We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very# n% f* `; e' N1 k8 [- c8 A8 s
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ) W, Q y& J9 p! |' dwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.2 b( t% ~% v: s
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,8 E# \1 F, y% F* m+ w
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in. J/ }% O3 @: j# ~8 {
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as , _! j+ }( f. H% F4 m1 hpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort . ^, S2 H; t" A) I9 p+ qshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 6 E- Z% |- W9 ^6 n% ^ Ebetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 7 [3 |+ |' y7 P! j4 h" Alobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,# L2 E' P5 o5 {
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ( M) e4 s5 n( C/ d$ A( _. D People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but& v+ n/ J% d3 c% W9 `: T! H' x# ?$ i
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not2 g- P9 D: Y. y3 T- c( I" f
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our . t" T! _, {7 uflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through$ x- {9 g7 m# \% Y7 V& e
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 1 E/ n" e8 r$ e$ n4 B9 u0 b" `) Q# x1 |. H
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, . z4 u: b9 B" V* Q* B+ Jlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool , Q0 X4 t" C9 ^9 C$ M(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top* S, j# ?# ^5 ^
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the8 m. p3 d( q# u) l* {1 [
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 1 B7 c5 V( q5 g1 @" r49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes W" @) ?+ ]& t ]5 CCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with ) k" r: ~3 r1 [% a( L$ z: K: T& r6 u* Vfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.7 H3 W4 R; c* g4 r
/ \, @( S& b1 u4 g4 E Z7 _2 A# k7 ~The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are0 r5 ^5 ^) p" I1 n
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made8 r% `0 c" G6 |
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba / L& O. K- m3 |7 }) K9 R' o; y( Dtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 4 x2 T* G- b9 [! I3 E6 O& aa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China / H4 E+ C: W. M$ 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, living5 v8 a; i: Z( F8 q4 t( P
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ G1 q4 W) d7 Z3 \1 {
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, / }. C1 o( {7 W. A, M+ _/ T"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 8 j( s; `+ D$ t* Manswers to our pointed questions. : Q- z3 w6 {5 N2 j6 t; y; K0 v* z6 t! ^4 S, A
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& T4 ^6 X) c; G
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 1 P+ Z) V1 y- h0 g& l: Q- a" G- P7 ?out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is # }2 v4 ]1 }( r$ | H8 Rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 9 i& x+ `5 b: \% ^to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 4 Y, g1 ]% c3 t' pmedical schools.8 d6 y+ y5 x Y+ R$ Z X9 }
' a0 [% _& g R4 t9 OEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 9 T8 @' j7 l! v) d# A6 t$ Ugovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ v9 x- m6 t1 f" G6 J
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 3 `/ t$ }! u) @# { ^: i+ Xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba) g, F3 o2 V# I) k3 X- K2 Y8 |5 i c
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to+ k# z6 A# ]2 b- d' I: l. z; X
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ! g1 }0 Q1 A3 T; k+ L4 Jseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 2 W3 f, L B, p- E2 R* Cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 0 Z8 G8 Q* D- o7 d ^shortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 Y6 q" w8 ^8 U+ g8 Y' L0 t
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 [6 O8 ?( K: Y+ C1 [
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 v, V# P" e+ f9 P. B/ z2 a/ i
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 j* u% T4 v1 p, ?8 A {( d
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people " m7 F* h# K9 Dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) }7 a/ o7 d' V( }- S
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 3 D' N- P1 Q6 S/ Rsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 5 s% v7 S2 U, V0 d; S) F) ?9 Rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.8 E6 l* O1 B6 m4 M4 r
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When3 d; f( [+ M+ i. |$ |3 b
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only : Q. S' \7 f% g3 }' D$ D& B n0 _charge the fee defined by the state. ' _$ X0 D* ~8 N2 \& F8 ^0 f6 z4 B. L) T5 _. ~% j5 R
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 d: y) p$ N+ Z G' P
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, Q1 H6 u7 r3 Y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big1 J1 `& x8 z/ q$ D/ f4 G3 G5 m
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- K- i) `+ I8 A4 M( A5 L/ B
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 S" m t& u5 f8 |2 ~' a- F& k4 r
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, M3 }- n: p0 P3 c6 ~7 U# c$ k ?8 \5 H
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 n% k, J9 m4 }; q& F7 p, S$ ^. r
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ; i5 W0 l4 G ~( a* O: ?trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch + J- }' x- n4 {; a0 f% Dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ Z0 S3 W- `9 t
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 p$ X$ L2 P2 \, n4 |2 Q; W: g7 i$ T, v
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 8 k* @' i0 q! y" E q' Bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 3 J- f/ }8 E; h2 Uare spaces.9 j, e( F. W5 l& a- F) H
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi - J3 E3 V! W. x1 F" ~4 Cto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 d, h. ~/ m1 v: S0 h
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ T) b& N# D0 I# e$ V% l' H
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different - Y. M$ V( U; h+ p ~: |# n" Vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 H* T+ j* S) j* C: i" ~( N
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 g6 O* }( A, Z- c
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of , ~- q, D P" Q2 t" wcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it , T" ]3 h" ]) a. g$ `- h: V& dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& d L( ]; x! {, o- p( }. r
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 ' u2 \/ X+ L; c0 Ospots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all4 A' r, ?; A: \: \; }. G2 F( e
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ; @4 O8 D1 D, u2 Wlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep* _. ?' o8 m8 L& t3 w1 a: E; i! c
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day( w) ]* f: i# c, G7 H* [# O; m
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of6 @7 u. P1 l! V8 h& b% J8 f
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 1 g+ M3 k& e$ e4 L. K) J0 y; F$ thave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the $ p4 k/ g+ m4 i9 V" Ftourist area.+ S( L/ B) X" ^% T9 d: c- P: j
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's . V! w0 g* x. f8 t+ kpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).8 z" A: {4 |7 A
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were # d2 g7 [0 W8 B/ peverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 9 {2 N4 w; Q& ^6 Q" a5 Y7 xless leader-religious.- G+ m7 C& U8 i- L% K8 x+ F
' Q' I0 x- u2 s+ M$ o D+ R" `- QAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba) T) d& @4 w. _! t: D; B6 |
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big1 w! \- r" m" P7 S/ \# L( Z
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US d, K- I* m( } _& z) z
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). ( |! j6 K B- l# b2 D ) k4 b0 w2 ~. t4 v8 f* x! rWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the1 P$ v) y' Q6 Q; j1 j2 R
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not " h3 _( S v* Q6 U+ wthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 1 B' P' h6 }' o$ P# b" {# bconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 1 ?7 n$ u1 @/ C: _foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 9 p4 ` }# Q; h% \4 O1 @ S: i; `! c(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we( I Q/ H- x" h: w8 D
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the & H% F* c- X9 J4 e- {. G/ s0 x; Breal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. + _4 o t1 _0 A3 v( b1 O$ L9 uAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 7 I0 g, l8 {7 q6 xor visitors. q4 K, P4 {( b% c0 q
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-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
