We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very / }( Q' M: U; l- Qinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 8 Z& g) V C: J% Z; o# xwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. . Z! {) v" L0 P( C- i % r* J) U' D) }3 xIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,3 n5 C9 q4 }/ K# @" `+ G. p [6 X1 w
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in$ u' @+ @4 K9 g3 m/ R2 w( f# ~, F
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 7 V% b" q$ B9 L0 K2 wpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort1 h' O& |: E" }
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 1 _/ A; j$ r) L2 w( R7 A+ D# sbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the7 E5 L6 R8 h$ w& \+ m
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,$ S5 g8 C" U. n6 {; w
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. k( P: a6 q0 p People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 7 N- b5 ]2 y+ A9 h6 h8 Tnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not / X7 a0 I; E5 ?: \' S# ~& p* b) }exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our7 K3 F; X/ j9 u2 q, h; E# A
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through s. p. \2 l, v; T1 ca roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.6 I* D4 A0 i$ i' N9 e# Q- i6 K
7 Q/ s+ r- q0 z, u
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,0 j2 b9 K2 I; ?3 i, o
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool / Y! |1 ^* P) |) Z9 m5 c3 y) c(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top " L0 Z9 Q0 V) I* s/ R( H- Bof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the9 H- S) |# v# ]& Z
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from. K n* L5 k3 X5 }* M, n
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes8 K% c& Z% p4 W/ M8 i3 `6 b
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with& c; o M7 x0 f% W
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.' {, z4 z/ W+ n" Z
% p, t, n% \$ U% M* D& i# |3 hThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are6 j$ f5 [6 |$ H1 D
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made5 d; P& d5 n) U E( s
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 3 C5 j4 J8 [) F3 h& N ^tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having + d0 G8 v% a" U! \: M; {( H6 ]# Y1 ha staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China + o/ v7 k2 x, @2 I5 tdaily 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 & V. {0 m$ L. h0 V& \standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went h5 |. p: g4 S9 C P
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, ' C7 K$ d! z) x3 L: d7 Y x! K"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ e% g' z$ b3 r7 Z+ \( {
answers to our pointed questions. 9 {! O4 k+ ^2 ]& b5 q. T: M; m) k& e- Z* r
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, , K' x! J9 S! N( \8 m. U45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand / A3 Y$ F6 E1 O7 @+ Eout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 8 _ f! v' K. O; @1 bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams # b8 D: c6 p! Jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are % v$ S) X5 y# x- U2 I0 {medical schools. 4 Q" z, p3 W b+ a R0 |4 a" C' R$ K9 Z
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the " W2 g- a' h7 wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants: U( m0 @# ]. x0 ~8 ?2 E8 T4 t
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years * ~8 u1 @. L. h l* sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 6 ]6 K. Y4 ~% V# v, ?4 M9 _& Wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to / B" T9 D4 j% c6 n% }) N) _over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There % h9 ~2 q g; I) _' mseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and & i6 Q; |7 S# k4 a/ e0 a" |: mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk - @4 f2 ?" X& `0 C3 }shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) M- }$ b3 L2 N6 ?, A! L, r' q) Z9 W
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* h: y0 X. E* Z! B3 o2 M+ P. n
' C, z2 Z; W2 M) O1 O! o4 P
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no & f9 o4 y. P, }/ ~6 pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 6 m0 r% E# Z6 y [supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ K, N+ R2 }9 j- I+ M8 B* `7 u6 z
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 t6 \) m- J3 \5 d) ?
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 2 P9 ]4 m; c, j" X- i: E% g' Fsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 r# |' Z0 M L
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ; ?: o) X, h0 _* N1 TDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 x' {8 C: H# d" n. E. {+ k
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only " S2 x- o9 b' j- t5 Z7 }charge the fee defined by the state.5 ?4 p& g/ J1 z' g
4 U# d, q1 A( J* K& M3 FThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 3 l2 r$ M' [* @% l" T, gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ h) B- [0 O- y4 U/ g( G6 _
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ) C6 R, c# B- m) x! ^truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel : y2 @9 b% y5 k' F( K( w+ eseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% d. q) @% N# M. B; D7 p9 v
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 d6 ~) l, J; i" V* P3 p: y I
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% j! f2 ]7 g A, {& t0 k
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people " ^2 U0 r; L# ]3 o }7 e* ~trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 5 N- ~* z) E0 Dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# {/ f7 v1 o* ^3 y* C
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 |0 C5 Q) E0 m
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ l. x* T0 `$ H. j2 J5 o4 C/ \
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) N/ Q5 P3 y& m( u
are spaces. : ?/ x" L7 ~6 K j+ ^9 o, U2 D' S, |3 y# n O2 C, D6 M- x
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) ]6 p! s( c: L. D" ]
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they + V, p$ q8 ]) C0 Nown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 W; ?6 u* j8 R, M: y4 e8 V9 [
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 h1 k9 I$ }- Q: k1 `; P1 s
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the + K B1 ^( z2 L2 X) @best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few ( e" Z) }9 t' s* c( }; Y+ lnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 7 A+ ?# p* \2 hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 ^7 T: j! z5 c( s
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ l# G, w( Y5 q3 p* {7 `
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 r h! m ]' v& M
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all+ Y5 R; @! x6 j" w% o8 E
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very: h% E8 [; f7 A1 T3 \4 T
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep ! ~. c8 ~- m/ \1 N+ U' Wrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 4 Q0 M2 V+ y# k$ ?0 l$ ?9 P6 D5 Q- d; asupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 3 I) ?* V& c5 `2 n9 y7 vthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 1 i; _- g' B. O5 U$ y! A9 i' Ahave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 5 q, X/ Q" B5 g/ b3 Rtourist area. ' P: n, \1 h1 i i6 g- f5 K8 i: }5 Y3 T; s# y* `
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's: ^7 y. c5 n; l. C, p/ [
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). G( ~- s1 b" U9 c: X2 o. XCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were, F# R9 q2 U; M8 _' s5 q' d
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps + I' j% {8 i* I9 s4 M% U5 e
less leader-religious. N) L$ B. L6 u- _# ^8 F) _7 c 3 Q9 Z" L3 k! W& `About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba8 Z0 v3 P# n. c
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big ) U* |( T: j5 ]$ I0 f" _black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US h2 s$ X' _* e& Z8 v @embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 2 c* W+ o( T1 l$ Q7 {7 @ e % P, ]! m& s4 }: Q7 p# ?; [7 zWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 1 O- j+ D9 e$ T& x8 h# xparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not6 ` u8 `5 X7 j B7 |4 d7 C
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 + ~0 D4 h l5 \3 c: tconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for+ W! z: i8 K S I: [% W! u
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 0 A: W1 }/ A+ C4 E! U(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 1 {0 j3 z% T \& {probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the6 {: a* ~% J; W& d) X( v% |
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.* A3 z' i `7 g! v+ |. C7 S* R8 Y3 C
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 0 j* e6 W1 @, J4 G0 ior visitors. - p1 d9 a# O6 Z% ]5 ^ $ X0 G8 R) k. B* Y* `-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
