We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 4 a+ }0 Q8 b7 _interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we9 p- O3 w1 r8 v& x6 w7 ]+ @' o/ n
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. & v- `8 N/ b4 g8 r 8 x2 O8 a! T7 x8 O" b# e% j) NIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,/ C, }( d. z* t! | s
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in' R" P7 a& t K# ] z
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as3 S' l, s, o, S
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort. C2 R& W9 L2 e+ _
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 6 j# f4 i. s2 {8 ^! Q8 Pbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the" _0 F2 R1 {7 G T8 v
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,% ]( X z9 N: c% _
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. , Z& c" v3 q5 Z+ g People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 1 N" A) b) {4 f2 H9 V1 D9 \names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not4 F$ p2 @. c2 g/ o1 l+ _
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 9 R- D# U: B2 f' kflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through/ W$ F3 P& I6 W7 q$ M
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards./ K: `1 F1 T3 x4 F5 R4 ~. n y
3 n8 @5 K" d% \$ K0 ] lThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,' O& ^; n! D4 ^3 ~2 |& `/ I4 [
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool z" Q3 ^3 T+ \( g) @(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top % }0 T# d! f- r9 u) Pof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the $ F) b& L4 C/ p) y+ F9 J( _5 tstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from) M4 t2 n {9 Y
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes . l0 |: s/ y+ aCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with + B+ x4 f3 n4 L/ S5 Y Yfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. " Z- I+ ^" a/ K2 z+ M1 F4 t I( N 4 B9 [5 h$ D7 y% J5 y$ R& ]% QThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are6 o, j! Z( J& W! E7 o, B! p; u
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made " t% X* z& e' u H2 {for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ' v' Y4 z6 {( o, ]% R3 Q1 Ltourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 1 U/ I& g# P1 o4 Ea staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 3 h( v8 X. j+ z. `5 Y) |7 edaily 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! k1 B4 h3 U. [: _
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 s6 ~& @ B; W5 Q. T- e: D
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, , r0 _& {+ }3 `; G8 l7 r"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 f0 t$ c! ^# ?! r* u
answers to our pointed questions. ) @: R/ }1 U4 _* \" l( T" c& z5 s9 [4 `! m2 c7 ]( z% Y% s
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 O8 J$ P+ m$ v
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand # b5 R1 C# F! x$ |+ J, n# zout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ h8 ^- J5 M1 F- f4 z( j/ A& \% ?
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ) k7 N. B( d5 e7 j6 Y; N" ?to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 j3 j3 ]' c% G3 d
medical schools.1 R8 j, S1 ]# k: h( V/ k/ _/ w
# _( c+ A" Z: K0 NEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 Y2 p- G" y5 Q& z0 c. b
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 E U+ y% X# P- X
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ' }5 \( P# x5 v/ p6 hassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba - x" f4 K0 A. Wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ( m2 e6 b" k. s- }over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! ^$ Y: C4 X0 V# I' _
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ) O: j/ q0 A) k& Z- E4 {' u& b1 Y Qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk + z! f' t0 w, t* y4 W2 W4 \1 Kshortage which the government is addressing by converting some$ }4 [' l( w, `+ j
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." p- n# _: U1 r! ?5 e
* c4 a; _# x5 U" Z' NThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 m& t0 P$ P8 ^: Z% \; f
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 1 Z& v/ J4 l% v, e0 u0 Nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ S; F( z5 a% H$ b" D7 X% s
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 J# ~& ?, o- p' | r
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 7 O* G2 |! U' d1 tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ! f( w1 ~% Y. \2 V9 j* \9 wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. $ A; C! L3 c P& ]Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' O% \0 G5 [* @. b' M; e
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only9 y# I& g- |4 N! E$ X: _9 b
charge the fee defined by the state. 5 F/ c' H" Y8 L+ n* F! C % P% B5 @. z% N3 c* n2 } wThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& \8 x5 N5 z$ u4 t1 q; N+ u: w
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type0 L9 `( k; C K7 U0 {& h* ]
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big , d) g! L8 f0 \) ^# utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 [/ Y0 o1 |: f, g% t
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 6 @% ~- L( c: F) _% f% Yworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on9 B, j1 U- [5 K* C; L& A8 e
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% W( m' l i2 N5 p
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* G j# o1 j% w; H6 G
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch * Y' c# ]# c9 O& ]6 I2 n: Chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ N! K/ B$ H4 D; S* Q! H
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 N( v1 G6 o$ z4 J
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 5 P* [; G" Z5 ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 v9 R5 ^- @, r U6 w( U; }
are spaces.: j Q6 i$ L. Z4 L) |$ V
2 a; R( W E+ \! U" u
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ! l5 m# z5 ~6 j6 Uto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 \ q0 i$ ]9 K, O4 k
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the " a1 v( z4 u$ `: j40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* [" f8 u7 G0 g! ^, Q) h0 {
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. `8 E9 [- K& |$ x+ e ?# n
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 8 s8 T- F: x2 E) k0 |; l6 {5 Znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" k- X5 L3 S8 p0 m0 y
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* G" b2 y& a. ~8 I2 ^/ v
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ! A0 X* }$ T9 Y- m) 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 + K8 ?3 H, a6 R1 E9 ?spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ( j' ~( U! J- Q( jthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very# |6 J4 M( x. @* a) C' z
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep4 k% m8 f( m- N) q; S
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day " |' H% a R+ Q% ysupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of5 b+ i& k H+ m% E: @
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms ) r P0 \4 S) }) j: j3 Y9 Vhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 1 o0 T _0 H0 y& R" V# ltourist area.7 { U- [0 a% c* ~0 {
) X% I/ I! R$ r* n* ?
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's - w% j% w% |" L5 Qpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).. x: T! M; ^2 O) c
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ' D X5 C ?( Qeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps " ]! z9 p5 u: f3 Kless leader-religious.* g7 |* C9 L* `6 D9 k
1 {, r! S! ?& s
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba / | H+ r8 A r% ]0 G- i6 l7 igovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big7 }6 ~+ V0 \* `
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US5 h' j7 \5 H7 N' s" ]% f6 B; w
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). % u. K( L( O6 P7 B/ S& T4 T1 p- _ b9 \! D
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the , m* L& Z' D0 D) l- H5 o. y( xparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not d* ^" F0 V% ]the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1# K( b- _6 ^1 A# L5 Q' D
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for. i1 _5 j+ W2 D6 i' N+ T
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars ( d: x2 Q3 P8 m4 e. j6 [) Z* M. p(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we4 j, T* T6 y k9 [7 g
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 3 k& K# O7 g2 J7 f1 Q3 K. n* ^real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. / f8 H, A' z0 c7 `* UAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local ; \2 @7 I1 v4 Uor visitors.2 n- c5 U* v, Y1 M `- w* o
) a9 o/ \. ?' P v9 \
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
