We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 3 N. H8 z) m* ~, _6 Yinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we7 F. D1 o: e1 ~4 y+ ?$ P& z
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.6 L9 K. m2 z: N, ]5 ~$ \
5 {0 F. E- o3 V; s. e7 |/ R, ]
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,7 [+ Q/ u- N) X
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in: t# _6 q& B& K Y- V
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as7 z! j" P L- |6 o9 w8 f' o R
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 9 c' `1 e( o0 a: W: t! H$ C$ Oshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 0 L: F6 t0 }# z0 Z$ V: Ebetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the4 r: h7 Q) q- o- o
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 0 r! D( M% b' H0 A: e* u# hwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. , P! H/ m, q! I8 T People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but7 X* l" f' _% ~. r3 H
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not , \: h. H" F. X7 Fexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our' T' x, h( ]4 g
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through( C3 A) e5 D0 I
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.5 r+ B3 b0 f- x& m
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, - R' a! N0 |+ \0 Z0 Slow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 0 F" l5 y6 q6 z. H4 f% z(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top- @, _; t) Y+ ]; R; v/ C9 {
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the - l% U& h: E2 r& ]' ?5 z2 J8 K) ystars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from; K* |7 ^ W( T& ^$ n$ e
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes ! V8 C& [# k0 c% zCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 7 b& _! i1 }' V [5 h2 F- x3 cfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 8 r& N0 O4 ~& d+ }9 D5 S9 _# m. p* s
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are - D- I5 {1 B2 h5 rjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made/ v/ W$ r8 T5 R* A
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba+ V% [ m# @. R+ \
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having% x# W& j; T. j! s" Y( A
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China - k2 l7 ]1 h# _- s% g, f: Ydaily 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, living7 t' X! Q( J5 f
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went - R' I& J Q" o6 w3 c, x5 ~on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, ; A# t0 w! N! r! k; F"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 0 S/ y% I% |% s+ s( J/ R( z7 ianswers to our pointed questions.1 L# N' X% |& c) ]
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 S) x/ A+ [4 j! q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* }# x0 p! c, M+ A( r3 H
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 1 `1 _) L- o) _; k+ N7 Hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ j2 l; E* Q, G/ V, W1 x$ A" V4 o3 u1 S0 i
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 Z0 {1 w- I7 {: S& Q( \8 z
medical schools.* j/ Q' p+ q) `1 h) V m
% Q2 z4 W1 Q) q; y3 l. TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 ~6 ^( s: Z' V- J
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 2 A3 V) d; C' nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 u# B* K1 ~ S ]1 V6 q3 V* {
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba" L/ ]) V5 D! d5 R! e! g
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; {( b* c$ q& [- L) }6 |4 M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 g |& X J R) D$ j' l5 V9 C/ k
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) h8 r% J) v" C' Y) k1 s& w) y- z- l
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 2 k. P' Q1 Y9 dshortage which the government is addressing by converting some $ E; l7 m6 m8 ^6 z/ [/ Y& w5 Qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. " J, v- a& F7 g: V+ Z7 U - w5 |) V+ x0 `$ PThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, v' q7 m. U5 n, V9 r1 \. J8 i
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* r4 O9 G" W1 @8 A5 g2 `) w7 }2 [
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people# u7 K: Y, n5 w. u$ Y! o
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- I! f2 a. g$ w' r: C- }
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 o: m+ j& [, q' L% m
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high! P* }* R. m) |/ n
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. % z+ D7 {# `6 u l1 }, ]Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When * [1 s- G3 p; w* S) [* ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 [; l5 _! G2 [; y: W
charge the fee defined by the state./ [% }) \4 w0 k
' D, B' I% V; T; W: E4 r( xThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 1 [! ?% T' p# A; y$ \& P7 {on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 7 Y9 G1 z* \5 w* Gof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 6 e. M; y' F& f/ j& v! o7 otruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel & ]) O( w0 V$ J/ @8 {1 b; N; Oseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ! ^$ u8 q* N( L# Z( m) Rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& {$ F* o: N7 b j% ~4 ]3 I; ^8 Q: k
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if & k: z( D" r# j7 K; dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people, D5 _$ d# ^1 r9 [* l
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( |2 |8 n, l3 s3 {5 I9 \# Q% d* s
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# S, w* U( Y5 K. t7 p0 ]- E
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 1 b L, x( I' }& z1 bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! o/ p6 f& z! R1 }6 I
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ |# i. ^6 |( N$ V! i! [
are spaces. # {& f$ d* d/ W# j* v% ]# J" P1 z1 E+ ~2 T) Z( |
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi - l: I2 M9 Q# E9 Fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 g0 P6 l4 L; b' I z1 G
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the * R. {$ v% p4 {( I# m* q& h40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ G2 W7 H0 X C5 W7 A
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 2 l" O" j1 c0 f) W3 Qbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 2 m+ i& `) c1 wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" o9 {3 L, }5 _
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 |; f U6 V3 b, w$ q
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.$ @3 m* @2 L2 i4 B
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 8 w' Z, [( O8 H% x3 [1 k) E+ I% sspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 7 L% b4 h' Q! |the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very % O; \! C* S) M" Ylimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep9 _9 C M: M* ], l: A- P
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day & b" k# K' @" \$ T4 r. q, rsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of ) z- N, J+ |% Q6 q6 Sthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms5 n' w4 o7 }$ _& P0 f
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the9 X' p {$ j- O
tourist area.0 G6 f5 i. b" a+ m
$ E% o/ C& g) h8 cOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's$ c, u" q- B& k2 M6 e4 X5 c% B
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ) r7 U' ~. t' e, nCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were% y& P. |9 ^' U0 V, _5 u# a
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 0 F% L. a' K5 V
less leader-religious. 1 L$ M7 w3 ^/ f$ h! `; ^# A a8 p( c6 S) C6 k
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba # p' k* l; \8 L& u/ |! r+ U& Tgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big, ?0 \/ h* F+ a7 T; ?* Y9 }2 P& J) c
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US / H. L) h) c/ p8 o r3 r6 U( rembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). ! h2 h* Q! N* r, `" I: w' c * P' F' p/ \" ?! _We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the' r- t B) m* c4 u7 V. O- b
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not $ d8 q8 d+ P. l$ S* jthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1% K2 x5 e# D" }5 r5 Y
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for9 t' Q2 S& F5 }3 t, u
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars8 H; ~: v+ ?7 |- ?" `/ r
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we( n. M# a* K, Q, C- x
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 2 O7 f$ q0 J- t. Q+ E5 zreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.$ N9 P7 t: [% Y' V3 t( X
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local* \9 b+ k( u6 \4 r* e$ `
or visitors. 5 J+ K' s: C! M& F6 |9 I, _8 _% a; y9 e4 i2 w
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
