We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very0 i9 r) l5 a3 i" ]! F, G. i5 |5 C
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we o t, O# Z+ }" swanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.. C7 ^4 |4 P+ P a8 T, K
: x7 F% a9 u3 }: ?0 cIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,9 r% u( N! s" O. v7 S$ F! v& k2 f
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in& k1 @; y9 ?* }# y2 m: h, f
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as . ~. |/ u/ X9 o; R6 V) e$ qpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 2 M) p" Q1 h0 R) hshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep7 L& q5 `. n1 f$ d: b& ]
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the & `+ S/ J9 `- y0 _. d# clobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,3 A# h- I' E: H" I+ H0 E: ?
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 1 N4 O: Q% W( e People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but% o: ^1 W' c1 e) t8 S
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not/ ]4 A0 |' v) o
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our ) k4 i' F9 T( Uflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through ! u/ b0 |0 C+ xa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. % o1 u: s, L9 s3 Z5 o! @2 Z) a1 p5 O- ?4 {
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,4 [7 h. i1 R" R
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool + ?& l2 t4 k+ j1 _: d(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 8 w" l& i5 r' j- s9 ?. Zof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 0 \" s n# [2 Q- x) f4 u) }stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from0 j+ |: c5 e6 i* A* p
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes - z) q1 B5 q# U5 d& q0 TCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with+ A* t% }' |, a' [* V0 }' P
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 7 y$ O: f( T3 l, t) _" z2 V6 W) Q2 N( B2 U+ c9 g6 L+ {$ M
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are f. p. R) E3 h- w7 i ]
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ) g i1 Y$ l0 ?( q9 F' Hfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba' m9 I: L# q- y8 O
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having8 ^; {8 E* K4 f) G& X1 t6 F
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China5 i: n! @8 [* ~; v; U0 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$ c( R7 _" j5 x; O
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went+ J. g1 f5 Z; k' }4 ~
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, : u3 d- `" R* E0 i+ p. k"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give - t5 L# v& E, U$ Yanswers to our pointed questions.8 s0 x9 ?3 V& _ J: l
/ K7 O3 D6 U) H% s* ]' B" G
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( ~" N' j, `$ B ?% J( q' f5 ]
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 8 M) a2 J- d8 d U9 Eout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ M& h/ n$ u1 q6 D
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams v* @! l7 h1 Z ~2 Eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# p# K) V! v, g! e- j
medical schools.& n6 E; l* r, v6 v/ B2 r( n
& f7 J: s# P3 f& p6 AEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ! J* X# L) o, b; u7 u# }2 V; j/ Igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 0 P3 d l( g. k* i1 J4 x8 Yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years! h3 d# m' W; C3 v2 f0 E4 i" {
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ( i D( O e9 j7 c6 I0 K% I5 jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to7 E( j: ~) M9 ?" x" m
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. h8 r0 f) p% E: V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and % k) \) @5 j" O! }mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 I, r- O; s) G- j" q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) A4 V9 K7 f8 E( l& n4 k
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." D: l: R% k8 I7 h5 D
% B" O Z: F+ r2 w$ K( f
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 `* G, ~7 g' X
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 ^( S& F, h1 Y$ ^
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people $ x) N p$ o9 U$ B) ihave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 4 g7 Q: Y: G4 c8 a5 j8 gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby) X/ z& N8 s- ~7 y5 ~ S
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high * J0 e( I! E+ f* \# \) U* J1 gdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 ]+ B! e P- F/ p1 `! n
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) P: b" b$ U1 X
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( }, c5 a1 o# u
charge the fee defined by the state.+ {4 i% |4 T. p+ q7 f3 b$ L3 W
6 R+ G _: v6 U6 X$ f! i- sThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ i. T0 g9 d- ?; i3 [8 a& p# f$ }& G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ P$ ? E5 g4 A* U2 Q2 N Q
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 |5 ?4 N, _8 n E3 _8 q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 4 z* F; v2 D, G2 ?* Qseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 6 B. Z0 ?# `4 h$ q4 B* |2 Eworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 4 c. q: G Q5 \1 U9 k. e) hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ; Z# n7 ?% i* m" ]& hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 i9 A! W- ?' e7 }8 s- @7 H5 ^
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ G" k& s5 r, l' d
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 5 u) n! T" c- W K1 mpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want . o- k) Z! d0 `1 F( i6 G0 ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 4 r0 b- h4 P4 u' m8 P1 Dbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 `* `& d: X0 X# C
are spaces. / l, D p4 H# S$ H- J9 J& e2 |# P& `7 _# \9 \7 Z
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi$ i" u' c* Z4 ?8 V, O
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they" C& J' I0 f: w W( b+ f
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: t `" z0 m8 K, G7 Q/ Q* q
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different " G( @; `( c, g- ~# @1 |. hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the I' u) e: g& Ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 K* C" ?( i" p, [" H) [" {5 z: D
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, J9 j- V4 W0 N5 T: b& r% @5 R) ^! v
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 5 `0 P1 l& K+ _7 d ]1 j; J! t0 s: iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 ^* } e' W% a- H' Z4 }, K! P0 {
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 beautiful1 k; Q1 `9 }+ U* a {2 m
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all: e* R7 N3 G& f# }1 A7 R6 m
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ' `0 ?, D5 F" v; y# j0 u f) a/ O8 Flimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep `! A; ?$ ^: Y$ |% K1 N8 zrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day ) z, E+ o. K3 l4 u8 y4 d& Qsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of , _' {) S6 ?3 A0 X, |them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms ' z& h9 i* _( ~, e9 j" [have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the ' }* \% z+ b$ ~$ ftourist area." {! j: q! ]- O7 \
1 U- a7 u/ ~' }6 H
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's # b/ s& n2 o7 J: k" `pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).' a2 K* m0 \: c
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were6 b' w+ c# ]/ y1 w/ z' V' W* `
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 9 t3 L1 x2 |' i
less leader-religious. ' h+ `/ r+ o. O" b, m8 o+ k " M4 X: H0 T3 C& }$ w8 w- |) zAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ; ^% i0 z+ Q/ a5 c# b8 [6 a8 X7 mgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big; b8 F# f- @) q
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 0 u8 \( r6 {3 Pembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).7 s9 x4 s/ u1 n
2 ]/ I/ j- b/ V8 L! Y- C) }) c
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the- x! t% Y. S- t J9 @, s. W
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 3 U3 ~: U3 _9 Vthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 3 u& B6 H' @; k( O/ Q: Vconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for Y$ k. U0 {. m5 L1 I @. d5 iforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars . D* l( ]# `. r1 }( X7 }. Y(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we, ^% H# H( G3 W c: a7 @
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the! \3 S7 u* d2 g- c7 Z& s0 R
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.: d7 m8 B% g( v
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local9 l/ f) Z6 v/ ^- K: d2 I
or visitors.' z3 _% c$ ~7 M" }- J* X
$ B- ^9 K% }( ~* k
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
