We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very / S+ m' P e6 Y1 Y% Tinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we, H" ` T* z7 m) ]2 z
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. ( I% ^$ m1 E, m5 Q! l; }9 E4 w' O/ Q2 x1 Y0 f
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,5 `# U3 N; v3 ]5 l' \, f; L
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in; k' S2 X/ u# |. R$ ?0 e
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as : |# t3 |- i' Z; Q1 U/ U+ epossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 4 I {! g7 i( e6 d. w* F% }show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep6 w5 G- v4 u a1 N
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 1 a$ q( q- R5 Z; q$ X u. ~lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, / H8 U. b) P. Awith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.4 d! _# e5 y- q: }
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but% P6 }& W7 } g* ^$ ]4 @& s, {, f* o
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not + }/ P& a, `/ bexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our3 v# ?3 X7 i; }; F* h! x- I
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 8 U0 o; [+ K+ I5 Z+ M$ B' e# x0 _5 na roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.* a& T% z7 E9 \ R* ?
6 y) w! n& O- R2 E K+ XThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,3 z/ w% _4 i' ?" }. e
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 8 H9 a7 H" E. m ?6 q9 d(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 6 }1 }: M! Y2 Hof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the. P) B! |' K3 o, k( \: m, q/ ^
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from : f% x2 {2 `& ~- o49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes5 B; t: P7 ~8 J5 V9 C& A5 v
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with h$ J* P: B! }1 Bfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 8 k3 m! I" d' o: f) |. q1 Q' L' x) W" o1 Y
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are / o) N/ [& j4 o9 Sjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 8 V* M! ], |6 D1 ~5 A) O: qfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba6 A3 ^' k0 U* |3 b% q# O4 l7 I9 n% P
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having! _. o) k) T4 h0 e3 A1 l
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China) R! _9 ~9 R! B" ?/ L t' E2 e% P% F. [
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 3 m- f% _+ K" e; r& R- kstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 1 e/ P0 r/ f# A* O: f) aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, , C9 @4 H8 u' C F) t7 P! {"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 8 l6 [8 b. _, r: N% g; Ianswers to our pointed questions. / ]8 G* B! j s+ O0 |: b$ a. q2 k5 f8 E# f* o9 b
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, V" o4 X k$ d' H$ Q2 i: ]0 @: g
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 7 x4 c- h/ X: t* l% Nout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is - S4 v1 k+ |& V0 g4 e0 Y1 ufree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. ]% p) L6 K! p/ _6 n9 \5 m
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are7 L. H E0 U0 R b: ^2 i
medical schools. $ I7 A2 G) X9 H1 ~6 @* a( |! d; l ~- \$ o2 d
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( `3 ~4 K ~+ O7 ]8 g
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 H9 [4 z& [; Q( W- L
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years # k1 Q% x, K8 g/ t; \5 tassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ M) a& |' ^$ |) q! F/ N
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to & Y/ p- [4 @ U2 O8 aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ; O& b* R, b tseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and e: P' O! }4 ^1 ?
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk$ a1 ~; t3 \6 A. v1 ?' b; f
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 N# b- H5 R; \ E2 {+ L
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 L5 x; `. R5 c2 M
& h% X( g' h5 OThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no - k3 ]/ L' _: |' k7 ^5 kprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: L2 y2 c- m5 l; ]/ F/ u
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 1 y( `/ D$ [( ~, E/ m" A0 ]have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good ; U( L: G( W. B0 |$ }thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby + j4 [1 X& N- ~sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high, }9 y c( n9 x( G" `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years./ B8 q8 a: e- u
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When. T- X+ `- r& {+ o" L
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* b6 J ]8 O7 ~, w& T; i
charge the fee defined by the state. 0 ~4 l2 T3 n' V) r2 P( O* }8 ? ! g" J- x, C1 X3 \There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ( P* q# k: W0 x: Zon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type : C; n8 I2 b [+ z3 B+ `of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 3 t5 x) m# w! h3 Xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* N- e1 @/ L5 H, L( S
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 {0 G8 }# y s8 T% S: L
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; c+ W: D( ^$ E9 V4 H
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( r# N9 ]' A( p/ Z2 x R% F1 y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people , R1 N+ [0 U7 p) U7 N6 T, |trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 7 }) ~7 [9 q2 Uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 1 Q5 {- S: y) apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 p8 A/ ]7 h _& X# Z
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! M$ R" F& w" X! J
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there * G, m c5 Y: q/ T% z( w3 tare spaces.% E. k9 ~- }7 _ n
% o6 j* Y! u1 w. {2 w
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 9 X" u' b9 c0 n) Tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they % w% g& T* U: x% j5 }- d0 u0 Qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the - F' ]. ?9 x4 Q5 m40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different- h7 B7 w# o, I v
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 O6 e- w0 G% a7 X
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few {/ N+ D9 T+ p
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) f& v/ p- A6 E. ^/ T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, G5 V+ N& F4 N
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 B3 ~6 r9 ?$ C% r' o' z. W
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 9 Z+ T2 I1 h8 I' ^spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all P" R, x% c! e1 t& O
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very6 M# \" f& G% _
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep. _+ J$ J3 [' n" Q: c3 M8 D* `& o
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 8 m1 y! e( M9 Wsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 7 _/ C2 N7 Y F! t E' Kthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms2 @ w( K) l+ J; Q% K
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the7 t: R6 e5 h' t3 R5 A6 e- Z, I
tourist area." a' r& J/ u: k. b- L3 |& \' k
. _0 V1 B7 N1 d0 ]One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's/ I: y* Y; Q2 {+ I$ C% R4 u
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).& ?4 r5 B4 z( `; @ E- X. ^# F
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were $ S" S# J% E+ B. }% H. D# [0 ?1 [everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps / U3 R5 i/ W6 b4 tless leader-religious.5 j0 [4 @6 W+ P. W+ ?
& H5 d& ~ @! H8 u, L. `About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba, m0 G9 g, h9 [$ a
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big! E" \- i5 g/ p
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ; Q! ~3 `$ X* p; jembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)., a( o/ b( u; Q. o/ e# N' `! O7 C
: r$ m9 V, N8 k; c2 lWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the# a3 V5 u! M- B. v3 q* S
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not : A3 ~) E6 ]' O9 k! rthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 4 t- p6 | F: O) k5 e$ P: ^convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for& D7 m7 R$ ]( L& |! b% N
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars' n$ k7 I6 _3 K
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we+ k. v, B1 ]1 I. P
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the , {+ P7 D0 N! f6 H8 i0 r8 [& Hreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.5 o- e7 r, @1 d8 I
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local; o" Z# J i. H# |9 E0 S( ?
or visitors., m* \% K9 h8 l2 n* V9 P0 w# {0 h
/ k% b0 N/ W# D' C' }* @-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
