We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very: Y' Y0 [* H% J0 G
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we + [# m1 r. E2 r# N, t. O" Pwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible." b" H: t0 I6 q) g# c b* {$ C
& G4 ?2 `( {" e: T5 K& t2 UIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, # A, i1 {. @* O3 e30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 1 [: Y9 h3 i' b% y5 y3 U4 R4 ca very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as5 h% B& S0 { s" s) \. G7 r
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 0 D. M* Y; j o( r/ R8 x. F6 Nshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep; V1 B3 o2 h2 ]% }4 B S
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the2 y+ ~8 p: h; k+ Z
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, $ F7 h* m( q# M4 R) |# kwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 4 A# R) Y- M% J0 j# x2 h& _ People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but $ M: ^+ w; U3 Y5 B1 e. i% x4 A, q. I; i' Inames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not + ]; h! K) R- Dexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our : F: b3 Q: y1 p9 i# C2 i+ H8 |flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through$ y' K- [) |) @/ _
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 4 k) p1 s* q# D' V' s6 Q* Y2 s' N$ E! R' L( C! M, E
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, : @* q5 i: I# Nlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool * `$ d( ]$ V$ M$ c6 |5 Q% h(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 8 k8 Q9 m% J* E; \( hof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the" q' n3 l3 i8 g! E8 T' c7 {8 ]
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ) D. U, m9 T$ O. ~; a4 D9 t% Y2 l49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes5 ~8 q0 `+ |) Z3 C7 N5 T8 r% z5 g+ I
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with- ^/ W, |, w) L& x
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.0 p4 ] X7 u, {" k
: O k3 u5 F* H! D) v; V+ P9 aThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are & {4 k, b* K% S( yjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made/ d6 H$ q, B& Y9 s/ x+ F& D
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba/ j9 O9 Y& b) l& `
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ' @+ ^, x0 ]# j! v, p7 X4 pa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China8 L' u/ z# A' X
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, living6 p% p$ q% V/ a& T8 {* o" z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 9 Q& d( S% r2 _. H( T/ [# B1 Von a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 i i9 A5 h p: ]% O) Z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give' R, w4 d- E2 ]! r ^% a
answers to our pointed questions. / g l1 M# l9 _: P ?/ a* f! J( j! [
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,0 c( i# W+ v1 e U* E" T
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; z4 b9 C [% N8 w
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 9 T; S: w7 Y1 C' w$ Vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; ?" I4 C. M7 Q4 ^, ^
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 3 `0 v6 v& K" r6 mmedical schools.+ n' l8 _- M7 t# [
; D. P- h! b- _3 m- x
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 T3 M/ [5 P6 f0 |3 n# H! ~
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants: m6 }: v q" e8 ]
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 6 |" B ~) k# w" N Q5 ]assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 4 F o% y$ T' `2 Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( ]1 Y$ V+ B/ T- p/ j
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ) U; z- z- o6 l" e' Q- K# Eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: E4 f. p" o0 U# a7 S8 e& D
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: K& W8 x; C8 z) s+ e7 O/ @
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some% U; C0 M1 Q7 Y( P5 m* e- j' y
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ) p# j5 P+ a+ w+ i K 6 k; q4 c5 n) N7 _The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, q4 l4 ?/ M4 \1 v3 Q7 \2 c
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' l6 b; i" e+ @2 B+ u* p+ Y9 H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 8 v$ n4 E) h# U. X" v6 [7 n; Ehave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* m: B" e7 M: m' s. ^
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ) {7 n- Q( b$ X2 T7 k0 H" j3 ~* G0 lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 6 O/ S& K/ I0 o" z( ydivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 4 s+ p! B: Q( `" F! Z( [0 [Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When ' X3 i& R5 x# ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. o& U& k* C1 L5 ~. G* j
charge the fee defined by the state. ! d$ J0 Y) {5 h) {' I8 Q# O4 k/ G+ E8 \- f& d2 J0 i: o
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, c, @2 a3 ?% {
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) p) [$ H+ e# a% R j
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 O% G8 D- X( @" g8 Q) N; M
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel % V4 `* M i1 t, s8 T fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) e! d4 r! i x0 J1 @" ~6 ^) {
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on # I0 E, }3 \/ _; ~schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if & O6 [; D+ Q9 Q1 W0 l9 Hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people $ A7 D9 f3 O- j6 x* N4 Qtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" S( K8 \9 ^& e) n% Q8 ^' `; o4 h
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' {2 W0 m; e5 G) X+ k6 s8 i
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 3 C+ I5 m& V, b" l! Tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ Y% m: X" ]# p# @# u5 h1 z* {
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there. I5 R, H' K$ V+ I" F
are spaces. ) s+ A+ z7 {, M2 r% U6 Z6 k* N( H5 c+ S' X$ A" O% a% e" H/ W# m
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi - k& n1 Q( y: Pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 a$ I# {/ @5 \" t5 c
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the & \" L7 V3 z& z- {. f, l40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 4 j5 b; }7 s( p8 A6 |+ {parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ c. F9 |; h( y/ I
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 r/ r8 u2 E/ T
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of $ m- k% S& T8 y# M! D* ]* ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 8 F& q. a1 ~+ Ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 g: u5 r* Q0 ?9 L% M
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 % `' v( X0 H% `* {3 \, kspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all2 H" L; T3 a& J# _
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ) m' R& E( V# P- o/ Q, Y2 Dlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 4 o2 ?$ R7 A5 W+ F; f* D5 Qrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day; A; K8 w& h% `* F$ c' h
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of* C& U/ g. i2 ~9 l' y
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms $ F/ M4 o, h4 ?; ]have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the, k- N2 Z2 T+ C" {7 U5 {9 f, n6 K
tourist area. $ H: M$ L' X9 [2 ? $ P' e3 X" s' q7 e" G2 v! LOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's" }/ ]/ P4 n2 u9 x' ?
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ' a) h1 o0 v1 KCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 5 t7 l$ V6 g, Z( {( }- S3 P8 Neverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps $ G4 y' b2 z2 ^* {less leader-religious. 0 t1 F! p' \7 x6 R% b, H ! a' `. A! `; Z$ b7 ]About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba) W9 o3 N# L7 k$ i, p
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 7 w4 q4 ^% G$ j9 P" y" jblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 7 o1 f/ A9 m$ w7 A6 g5 o& l5 O1 x5 dembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). i" C- a/ h; i
3 X& A" t* @4 C! t# u _
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the! O6 _% L. K, I' e: [, z% E
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not " S4 Q; U6 _9 x9 Z3 ^: J1 Uthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1( Q* M/ m$ l) ]* |* @
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 5 v/ Q, {$ l; C# A8 rforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars- V1 ~; T5 b! G" X3 }
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we R) K# W! ]/ y8 A; M% N
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the . G7 h' W) X4 o( v: h* F) |' n9 [7 b3 ~: oreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.7 [* v0 J1 O# [
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local/ C) }! T F6 a/ E G/ a- T0 v
or visitors.# u3 _' T. H3 l0 N0 L. S
* N+ G# u4 l5 P-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
