We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ; K2 H- e+ { M1 t$ G' Xinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 1 V9 w# R4 E- y4 |; F) swanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. . e: }2 N3 G7 A- a x" e% A; t3 H1 ~1 t. T7 {% S" y2 ]* n
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 6 {) z# O }( ]+ S6 I30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in " w- w4 D8 H" L2 x( Ka very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as ; H" i3 R1 z" e8 O- E+ ~possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort - X4 i5 A+ P; P0 b5 }0 L5 Eshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep) q9 r0 K1 R5 A
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the2 m2 H' _3 p+ r, t% W& q7 X
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, : r! B' N( l8 S ]with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. + N5 s, \ u( f1 z People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but1 j$ ^$ [7 s2 R% |/ E
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not5 x# k8 _ p! O! h: X
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our% S: d3 B5 A! T R% ~) d
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through& W; X3 ~/ p [; j/ F2 p; h
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards., c" X6 s: q9 B/ c& P
# B& q. E7 I( C2 J# fThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,# ?; c1 j7 |, g0 k+ z$ ~: ]
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool # L0 l% s6 ~! k3 R+ {1 D) O(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top2 c6 N% t) f3 N p& m x- f
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the: n$ @" @; j" C( a
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from2 ?8 s& e3 `# M% G
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 0 F) R+ N, W' r G( DCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with% w/ ?: X7 J/ d
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. - T$ W# y! w; b5 o5 [1 H4 n. |5 G& {! h
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 7 @- B4 G: G, A* z+ djust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made( H4 l: Q7 _ {0 @! |) T% K
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 2 q7 Z8 p- L9 b3 vtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ( k4 E, c# G" Ma staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China - ~! e& z; H7 e' J+ Z+ {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 9 |' |; n4 _4 Dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ' O- h( ?2 E: Ton a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," c: N, Q+ I) ?8 X; o/ w
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give6 H; B: {+ q9 @% ^, V8 i; s
answers to our pointed questions. " y# e1 i& G* m$ q + J7 z( u$ x- X% zThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 0 o; _& \' Z1 _45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand $ {0 v& M9 j& ]; ]; [# Wout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is ' N; x7 w# l; n( N% Lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 2 Q0 W- M0 [& N( c, F4 Nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( a/ ^& z N9 j; C8 i; C
medical schools. ( K) l0 T. B8 q1 B6 |* O" M! F- X3 @! r8 W. M& @
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the , G: q5 h" N2 Fgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 7 B1 J- [7 t1 s# m9 G5 Pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# J2 q; W# E4 E8 T
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 V8 H' Y$ B+ }8 F8 S
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) K+ H( b5 K) M: b* ~% L4 `7 \
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There : B3 a% S1 ?9 B( W" yseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ) i9 b' U1 ~$ K) E8 hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! {8 r' [2 z, e* Q$ D2 G& b. K* R
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some+ W) |9 g* c# I2 d
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. , `. q/ Y! ~" l3 H/ F/ F" s; e9 d$ ~# `2 W* }1 ^/ V0 O
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no D+ w% J: \# _5 j8 aprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and D3 D4 P2 @9 A9 i, ?! j; k/ Nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 r) F& S w& @8 o( O; W
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good ! P8 \/ N% \; D' F( ^thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 w7 a$ ~# ^" {! X3 d1 U
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ v9 v. A3 ^/ g9 n( c& ^% F, m
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. % \/ s6 r9 e) }Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, x7 m9 U+ k! w
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ) M, |8 S) w" k- Q$ q( Hcharge the fee defined by the state.- d0 p* t( E; y) p) R3 k
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ( @6 L5 H1 ]: ^" D* xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, n1 V3 b, j: W
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& r+ n7 c" P6 W; m3 Q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 7 [% o' H$ `+ y& \. X. \/ aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 0 @+ N% I& u$ D: r3 }/ aworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 2 Q% n2 s; L3 B5 j8 ]5 r+ Gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 7 B+ k6 ^. ?. x$ q. Dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people6 Z9 ~$ N. {" r& N2 r( M
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; Y6 |3 l- X6 G; {6 O
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 1 u1 K; z) `! s. b! V+ bpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 6 ~' d! e6 A3 _4 y: Z5 ]to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& v) Z5 V/ }1 J0 B k
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there # n: \: N6 r- |5 j* M; Uare spaces.3 F$ j( ]! o) ~% c' y( h6 H6 W$ x
5 J" }- ^! X5 R
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 3 F* M. b! ~+ @7 pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 8 r& N( |0 j1 r1 u- Q- ^9 Xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 Y5 U3 I& d9 n4 i0 o
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 0 i# P; N8 _% ^0 O* t0 rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the }% H6 k i( v8 i- e7 Ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few * U' \8 x( \6 v! ^: [$ S- _$ unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 v& @$ p1 p N9 R
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 \; {6 @' p3 W' x* j
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 @& x$ W( w! H% U/ A9 v
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- d; G$ ~! m1 L7 J6 a7 m$ Q! `" m
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 0 W+ m* |- V$ I+ Y8 g5 {the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very . K) V. Q6 b9 y. h! p! ~7 v4 r4 Hlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep5 d. [) T4 _( N& B( b$ Y
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day ) u( i' b) l7 H8 J9 |8 b5 }2 osupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of # `. q/ d& r, P4 `6 A! g Gthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms# C W( V; i. ~3 u4 g S# V
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the( D" J! L& A$ n, G8 }
tourist area.+ s4 d- F c( ?; M) T
k5 @$ S4 H$ E' M8 JOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's1 p& {8 m) t5 s) k3 s
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).0 f' G5 ]/ `7 T; C: ^+ a
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were " q. {; a( E3 a6 @: _everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps % r; K9 o% ?% C vless leader-religious. 6 F1 \/ Y0 s' ?% Z7 p0 w! w2 P5 v) W5 H8 n. H- x3 m. J: ]6 o
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba + Z4 I% L. Z# E9 w1 Y: |4 Ygovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big * h9 Q( R; i* `9 Ablack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ( o5 n9 i$ P$ Q# Qembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).) S1 l& K. N1 E1 d
+ v/ l+ I$ `' R
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the/ `. D4 `* Q, C( s6 ?3 c
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 4 M8 e$ Z5 y9 ~& uthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 & y$ u7 X; O, I) r. }convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ! B1 i4 l7 Y3 f r, g( d2 p" dforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars# K) K' `; X. H& |6 E% O3 h
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 5 j& ]" @; ]+ `. C0 _, pprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the0 k( S7 v! }$ I( G* C; e8 `
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.8 k& r4 L1 v) ^& j
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local0 _2 D; \/ L+ J7 j$ Z
or visitors. ! W; l. U, I5 o9 c: ]( |/ z / A; _- P( S2 ~" {$ c% L2 J-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
