We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very: Y5 Q$ ^# r; Y8 O
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we7 O) F- F) t$ i* C5 L/ n* [
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.5 C2 Q. N; b) k8 W. a1 Y( O
# p) d. V9 `3 J' \4 A- iIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, : J! E+ N5 Z, y8 K30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in $ s t) u2 b3 W) Q6 U N" Z0 ka very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 5 R# e0 L; w; y! Ypossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 5 f8 F; P. x' E6 ashow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep " x) W; E" y6 V0 B) Hbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the * l* q. S5 ^1 \/ w" w8 {( ulobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 5 `/ |3 q8 ]! S0 U9 Xwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there., V2 Z9 N- E H9 L T4 W* @2 z
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 9 |5 L! m% p t( j6 O) t9 H& @9 m( Jnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 1 X6 b* J0 ?' G4 k) ?8 j: sexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our+ t/ S4 e/ V2 ~7 o
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through9 O( |3 j: F0 J/ \0 |' ^: [ j
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. & l I- n. x' x0 e8 C& l! X5 G Y0 B, N" ?8 e
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 0 I; b( m/ Q1 x; X9 l7 R- Q6 Xlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 0 L! H y8 Y7 l p+ u- B(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 6 s7 F4 y4 o) G2 Lof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the+ L7 |7 S; q; c% J& v
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from7 j' i* Z3 F" ?3 G# o
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes e0 y! \$ @* hCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with. _$ z8 L0 X1 i2 \6 V+ v% a3 F
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ! o4 d( [9 H k2 X: T# n" s- @ O9 M
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are , a1 B5 c; D7 W/ M* wjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made $ |& z G2 C1 e% z, {for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba1 |! l; m4 b/ j. O, L b$ o
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having( d0 t# \( O$ V$ W% ^8 V; T2 _* V
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China" W% B) I" j: M: b
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 ( M& _9 F: l' E# Lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went6 Z, ?. X6 I% i @! h6 ]) R: \* S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 I7 _0 d4 F$ C; f5 Z3 }
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 J) @* {0 t) a! M5 r# {
answers to our pointed questions. ( Z5 ?; m/ w1 j8 m T & \( i( B& z- [: l3 V& T! ~! qThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) c0 k8 t* p: k2 M1 q$ C1 ^) M! B" {
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ( T2 V: u: S1 R2 W) yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. t$ m0 U" ~8 E1 L8 t) f8 { i
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams : N3 i) J# h5 B, p1 h. z- lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; l& o4 |) O! `0 L. `/ W
medical schools. , L! [ P7 v2 B: c5 ? 8 f9 o, j2 O9 l4 [( z$ F( T; mEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 u+ J4 M6 p' v
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 R/ s( r, X5 s% c# J8 e' @
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ n3 y ~4 D) v. W
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% ]) c3 [4 ^7 `
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 @/ E4 O1 @) G. S9 I
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There b+ ^5 k1 j- N/ D4 Z [
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and( ?3 c+ Y3 C1 y7 S% x
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ `; M/ M& z- m, ^0 Q# Y6 e: d# l. q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some M' l* \9 ^3 J4 D- e9 D
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 5 ~ |/ [/ f6 k) \& u, U5 ^4 D. W# ~1 r0 y& ]
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ( f; R( S u4 w! ]! cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 |$ N/ T0 P3 D, {
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 5 X9 o3 y2 ^! ~5 `' Uhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good , R- X' A" A+ G6 Wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 p: x; Y; K! l1 Z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- t M( j0 m7 M* @" V+ C
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% S3 s4 B# t: v4 Z2 ?
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When. V7 T# X8 i" j
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 I8 [' ~& m9 H5 @ \
charge the fee defined by the state.& L# \8 A. ?. c: }6 E9 Y8 k: F, u
6 ~/ m' H5 w q2 e
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 Z* a, ]: j$ Z0 l% o. s# K* {( r
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ]. U! Q# I; S1 s9 U
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 9 [1 j* W5 W0 Z0 Q# @truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 E2 Z. e. \, H
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the( e; r e) i' b! Q5 m' c; p! z: g
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ) y3 L8 n* i! q7 Q6 |4 B! T0 h: Oschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 6 G7 u( e4 l. }$ ]+ V. Pyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 5 w+ h, ?# ^, ~, U" `0 b* mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch& `3 y+ t- Z; ?$ \+ g
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 A" t9 e. S. }5 U* e" d
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( }! G' d( M- p& F, p
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 h- B9 X+ Z5 E
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there / P( l/ n- P, G& o5 I2 _0 z; {are spaces. 0 o% n; B& K( { 3 ?% E, u; O: y( qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 4 h1 k" w# {/ @, f8 m( K# f' X* Eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 0 C) w3 j( K9 X7 h5 _' r9 }own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 L: _0 v4 v$ d. d3 ^ a4 v6 R7 I
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 \) E! g3 ]! k) ]- J
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" x% b6 f3 x: u: d
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few( J2 v2 e' ^6 S; h! ?
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of' |" l$ d: V2 |' b, z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! x* ?( A) O* c/ ^. Y. J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.$ X3 `: N% t3 Q) x2 x5 C2 |
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 # l l* d% ]# g+ u& I% ?! Nspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 5 `8 e6 ]* F1 ?% v7 v8 M8 Gthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very7 o: c* ? ~4 r
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep: r* u; x) {4 O% Q
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day0 ?4 W- z7 `1 N% ?6 [1 G
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 0 x( T( z7 _$ u( M) d) r) Othem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms i2 @. i' t+ M. y, s) ihave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the $ _* A D' T. d1 Q9 I7 rtourist area.- I% A9 f7 S0 a. ~0 E/ }
( d7 _: X* C# ^
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's0 B8 a: Q7 f3 q' { d) q* K
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 4 G( x4 [1 P6 _& w! T: MCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 2 m b: V( u9 |5 N" leverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ; q! z5 m$ R: C4 i; X/ n& Y- ?# s
less leader-religious.$ |% E1 k3 B, A
$ T+ H& d5 y0 KAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba * S/ c% _8 s6 j( W$ V9 ^- Ngovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big& F( ^& M5 A1 |7 o. a, _: R( Z
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US# R) F3 {& [2 y7 i$ X$ b, c
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).! H* l4 l" e/ Y% e* ~2 r
9 `+ [5 a2 X5 _8 m1 n- IWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ! W; c% h( L" }7 hparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not & w. G5 t7 Y4 _; x4 b' ]+ P3 j& }2 Hthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1- l: a% l1 H0 N! _
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for" h2 P9 s- a5 i+ M# P" O5 T/ y: }
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars - {5 y$ J/ j: e9 y(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we c9 z7 \! ]5 { Jprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the : y2 k2 \, p/ g! h0 dreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 3 r5 s6 N" d4 L5 lAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local. K* ^1 }6 H2 r
or visitors. $ p$ ~* p8 Q3 x" o+ t$ n) h$ l ! s o# \/ [) U; \+ z/ }-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
