We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very / |% e0 {0 S3 |9 ainteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 5 k0 S6 a5 Q( w( Z# K6 hwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. ) l" T# `: ], K, n0 W3 s! v7 w" R# i5 U6 n3 _
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,, K% V& z. l9 i5 h( L
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 5 W: }; w2 O! {2 d: B: q- D: W) Qa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as1 ]' s3 A7 Y& ^7 h9 P
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort, f) B: r$ I; l& ~
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 7 c& E9 f9 g1 G3 w& ~& n! tbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the: `/ L$ D" Q. D( h* I. S3 C9 _
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 7 t+ G% U) @3 J5 q: J$ }- @with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. % K, O3 E7 P8 n! f; v1 r People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 1 R6 K* }8 Z6 z3 c% x0 Fnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not # v; B) @1 W1 G% A$ ~2 lexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our ) }6 Z( u" T" O6 e) @5 S2 ?flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through8 E$ I6 A+ h0 T6 L
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.- s: ~ p4 m. M0 E! u8 ~6 J
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, $ t/ t6 O; l' l5 hlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool" O; X- I% C9 [+ B2 _4 {
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top6 ]2 m/ ]! X* ?) W- s
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the + `) {8 d* I6 W4 w3 k! E7 V2 g; q5 Mstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from * N! z" y3 D7 d1 [6 D, _49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 7 p! {2 ?+ j9 O. n7 n9 q0 fCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with- O3 } \9 W: s5 y N& s) j: L
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada., z) G9 ?2 M- Y" m/ Y
5 o( s, R, r* H, E4 [The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are7 z. y. V" [4 k. J" o6 H
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made $ b. S1 U1 m# ^( Mfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 2 H, `7 V8 y7 @& Y( N+ I ^tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having - w1 T+ h- Q3 ^0 A1 h( y- f/ ka staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 9 z5 V; K3 `1 }! x' ndaily 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 6 `6 j* Z6 A+ {* y9 T1 B4 C4 @standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went - c3 ]6 b3 ?- p$ }7 i: t! ton a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' Q! x8 _ [' J/ w& R9 d2 M% {
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give / K& ]! i- h" eanswers to our pointed questions. & `& T+ f$ y% y* L9 H& F9 F. S- ]: u1 ~* C2 E4 t3 G) Q8 t* O+ R5 o7 `
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,# v4 E0 O4 W3 W6 \- i
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand , `; I7 ? @) {& a: S( `out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# s3 o" @" b% U9 R( U
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 S7 n t' W a. q+ M$ S
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* f z" w" ?: |0 e
medical schools.% e& G' i0 R) K4 z8 B; S/ N% W
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 4 W% O$ R/ A) |) I: T) p @government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 2 f `" B& k8 m, }to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years # R, T/ O# m( xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 [ u3 _" L' e U( o8 X( q4 ^3 s9 @% L
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ A1 J5 u5 h/ K! d# i
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 7 ^( U* `! D/ useems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ( v) A8 x! a5 f7 t/ i6 Hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 K7 |* ~* P% o6 ]
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some % K+ M% k* q+ M6 z5 G8 usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 4 z6 ? y! h# ]& U; R' q% X & _, c! h/ p, T' y6 PThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 2 M- [, C& G: k. q& D/ o0 Q' Nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. {4 B+ K! l$ _' G' \* A
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people " C) |* v0 P& j) H C6 k6 M0 Ehave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good + u; c: t1 N5 M0 x9 h' Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby; s& N( b+ I: q( f* ?( h( M" U
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high f! D; h4 q4 E3 c7 Z4 Y6 {* d
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 4 W0 c4 e1 j2 i- q. j/ P. `Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When9 z0 `# v, [! T/ U! U
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: |4 r9 x: p- n2 L
charge the fee defined by the state. 1 f2 H1 K t. | 3 |7 J9 ~2 p3 [+ i0 l; vThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 2 L, u$ \+ i/ e; N& }on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 6 @3 L" b% c5 T W" }/ J2 e/ @of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big $ m! u& O: \- _* D% G8 N6 Utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel - @* q. w! X& t7 zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# {6 Z/ m1 i8 I1 h/ ~0 H
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 1 f* B, V% `# K8 Eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if + \7 i R1 U, y1 X# xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ; B' ~7 |$ j: ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- P' A2 b) q. Z/ l2 K
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that " P# l# g: }$ V( x) n8 Apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 r# O$ @7 L. t+ G' }0 E5 W+ c+ M
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or |: v4 w6 Z1 b/ }2 i
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! z% K. J8 \, C3 F: L
are spaces. + r. J) P8 ]5 [9 I, L " t) B( X2 M9 \, ]2 oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi , H9 Y+ q# v O0 T# Qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they t9 M. {6 N" n2 Zown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- O8 W6 \; |4 H3 y& E# `* ^
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 t4 \) R7 N2 s( Y4 a9 a
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the . [: O- v2 L$ q$ d+ w0 W' {best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* N; N/ s$ |9 V8 ^/ a9 l
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of X# p2 E/ x. u' X' F
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) `0 M- j8 r$ T8 D
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ! C: `8 Y' O' C/ l3 c 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( Q3 Z. H- D4 x" j' y
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all # T# o5 V. l9 V c' {! ^; S/ ?the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very% J4 }- m3 W! c- F% r
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep - d! C$ A6 d4 C5 g2 h, ~7 Wrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day ) C0 J3 ~7 E7 ^- q3 v0 fsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of + R8 W. R, f" {: `them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms " ~& G: S% ?: w# P! ~have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the8 ]. P( m. r- a4 {4 j8 R% ]
tourist area.$ d4 a- c4 U/ _4 |: B7 X) @! b
. ~, }9 K! `' {# Y. I+ i9 LOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's5 L. A) P# _: m5 G
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). " \$ M/ v5 K* p1 ^% @! aCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were * _ V5 M( r% {8 [& z$ G5 d h3 n* Neverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps & Q( h4 A! r' u- A3 h: U
less leader-religious.8 f6 ]% G: P: X; R2 b4 [1 L! v
1 z9 I/ D( X! q' `9 M: @$ w3 x4 ^About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba p1 b5 [+ X% _" ~9 H: }
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big& T; v& E. h) g6 K H6 _: w5 w
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US- x, }3 N k! q
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 5 b! ^1 {. A7 D" o+ ?) y1 B+ ^. l: o2 p1 n) i4 G }
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the - v& j: g% h( `% N5 n1 `* xparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not! G2 e0 U9 q, L3 t
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 9 p& i: N7 x$ ^convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for0 Z7 z9 Q. I* I! P3 P7 B7 T8 |
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars$ `" P' i! k8 s8 e! f
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we" ^. W R; S7 m' [3 G
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the7 V( c) @/ O" L8 H
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.2 a/ ^- g+ S+ w5 S
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 9 P1 J4 K: {+ R7 K- d; G4 Cor visitors. ( m: d/ j9 t3 j7 T 2 M6 [: F) ] J% C! n, n d-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
