We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very, ?, A7 H9 k7 R2 H# H% K
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we. O, o4 R6 S5 h( B+ W+ L
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. . i1 |6 o% O; K6 a" g$ d 0 s7 n+ G; ]! i. n/ M, QIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, & u; N# D7 `! l H3 h7 R30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in8 o2 r0 t. |# L" I2 J" i
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as, B' A S# V3 W9 c- k
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort ) T; M, i" y& U a& B1 X' r6 a8 E7 ishow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 3 z4 z! J0 r' cbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 2 r" k9 U ]4 |8 m& slobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,5 @+ F5 P& l6 f% N' E% S
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.4 u+ [2 X6 [5 N! g7 z' i* @% ~
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but u& f' S8 {) @$ T3 U
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not m0 { |& I: n R1 B
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our# |' U" r0 Y; a# q; [$ z. |$ Y2 Q
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through) y Q0 g6 d" B1 h0 k
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. / i! m" q: G& j - E% m+ _4 `7 G% T5 J8 S$ C# PThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,; o3 m/ m! S! p4 H5 t
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool, e+ A9 ^3 X) q, C
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ' v, G# X0 A( a; x4 Pof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the $ f0 l( g4 L& Q3 U" b8 ?! Rstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from $ M! x5 a6 p P1 y7 I) N: e( G49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes / G' g5 }. U9 Z( _5 tCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with3 s" D1 }. L9 O2 j
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ! `. I, m D2 @, i$ @+ a, u2 d1 `3 w
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are " P; J: {: v U8 Qjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ' F5 Q9 [" d; s7 W3 ~# {for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 4 X( i5 D" X% ?* ttourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having! d) N" q; A9 O
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 0 f' W' `% A4 }, j' G$ j. {' ]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" d2 a6 x" ^5 g n1 k" U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 j$ Y2 N; C* h, c7 U
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, F: c) _5 J9 e"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! s1 P# w1 M) U( }: N0 x b a
answers to our pointed questions. - {. _# ?/ g5 j; k! z. ^1 o7 o" k # ~ k( o8 F1 z8 ^. s* b7 UThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: k- G7 n+ } {, N$ N, R
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand _ O& M* x6 m8 @
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 x y6 ?& H+ A0 S" U9 r
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( a5 L. \! T, W$ u" @5 C
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 ]3 c% L% p2 b# @1 K
medical schools.0 q8 A1 O2 i0 b9 v- b
' @' x' w/ L7 {. U4 s8 H( U
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( [) }0 u( M. R b% o8 t+ R
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* }1 |4 f, D4 [$ c
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years) J# E, R" K8 Z
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- f0 e( T. z. X9 `9 q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. I. F, H+ f! Q H, M/ r# Z/ k
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 }1 v( X; a4 E+ v
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" t, r! r2 R6 p# a* h1 `
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 6 l) U( w* T3 l7 fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some & H( `1 z$ f& G* S4 @* Y0 h2 lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# ~4 o8 Q! @5 [
- g/ o& U( X0 e( t% g6 M% sThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no7 e. [3 M* x1 d8 L) K" E
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" n6 f9 j+ U: Q6 {0 |
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( U$ m1 j+ G% n$ T2 G v5 x, Z; K
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( q W1 i2 i. x! I- A
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 ~% N }' K9 c9 _9 V$ M; \+ c
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ; t8 m2 U: U9 F. z, \5 ldivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. $ a9 G, @2 j, WDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; V2 b4 K3 S7 E( T! H2 m
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ) `& e& M+ Z6 A- z" ~& p4 Ycharge the fee defined by the state. ! ~8 w, ?1 h& A 0 |" Z% [" p, IThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 2 Y& w& w8 D! Z- eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 J5 d8 V9 A4 q' X, I
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ R7 D6 A0 z1 E; M4 `8 t
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& N5 {" G- F- E, r4 x0 p( k. |
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 N0 N, O4 b- B& X" J
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 8 s; n: }6 O! g9 G& ]schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if * w4 M9 S1 u( ~% L: @you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people , J5 @& G+ L6 Q; X# P; V$ P+ itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch & ^) i6 D+ O0 T$ \6 ~8 j- uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 g% M1 `) X: ^7 }0 S% ~
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 G# p( `4 y# H& m
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or # L* Q2 E9 C' `/ F: j/ i6 Dbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 2 t4 e x0 u' S! gare spaces. . V) D6 D4 D$ S# K9 j9 |: p3 L $ e* P5 X& \0 K$ B3 y5 zThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ W$ p" a5 X# r, x! G% P
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ R6 C( \6 l( o+ I! Y/ m
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the " X m: |6 ]" r4 T' e1 a: F40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 9 a$ h' k: }* `/ Iparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& j+ b* K8 Q: J% i# m2 h
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 8 {$ N) K5 }8 H. T& onice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of # e; m3 j! f6 c0 c7 ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& o# ~5 E# A# G2 Q: b' \4 T
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.) N8 t; z& d; A( N) M( O6 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 9 c3 o7 E+ ]) z$ cspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all # R* e, [4 W i# A( D* [( Uthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very' f0 B3 D5 ]. s5 x
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep ) p/ [) j* p9 q1 u, P) d+ ]recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day # Y+ F: J# ?) k- q- D0 w: T& p+ usupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of $ `* t) O8 ]7 u+ }, Fthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms # T6 A, b2 |3 uhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the# c; r8 e1 d) D% O; F$ v' @
tourist area.; {) k+ W6 n4 C8 y0 D/ t; Y l7 G- B
4 \" y8 L5 u5 M4 X3 _. S4 _- ]
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's; L' O8 q! S! D0 S! g
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).! y Y0 K# A1 m- ?
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 8 V( g$ o- N* peverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 1 F, \7 D- Z3 X+ }less leader-religious. $ m# k6 m/ r/ v' g+ g( e" |. k( c4 ^ Y) G7 u S+ \- E3 F u( yAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba * Q% d, a5 ?' y- Vgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big+ V/ X4 S7 u' H6 ?
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US' g" n! L9 \: |* f- ^6 x, l
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).+ [, d9 d, ~0 E" f5 r
' l7 q( A$ |0 SWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 1 Z: W5 O) u2 r# ^parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not - Y" M7 x$ `2 ~* u! ^the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 ; V: }! S) h( X/ W! q Bconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for" ~5 v7 J7 C% e; }2 k
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 8 Z$ ^0 q s7 \% |& U(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 8 y1 d: L9 W" N/ j# s. y* xprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the g( o) |; \, ^3 ~2 b h
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.8 t. X0 J+ W4 X$ U# r a5 Q) L! h4 ?
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local ( l1 V: a7 s" M- a) lor visitors.8 K* F0 R8 e* x9 v
) B2 u- y! u+ L0 h
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
