We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very& r$ S( c2 b2 N! d0 E4 [2 m
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we " k3 t2 T3 F3 M6 [wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. * Z2 U y& i1 z/ J6 _4 {: {4 k( A; Z( @7 c
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, ) ]/ Q9 n/ C8 L: X3 Z30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in4 F: r. S" x( U* J. _( D9 n
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 2 D4 k; M+ R2 ^. T9 A5 C9 }6 W+ S7 kpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort' l2 [4 R, T: E. E7 `0 o
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep9 g- J! G9 ^5 w
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the * e9 ]5 x: m# y$ B4 P9 P) m& E9 Globby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 5 X2 {6 [) {6 J3 o$ K, hwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.+ G% t1 i7 h* w E' j6 Q3 ^+ L/ B
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 1 v, \9 |) L1 Q$ ]# ]names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not1 z- P6 A; x* x1 c. x
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our( s3 D/ h, p" D# C
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through6 _ u) O0 M- |# ^" A
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 5 N( d9 G' q. C / C' N9 j+ b6 i3 V0 _5 DThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, , e s, e& q: h$ @ z( U' H$ Q7 ulow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool $ D" d) Y1 S; z- h0 x2 m0 c& C% o(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top % z- ~" D! _5 `& M: X8 Y) L. Iof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the) l a5 k O: w& f6 j
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from) O: K2 |- P! g# j
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes5 W1 \9 j1 p t; o# F4 @9 b
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with7 v! U+ D# {$ K
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada." u, ~% [% ~+ \" T4 w
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are " @; j! O* s$ E. t+ wjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made9 z, X" U0 P0 I: g! l8 [
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba( d& `3 b/ L( S
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having : ?0 b C( ]# ~; z+ g2 _a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 8 m& k4 o: D) a5 j0 ?; x; q8 Edaily 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, living0 `; g S9 }' R/ k4 _
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 2 ~; K/ k% R2 \/ y; N) N. |4 ~on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 f2 H( ?. ~5 G& P6 _ i& t
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give & {5 ~% n7 _( T7 danswers to our pointed questions. - B- [$ U/ h! Y7 e- a1 L: P Q9 D5 b1 u V3 m3 q; x; D/ ?/ H
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,6 w: w. o$ D; L* G0 ^: j
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 r. t4 a5 [) X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 6 v/ v0 Q# F, B! r- wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams % ]! |8 A( U6 pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" m) b3 }: b- w
medical schools. x$ L1 j+ V7 g1 J1 J! {) g4 f+ u( ^$ o- W6 X T& n
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 0 F, Z$ z R- |, M9 Q- K/ q) w* E+ qgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 Q* D9 X% `9 p! h" I+ E
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years * F# t9 l) C& _* _: m0 L; k- tassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba3 l/ ~. V% C F* I' I7 G" s
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) x: X7 @* J4 t! X% T; \% D
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There) m" H. i7 V8 B4 t4 ]* }1 Z+ q
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and% d: j+ i8 Q0 [% m8 e* B
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! |2 a7 {2 B+ Z- o% k4 }
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some - H; k, W4 h: r6 D! Wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ( j2 }0 H* R9 k0 ?8 L/ w- v+ U8 A3 T7 h8 E8 s- O. P: L0 v
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& i. }; \: s) }: b, d Z1 D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and) d' g" H" A' f! B. X. i
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people% v0 h: m- K7 n9 q
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 5 o# [* o+ l- H' M/ {thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 8 u0 y* K. D: X9 _ Tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 U& Q M" q: o h# z- X% J4 e
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. - q: [& W( ?: M3 ODivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When + i' M$ `4 V" M. z6 Ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ _6 I/ D8 F8 x, L
charge the fee defined by the state.# [: }! } |3 O( x8 y- r! n2 {2 b
" S6 w3 c# N! {& A6 w1 }
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) f# b7 K9 k# c# k2 X1 q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ L( S. L! c7 G2 Z/ f4 z) ~0 }
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big + O- q! z& V1 Z: r, t+ x8 Ktruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ! @% f) S* p: {/ d7 g6 gseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the , q" E# S6 {; K& K, Hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 Q% K& f1 e2 `
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if + U. j) O( K# N: V' l+ o- Hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ ]/ G2 H0 n9 i3 b+ B" @
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch : u2 g& b7 U' }$ X- h0 qhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 b7 b- m) b+ O8 c( P3 O3 Q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want& Y. p6 x1 Y( S& E7 S/ p' y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 W& t: W" e7 n, p# i' v2 ~/ x
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there : D8 A0 _& C$ a6 n* }) @are spaces." W( h4 ?+ x3 E
! P& y% |* |# E, S4 e3 y: A# H/ JThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi + U$ k2 Q6 S8 \( s9 ^: ?to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 7 {$ Z. F. o8 `9 F- w' Iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the . X4 y2 m! g7 I& I0 v40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different h- d U" Z7 Jparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the ; K; w g7 v( [# [5 mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 4 R7 Z% z3 r- }& z( enice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of # u1 L1 T- M! z; C! ^3 Icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 7 i! p) {3 a% G& g$ |$ mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 e3 U5 f' j; \! c8 }" y9 R
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 beautiful2 M' s. }9 b$ b% k5 q( Q
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all8 S6 V. G8 ? E& j
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ; o# e+ x8 x" i alimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep" V. X8 y! N& M& X3 p& I: `
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day & ^$ A7 [% W" e# k' \supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 0 ~9 y* E$ o; Y9 b* j b& m" kthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 1 K4 |, M8 |4 I) H/ ~) \have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 6 h/ S4 L4 r/ i: N) Ptourist area. 5 T, S7 u$ [; T. p3 T$ ~- s3 v( e# I6 s H( X4 }8 U" _( p# c
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 7 U' n9 `) J8 w7 }4 |+ E% `pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).) q& R7 Q! Y7 |3 v
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were + K! K( i3 a* K$ Feverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps . W4 t" x; G1 A( j" o" A0 eless leader-religious.6 p0 F* W* y/ v S3 b. @& v* k
+ |7 S. ]1 w( h. j) o* S" V
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 7 D$ a- ^+ V3 m1 Z1 {+ Cgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 7 c( m& E* y, R- `' X; t5 U. F/ Iblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US8 V7 u4 _: w- M6 P4 t2 A; s
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 2 U2 A6 s& \% V) Z$ r; E% R. N 3 o, r( o# t1 O- j5 O6 |3 N/ W$ PWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the * O5 a8 |9 g2 n5 Tparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not; l- K: g0 K5 l( c1 w
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $12 H$ x9 q5 S \6 r# M) J
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 2 i4 R& t6 |8 dforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 9 ^3 G& q9 P, H- V(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we $ j- g5 ^2 I" H2 P6 r5 pprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the ! h) S- G, \ H* m7 ^real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 3 s: ^# _ |; P! D- s" bAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 0 [. Z, O9 w- Z2 A9 N8 @3 dor visitors. 5 K) z$ U, B* B: p" Y9 C7 o/ Z. i4 U; R2 P9 \( M6 A
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
