We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 6 [: y+ L. f" g9 j& Xinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 0 F! V. h n4 j% t/ Dwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. # |3 {9 r6 T+ `* m# D+ k, H; H" C6 {6 t! P
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,+ d7 _! g6 I# B$ [5 O4 j
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in & t9 `3 h1 b: R) w6 Aa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as' }% ?7 A' t1 K. m# b% \* p" H
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort7 {7 q8 m3 ?3 l" E( }9 ]6 ?7 }/ d! {
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep9 l4 ~0 ~* M ?
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 4 u( O& ^! u% ilobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,4 P: v2 ?3 _/ D. F$ M" N" n
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 7 F8 o2 I5 e1 T! @9 P- t* e0 N+ n, P# a People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but( L2 {4 A, {/ U A6 P
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not2 o; S+ z8 d; s3 `. x1 T4 C+ S
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our$ I( B) I7 x9 U5 T$ ]
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through M4 A& e) ~6 ^3 r+ w8 \5 {
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.6 j! M" O L* T5 M8 e: C
) d* C& Y& _! k* ?4 S) \The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,* E: M1 a5 V. c n" x2 _
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool7 |! V x& G H9 Y! X( u
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 8 A5 y4 q2 m" Aof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the * d2 N" S' e _7 ? Vstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 2 C2 v" d* h0 o# u49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes4 c8 B, C0 X+ w0 Z( W& g+ K
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with( r# O4 M, E* b9 z m& f
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 2 b! y2 z9 |! i$ t 6 X- a6 N7 G* Z5 W/ F! x+ x8 xThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are2 ^1 G' Q& r% Q: u* M
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made / N' A( R, h. P" m, m) X a' Nfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba: x+ u& |7 R) b2 k5 n$ Z m
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having3 L, P; ~$ r& c; X, j/ n
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China& f* k+ d. [8 Z% Z
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, living8 I. I3 r6 H# E. H
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went e) V3 \0 S9 s8 O/ O/ zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, . {$ J$ X3 c3 ~"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 B4 {6 i4 k7 R/ T2 n9 X
answers to our pointed questions. , a7 _+ s) f* ? & Y7 F3 w5 [) ]) G# ^0 z1 E. [The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ( }9 T4 Z6 h0 D45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 e9 q% j* J. H7 H( z- G
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ a- ~6 I; y4 {: Y
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams $ Y8 h5 K! y! Y2 \- P5 ~( @to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 4 Y5 G5 @: W& F' M/ Y. \4 O8 u7 V, ]3 Smedical schools. c1 {. [5 l' t- X
2 p$ a- e3 R: F" ?+ tEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( D7 G2 w) U0 g u% m' H/ w
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants + t9 A, W9 X, ~' ?) B. c: ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 ^- I4 @7 j: b8 v
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 8 N8 _. N0 E; Z7 B! e" ] b }is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 e( e/ U E' t8 v: i
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" b: q- h b( h$ Y" e& @
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, J# m9 X2 Q. A
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; ]5 L" C( j4 s d: Z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 8 n1 y0 `0 O! a4 _, Gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. / |, V5 C' N# K' b4 U ) O* |6 i* ~% f' C7 C# OThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- U6 b+ N5 h, p/ u/ b, B4 E
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and . L( R# K( x" m0 G) |/ Esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. J X+ ^* @' v4 U8 D
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 6 J& v P5 w1 |) w; fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby , c+ _8 ~) B3 C, F. ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; }- i0 E+ i% Q; w% h4 R2 d
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. * V2 b# v7 S2 _2 aDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 i3 l1 S8 J; l) |
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only % f4 C+ A) Y+ B' Jcharge the fee defined by the state.8 N: {4 E& [0 \ }: k O
i+ I" a" z. L$ I B2 ZThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ T0 U9 N' K9 M* s$ ?0 `% e
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ; Z6 k" @3 N$ l! O. c C R. c. Rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. e' ?1 O3 ~% X5 E3 n
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel" g) D( K) N4 E$ V
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the : E6 y2 f, {( B) S0 Gworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* H1 a. x) Q% a; g. J
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, ~: a5 `; g+ d
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 8 ~9 g$ C4 \- O" l3 U5 @ Ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 c# a- [. r; } H
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ g4 j6 A6 ]) ]. j5 e
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 C1 F* H5 _. a5 C3 X, i
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or; A3 g& A9 T3 |( V0 e) {) c! H
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there ) k, ^: P4 \0 k" b9 N3 Kare spaces.' B- k2 B- F2 |' C2 i0 h
5 N& w. T6 T# t1 n9 r3 A- ]; }
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi , q7 F0 J! [9 D- u5 H4 {( M% l- Bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they8 e+ J" Y f: e
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 7 z3 {/ U. m7 M! ^% L+ k40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different7 y) |9 ]3 C0 r& f6 t/ F( k, I
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 3 G7 F0 n1 H3 X+ ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few , T* G* T. O3 `$ w. J( g, W vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of + r& L6 I7 {2 l4 m( `4 ?5 W( [6 kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it $ I( X6 u8 ~' \" n Wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.' L. ?! N5 ?, S* h' t) b" p2 ^- i e5 l/ |
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" X0 z6 W- a/ P3 H/ J$ I( Q
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all8 M. `5 k2 M' V% Z9 ^7 H2 E; y
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very) I ^' W8 u! L3 J) x0 _7 Q- E3 B
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 9 ~! v; j" P! T6 qrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 7 o& C) j& x* i. R3 n. gsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of # Q. T4 k8 p; V- M3 Athem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms - C: H, Y/ s7 k. r9 Z5 A" x. }: [have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 9 ]: x. a5 g: H* {0 j, ?tourist area. 6 P. r; C; e" p' T/ u: l. ] ! m, K. K- g/ ?0 C8 LOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's : ~ G, x' j1 D; W H ~pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 1 r; \+ \) Z v) n2 L8 [Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 7 p* X9 A1 P- ~% r/ m) G4 h6 Reverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 0 P! R# `' N3 w9 o. _' C
less leader-religious.( h; s' x' U1 N( ^! V! d+ b* X
) @) p7 U* d8 T; jAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 7 h$ U# }5 e6 |0 M7 ?government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big( @% a! @: `1 e& z7 T
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 2 X. Q/ a( ]* r3 [embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).# V6 E/ S9 A9 z7 _+ M( n% c g- P& V
& C; V" s5 G, Z: a5 t+ D
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 0 C$ u& t' b3 L6 lparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not3 r5 T6 n( t u% P+ s0 b
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1* \) c. h& H5 x" b5 b( F r
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for8 }& E2 U* J# h7 q' W+ t
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars5 ^4 L( V" R0 j& U7 |
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we ) i e3 a* k: B8 b+ Fprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the / z6 ]3 L2 i" vreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. : Q; D/ \. C, n OAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local& M) b: x6 ]1 b# y2 X$ j6 {
or visitors.# q% r5 n c$ X2 \. @! F7 r3 ]
8 n$ u* P/ e5 r
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
