We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 9 |4 f! j2 Z1 \interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we & C* h6 T& W9 u& A" I% Gwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. g: R! p' Q8 c" H/ V
0 |8 b2 v2 S/ f4 h5 DIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,' d h% G' F" }& [. R0 n
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in) b: l! u5 f& o9 u6 i
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as4 `' w Z2 m8 c9 K
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort6 `4 B; |/ j) _5 r% T5 g
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep- k* E% B! F1 ~+ |1 U9 p# B- X
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the" w% u/ V, U& r" J7 j
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,# x7 W! @7 X" \. X& r4 T5 }
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ! A% L! m" a- \! U6 n$ a+ W& w+ ^ People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but6 D/ J8 T9 Z( k0 \. L" c
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not6 a) o8 Z& Z7 i2 P1 D
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our- x2 I4 ?. u7 a |
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through ) V. ^3 Y2 M1 P: c5 c0 ja roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. v. a( z2 W: d. m4 @ 7 ]- V" e- h- a" G# U/ WThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,4 _% G: a$ V- f
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool / h% A+ @9 i; D, M- y5 F! H(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 0 `- r+ D9 S8 I7 I0 K, iof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the, e$ o/ E* b) z& @9 x1 z: O) `
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from / a) ^' b5 z# V8 x) ^$ I L49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 7 J4 J5 F W/ hCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with " S: r0 B# f! Y; \ i$ H) o4 V' ]fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.8 B% O0 i) L+ e
# Y2 p3 N( ?! T% w; HThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 2 @- i; S* i) T* @1 Z O# [* Fjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made " t! B: M# G \0 sfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba7 z4 G9 p/ c; f3 b0 T/ [/ F3 f
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having $ w2 c4 n/ C5 O: {' M% h# H+ |( oa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China. j; i3 S* g" v/ U
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 5 M) f. v) j$ g4 |# Y- X; S( Rstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went / |& O2 k8 e/ G* ? \. |3 ]on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ t! h% }9 L4 u& l
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 w/ {- t+ R/ |) t
answers to our pointed questions. / u& a1 @7 `$ i1 d6 L 0 C Y2 N4 R/ ~8 d+ ZThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ) p5 Q* f y5 E7 Z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand" T7 A& @4 z6 S% A
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 6 ]$ y e# H& W" bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! d1 q7 e L, ~' x
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 7 V. `4 N( D+ V$ @0 l3 ~' Q1 Zmedical schools. ( p9 ?' S0 a3 J7 N" Z7 D |2 S3 w3 e( ?5 m9 E
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the! K7 S) y4 D @# _# v
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 8 m3 _9 a! p( x4 w2 oto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. D D8 D# W2 u* T
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba `- P1 b6 j4 Y; M) [ p
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ; q& O& W8 l+ ^( nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There # U" l: [8 ]: ~% w, Gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# z+ P8 o2 y0 b4 q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ f/ n% x4 h+ j" Z, E. e" \
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 0 G6 s0 L9 p7 b, Y# F5 tsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( `- I5 o5 q* y0 Q7 w# q
2 @0 k* n4 [2 b R1 Y9 _
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 M) \9 P" b! h7 a4 N
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- U' ^0 @5 Z; k3 D. V1 H9 j
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people + [6 C& N! g) Khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 7 j9 V% l& ]: ]! E( X6 I! Wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby % _, n% r* x2 t0 h( ]sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 Z, b% P* E3 u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' l/ m2 \; _0 ?
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When , ~) [" Y j3 I6 u& ta lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only# Y7 k4 ?0 \( _1 M1 b$ ?8 x
charge the fee defined by the state. 5 j8 _* G' F* Y0 o% K3 T- ]9 ~8 t0 L . O6 J0 d$ d- a: u4 \. D: ^: ZThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get4 N3 x$ Y" ?9 P& X
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ) T3 X; e, p0 f* G. c: w. W; C" }7 Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big% N; ^$ w! g; x- z ]/ `
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel / |4 C% O+ h' X) r/ _seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 M% f0 q% q. D& U( `/ y8 E
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 k4 r+ M: L) U' y: ~* F, M, k% N$ p
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if " y: w6 B5 K8 tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people / N+ Z2 g& s/ c4 K$ H: strying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch ( K% M2 u3 k0 l. T: ?- Phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) r4 U2 X) v1 D. C. V8 u
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 \7 s+ i9 Y& N3 F
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 [1 @! V" y' v2 q0 K5 Y b3 e
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 2 ^' k7 o! y* `" [) y6 q7 `5 oare spaces. , \. p: g* x, I; N + b( q/ [2 ~. P3 v. z* y( v3 qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 E! E6 y% H D! A. ^
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# T. J/ w' Z, V# p
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the / J6 d: y$ _, L* v40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different ! `: N3 Z' f1 K3 Mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the - K# ^7 a7 |& P8 I& pbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few/ j% P! W/ f; L$ w) C% Z+ I
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 1 x1 A( N! L0 n8 @2 vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it # N/ W0 ~0 @& Kis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ) S) [- y0 g8 X& h3 d, D1 K 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+ P `0 ^) o& `, f7 g# B, u! E6 F
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all: \; S. X7 N O1 f
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very . i. u) `- K$ [/ c: ]limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep- k/ L0 B- N5 W. m7 K" A
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day0 q J* W% f- M0 r- R
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of v+ @6 x4 o/ [; Ithem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 3 Q+ K, A7 I2 ~# p. w1 Rhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the, m$ i' H5 u9 T% q; m, b
tourist area. + Y+ n6 ^2 w; T4 y6 f . S( i7 {; B$ E+ I- U) dOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's: P3 E, L7 s+ y* l. G* P
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). % V2 q) C$ g. u& ]$ lCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ; _" |1 C! R$ neverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ) s L: L8 u" W/ i* yless leader-religious.4 K/ P9 }" q6 r& A8 q" g
# O6 C, w K0 }0 f1 v$ r. HAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba$ ], ~( ^5 R' K: e' V7 H7 f/ B
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big $ L( E. _. v$ |: p# Z* `black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US8 h0 K5 a9 R' O/ l
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 5 H7 ~0 i B4 { 2 D$ W6 n* C- p. ]4 l& Z HWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the1 w4 K; r+ p: y8 Z: F* y" @- j3 d7 O
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not( P) R. V, g7 J. h. s
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 / `% [8 P2 F$ a, F. fconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for/ S* O4 P* P c- N/ v
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars8 N7 ]1 B: u( E1 }& U
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 4 k: y# M* \) [# Uprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the/ r) {' K$ D, ?* s L0 q
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. ( ]3 g3 j9 z& v+ i6 }And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local - Z I" R( m4 X9 W7 X8 Eor visitors.8 ? \7 F) y, v4 k
: W" N1 `! _9 B' w4 A4 |/ R# ^-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
