We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very * _4 B) L. _7 `( a& vinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we; z, M& Q5 ~8 z% g
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 3 Y5 c. k# U+ |; n% Q* q. K3 L4 _+ l
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,3 }7 ?# N& H4 y8 q( z8 H# Z
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in& G& Z: {# u) ^( J x' l
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as0 n8 |! `$ P5 h7 [8 J5 z
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort$ G2 t4 c. v: V4 ~
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep3 h- T B9 I1 l1 Y$ [; l
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the & Y8 ] X/ @* Z) N/ u! F& e( ~" llobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, # d7 v( `9 {$ x" I& _; \, ^5 vwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 0 s; i- {9 O6 f% G- j" i People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but2 }7 W* Q: Q4 b4 w
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not# M, ]: o" e" e! {. a, l
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our: K! J" ?( e1 I4 l- z( c
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through . J: T: I3 ?& S7 l5 ba roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.$ {) ~' z+ O6 [7 Z: r9 h L
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,* z4 S0 ^+ x1 V# P: O1 J- U! ]5 V% Z
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool2 \ B( r# @* K; ?
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top# A; o2 x2 V; W) @4 c' [1 _! S! w
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the , ^1 c2 A9 M# I: l" I+ O- t2 Rstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from . M6 E2 {7 u# H8 q, Q8 x4 o1 d49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 4 \$ ~! u9 k# R, [+ CCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with( N+ j: [0 T" r" T
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.. L# c2 l9 q+ G& F* }
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are # ^& v' y5 T* X. Ljust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made # f2 c9 Q1 d) m9 J' @6 i* r7 vfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba8 q3 k o1 [+ P, X5 X9 v( Y5 |( m
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having * m' d* l+ u! @3 Aa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China1 e% |3 `- f6 W3 x7 {
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 : ^( `: L. }8 a o5 M8 z+ q ?standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went % X- j- w0 ?+ hon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, + y3 M0 h7 |0 [4 S"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give$ @6 e1 k; v, c/ U/ r# W+ \
answers to our pointed questions.+ R/ x: l. Q3 T
5 }% j$ m* c7 k8 ]8 x' h# k: O! W; m
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,! W+ b1 N8 R1 M; Z" Q `
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) y! R; |6 I5 q/ g3 i7 K' |$ w
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 N5 I! d; V) L3 z2 R7 {8 ~% K4 a
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ) F# p+ M$ g1 w/ R( Bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: u& \0 ]0 I$ N: _. E! Z" n f
medical schools. 3 a/ s5 n; k0 C R" l1 E1 b, z+ g6 V! d6 F9 I B
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 8 X: F8 m% g. w: ]government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants ' V" ?+ h* z: H6 l, T' {to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 C0 E; e" Q# B* f5 V
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba, c( C+ M% L6 \9 t0 w
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to k8 v+ Z1 _# Q
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, t. a: |" ^4 N, M% n
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and : t; A( C) l& Q, T! r; }mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk & A/ R9 m, w5 z1 u7 sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some / w l% G8 W5 I. P# Q3 K# Q/ Csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ) J+ ~" Y. n* k; [3 ~* [8 [ - n$ T7 u9 w S7 j1 oThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ; w. `5 t: k# g2 ~- v/ X$ h4 Iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and $ Q, r4 Q- n! Y& w2 qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 4 m: P/ t; a( f; h+ G$ Thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good }: @& v; H! ]. u( O4 j3 Sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* I" X. Q7 M8 | o6 r7 I
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high . S3 _% e0 l! E2 Z. Wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 2 N: D# g. R' _" i; aDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When - r- M. U' G+ Ba lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 9 R* ]$ ]# k7 \charge the fee defined by the state. 6 l7 \' U0 z4 S0 }: C2 a& w" l9 W : W$ ?* l+ Z+ r2 ]2 W$ Q0 l1 {There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get4 Q7 x9 |# r: G2 ]
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 [# f r( R P& L% T) w# e
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big+ c# N m0 [( Z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* H) N. b/ B8 K8 }
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the - A: S5 G% O5 s' G. l8 B2 ]working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 5 }- V9 B. M0 h3 [* eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 4 a& O' b4 D6 ] ^you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* Y/ p, R3 m& F8 w. c2 }
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch # F$ `" G3 v3 ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 G& ?! U* F+ w$ @! ]3 d
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 C! z) ^. r" R1 a1 \4 M, P5 m& T
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 5 N0 G. y8 \5 V) L; l% {4 O$ |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 Z. C) {3 J" m; G7 E
are spaces.: D& p7 [7 c1 G- [- ]
z* g/ f! t! W" v: fThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 e3 T" `; o4 Q5 A8 G) y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# e" \; ~8 u/ G' N
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the : L3 W8 H( M+ F# W( a( u40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different + p2 X* g9 J# A* `8 z6 Wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the ' \( W+ I4 n- G6 X5 Ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 1 Y$ C* ^ A8 m1 r+ Xnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& Z/ W9 J7 j1 ~" F0 `4 f
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ d6 z, j! i2 P
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 _7 K% L* o+ D: I, C: \. P! _- X
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 7 P7 ] r: q( ?' J ^. I E$ vspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all! @( q- @3 L8 R, Q4 @3 s
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very* C3 }* w. {9 z! `: L
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 6 R2 Z8 X, e8 O, C' srecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day( w: ]: Q3 K2 A8 o5 ~( C2 l
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of . C. Z& ^" U8 ?6 K. {! Gthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms : ]5 r! H, g2 a4 v6 `; \have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the # n" L, e9 w U) k1 Stourist area. - [ x, U) _2 G4 o2 _ 3 K. e5 ?8 M# v- n! oOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's " z2 r: i8 i- t) M' m' spictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). * F# E* N" e l) W- h: `' SCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were : N6 K5 Y+ I( @) yeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps / f$ h, G* r3 _, bless leader-religious. . K( c7 u+ O9 J. o ! l4 X. b, h. S ~ B" t) BAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 4 O+ K }9 ?1 s4 f' c x4 } Tgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big5 Q9 N4 I0 Z5 H/ t1 [2 ?
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ; i4 z. _" p: w8 Y3 tembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). & y# M( F. f' _+ c6 A % y/ [8 j' Q* E3 JWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ) m% [. [8 l. s, G5 i, oparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 4 ~ V9 m4 z+ P2 I' Y8 ethe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $10 R' q- J% f, ^$ p
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 5 Z) ?4 b8 f [% ~! r- }. h( Wforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 4 Q1 U* O/ [' N: g5 @(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we4 \- e# O, c/ m9 L
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the + u( Z7 A( _7 a6 lreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 1 n$ C) ^" W" R4 Q) }And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 0 ?+ X3 x$ W, Z* Q1 `; I, kor visitors.$ N6 A# r0 f+ `! i2 M9 ^
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-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
