We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very1 ?7 ?* R* J) Z1 V* l$ M
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 4 C& L$ F" V0 h! r. fwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.! K6 u' C* v$ i1 J1 M5 _
: [3 ~( e' ?7 T+ FIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, k% B# z% @( O$ R+ @7 x& t" n
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in r5 L7 O/ R- b( b+ `a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as3 D0 }/ o0 t. q8 Y& C* s0 O9 l
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort ; K1 T; c, e% r& C' h) eshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 4 r+ A: b5 |; |! i& v1 ~between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the+ k4 ~' e! u# V% \
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 5 t0 A8 r6 p8 Q2 o- c. swith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.7 @6 M1 T: f% p# W; P4 x/ Q5 Y7 D
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but ) f4 n" {! V0 T2 Y1 n! m0 jnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not $ C. {; {* t8 j3 P* F3 texchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our ) _* A* U! k- W" L% Cflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through9 f* D, P! R# w- w; Y
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 1 r& ^1 u3 x8 V2 P/ b" g: h( R/ q, b: t9 P2 r: ?4 f. b9 [, E, x* E
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,1 h7 q) ?- ~" g7 G& r- h- A8 a
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool , \8 [- p: E- [2 e(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top" S8 F$ Z6 c; q3 Q) O
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the: ^. L" o7 }) O2 V+ U N! n
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from9 x8 {, M% V4 \; [* i" S- t
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes# F# f! S& m2 @
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with' L8 s( F0 W/ _. S2 s/ n" p
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. * C3 y9 R u4 E- l1 j- J5 ] . \: c0 z2 X6 g8 M& f8 ]9 xThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are& v* e$ a1 o9 {& I0 ]; s& I, Q% K
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ' \ E3 F2 T+ ^6 Y& {, e- h: I3 S3 z8 efor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba3 o6 p% Q3 \+ L' [
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having / q/ O6 x; O/ La staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China B0 T( e) X; E4 `: `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( L' C1 f/ m+ T$ C
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 _5 _5 Y" e8 J/ b) z" Q4 ~
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, ! s3 X8 X! R, q4 G! v7 d, F0 D"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# C/ J( E: D4 L W% p) q2 r0 ]
answers to our pointed questions. 1 f' D1 h8 o1 A. X T/ ~; C/ T6 P5 t4 T5 |) o! Y4 t" j! V) u% @) E
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ( z% [ h4 U8 M4 |: ^0 l45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand - ?$ `- T1 ~$ F$ P2 K2 d4 A" [) @out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is + ]" U0 w5 F* f! r1 ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 3 k) {+ V0 N5 m" \& B! Gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' Y: H$ a2 r: f! n' J% {1 S
medical schools.. k3 M% u" m* {# y
/ \! j. C5 l' ?) REvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 5 ~ z0 W# p0 Q7 k9 O7 qgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants & U- Q9 D" k( O$ l6 | D. v4 Yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ R( i" M4 k3 j. @! z. `
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba/ Z$ [: }! k3 T) |0 \, O( w- C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( p( r+ F7 b) T8 C; a
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 3 G6 @$ _, O/ R( Q( z) }5 B: bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 2 h7 q' l9 E' Kmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk0 E( J# `, u$ y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 9 ?7 ?, f( ^# T, l* esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 V+ _& z+ F& B; P
( F$ ~; A9 B. P3 a9 R
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; B+ |1 \. o! [/ x P- T
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and0 ` A! y1 K1 J9 C* A
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people $ n' R( q! u' f. l. `have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 1 r- m) ^; p" y5 e" R0 Athing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby& S+ \' o* ]' U: z5 l6 W5 F
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- j# u; N' j& ]
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. & ~" H7 G7 r* B+ ?Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- h- L" Q l2 z. q% S# B: l
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 9 J6 X; A6 ^) @( Y+ [charge the fee defined by the state. 4 d) N9 Z$ v1 r' G ' G0 W" J/ z( zThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get I6 s# }( ]7 g& H
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ' c; _" [/ @4 e; { ?- ~$ G. hof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 9 X" _/ u' ~7 u1 p* S6 {$ Y0 Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel y; |$ O0 A- W
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ! L+ c* j. t" q* @6 r7 E# k4 Mworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on : A3 ~/ q9 Y* }, _. sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ i. j" k, j7 ^3 F( G( i2 b# G. N$ B* x
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 J$ b1 Z( t2 i0 Q& I, X' P: S. J6 K7 j
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 j8 I+ Y9 d- e6 x
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that , ]9 ^, d; t) R( L1 Vpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want ' }( s8 L9 C' y+ V0 [' N* S8 V# Zto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 2 b5 R- J) e8 c bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there ; ]4 o7 f& }; r/ B' Sare spaces.' j3 D# S2 K! F6 b, t' C
6 h* E* G" p* r/ _There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi# m( F% R. H6 I: T; f. f
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they " }6 V# p3 ^, \own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 4 K* @& \) ?9 _! q$ r40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different , ~: ]' ?7 u. D9 C. W. a% c4 hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& W- {4 x7 U' M. e3 G: L
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few # O) \) T1 g7 Z. I) Lnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 ]" ?1 W5 i* J$ U
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 7 C& K9 R% u8 E1 y5 g: `5 mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. # x j# f) h/ X& W( ~ 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+ L0 t" s% n; i5 f% X3 k
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all- q3 J( y" g2 N8 f s! L
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very1 H7 o5 M" X; u! B- p" c# A( [9 U
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 9 o' V" F+ N& L: y: Nrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day+ V- a5 _4 X6 N: v" F
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of$ ]3 C2 T. ^ w2 D
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms3 J6 C" @) n% j: t `5 ]2 L
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the ^6 v3 o' b- S6 f! X4 _1 Utourist area. : E! k6 k7 b- o/ ~ ( G: L7 o% @: N; B( {One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 0 [0 o; e% [: t* Upictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).# m% l1 ?/ _* N+ b8 F0 b8 c. g5 k
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were % n4 j5 v7 o0 Keverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ; b! n" Q) g. T* P* Y; \2 Zless leader-religious. 7 _ N1 e* P: P5 b& n! ? . g" p1 D: Z: M5 X) KAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 7 B( f5 O% [/ Agovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big ' n7 @9 u X, I5 V7 Dblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ! |& k/ R0 w- eembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 2 ?2 W7 t4 n* V8 t5 ^5 r% Q$ u. u* J5 |7 n
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the- d- l" X% y" L' T
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not $ Q+ r" v+ l6 O) o o1 l- |$ Othe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 , c8 W" z% q* n, x" \convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 7 K& V7 w) q. p0 U {! k* @( qforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars * F& |% ?0 E. ?( A; e(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we. y8 k. r: A' N: g# G/ }& ?
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the: ?# I2 h' j; i$ I% e# M U
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.! y! p3 ~- r; a% K) X, s" ^2 @
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 4 s9 O( o3 |$ ?. V; A/ J$ kor visitors. , ]/ l* `9 l# N# ]( k/ X 0 F( t1 u- d" H-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
