ c" p0 @0 S& B; b2 s' Q' U. ]8 q; Z
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 2 U* @2 s% h$ V9 K3 c spictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara)./ ~* T" R( n1 O# F9 i) q
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were! O- v: V/ Y" V- x2 C
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps * a3 M# k0 {3 }$ g: T0 l h' l
less leader-religious. + S, _4 R# ~7 }! E/ N4 x0 ~; b+ K
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba - e3 A4 J* @6 \+ B/ e6 [- D% `government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big+ D6 U: O" n, Y* Q0 W2 ]: b
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 9 `5 _$ L O1 P& |8 ^embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).& o$ S5 q3 G8 J( ]
- C1 \6 H/ [/ t b6 oWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the% R a9 Q; D, Q: G
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 6 v% _9 H; {* f$ P u) jthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1% S9 n. d( Y3 F) c
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for, a& Q- ]9 F# e+ R* B
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars' G$ ]# s# t) j8 ^9 u2 c2 M
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 1 I) [" H8 u0 o+ q3 e# \; C+ Z( Bprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the" v) J2 {8 M8 R& S4 i1 v1 b
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.8 d' i3 |. w3 x; B0 d
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 5 o8 f- R! E$ W; a: A* q/ L/ Uor visitors./ O9 G1 ?! J* l
* K! ^- P3 h2 d" N9 ^
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
