We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 8 |3 c% q; q* G6 P) _interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we" d! h9 X1 F: e8 A9 Y6 w
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. : _0 n, j3 [& c: l, ^ + S; f3 m) u& u* d" RIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 7 Z9 z1 p& w" ?9 k30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in - ~0 [* x& t) X+ la very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as; o! C1 }: ^9 c& \* @
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort * y, y5 M: k. g( l; U( @show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep; n0 {" y0 p0 k
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the: F0 e3 }2 t* f0 H, Y& |
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ( u8 g; {9 t2 Bwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.# K# d9 c) \& v t s6 E
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but / D" Q& S! u( w' Mnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not1 @0 Y& p! ]2 p# L# {& x
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our/ _% M! y9 z7 o% h/ w7 ^0 |5 N
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 1 T$ r* R! {) ^9 K, G Q/ Na roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.# f- m# |* ^4 a1 l7 K3 \ x
5 E3 W5 x* a# m$ p4 A9 ^( F& c9 i# o" GThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, $ N' ]$ P' K- D: zlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool+ D0 F# L0 q) n
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ) u( t7 y3 X7 Aof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the9 V, h! I( K" J9 I# L0 `3 E
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 8 }5 V: v4 D( k49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes5 L; A0 q0 {+ M
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with& [7 I+ j, O- `( V, p ]/ f4 f
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. m) e& K! L) L0 B" B/ x3 o; W6 j
7 { y2 [& M" }6 Q
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are , _: Z# W/ Q/ [8 z4 `- R9 Hjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 3 n0 @$ `8 E. w5 t! L, }6 Kfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ! J- Z7 F' h/ qtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having* e# D0 B) X% Q4 Q2 O R8 L
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China $ T- B! S/ h" w- \+ `4 F/ b; Gdaily 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 ' K7 `6 w+ _; S& j/ |4 Jstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 8 ]" M7 S* C+ ron a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 7 O2 H; B5 V3 \, G"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 I( h* d: Y! ^# ?0 Z ~, Y+ J
answers to our pointed questions.5 c+ | ^9 K& f
$ n; Y- k9 J. D9 {( u2 i
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,# t. R; Q* _7 f& z2 g/ e& r
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand . Q/ l& w% I" Gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 2 ?( C$ W, d0 _free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams - y* N. l! h$ k2 Rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are7 ~; h, P5 w% j
medical schools.0 y! _0 y1 h; ^1 G l% z2 T
6 o" _$ z- r& P! MEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( d$ L8 H3 ] j; W+ i
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants $ K! N3 W8 i: \# U' ?7 E2 D: L5 Sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ q- `, N3 k& f; Q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ; f1 w& u8 j }! ?' @, yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to & _7 y6 N C5 u6 n) U2 z1 Z. e0 xover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There - K6 T* x( T# vseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 2 R$ e& U' ~6 }8 R! Rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: ?2 Q W' T! A) E0 U( Q1 l
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 s" g7 c) D: a
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. . A% ^' @' k7 o3 G- N9 I/ w; g) c# H& k/ A5 `2 G9 A" G# F
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, e. A0 a% a7 |% Q- w* F
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: Q, A& A8 n+ ~1 H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 3 l, m7 K4 \- F0 ?have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good % D8 T% a. Z6 @0 @+ athing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 0 r% H7 I$ ^0 A( O) s/ hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 1 m! n! S, d3 }; x, edivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; [; P) F0 y: t+ ~- H( X5 q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When( |9 Y+ N7 ~- P
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only / u8 {- ~6 P* p; Fcharge the fee defined by the state.4 B* G0 s# Y+ K( D% G8 a
, a9 B; o; A( |% m$ }
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ V8 y) J- z! e0 c+ k2 A; [! Q7 u
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ' e8 `+ ^2 G) W2 Nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 `1 U: X' p# f! q7 u4 v' B
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel : k# F4 S8 w0 v' useems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the `/ U8 C2 Y X/ v
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' H1 e2 Y6 `' z- C% n
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 6 Q/ b P& G# Syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 h: K2 ?/ v; l6 o6 D: M3 w( {5 t1 O
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch% x) R( C+ z1 I2 R' E2 ?
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that , Q5 S0 V1 \$ S1 R$ Mpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# D* a9 [1 Q: g2 I' c
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or9 k) ]) {2 ^4 }
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* r6 U6 S0 Z3 B( A/ t
are spaces.2 k4 S/ \, \& U6 D2 Y. z
/ d. e2 z$ E' m$ \There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi x# Q. n5 {& @. u" T, e3 t& E4 d$ \0 I
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 7 [5 q# Q$ P0 S* [own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 2 ]+ x) A& e: n40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different+ K& C# s0 @9 P, x, h" V1 w R
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the# p/ P& s- R( ?& G0 ~/ E5 w
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 W* L( b% F$ j9 l6 f- |
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; T: {4 ~7 M/ B5 L- {( t
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* z2 B" B e* E' w7 y ~
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 I4 F6 H; h/ y: \4 t% |6 N* s
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' s6 M H9 L5 }" n7 s
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 9 Z) q/ ], G' a$ wthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very" V3 y. J. _/ n9 v9 K N% F# C
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep: j" e+ \! Z" \$ i- \
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day : I0 y% e4 N( G' z4 W, e) X% Ysupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 6 P. b: i- G3 B/ O% H4 othem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms% {9 ^# k/ R9 ]7 _; w. _( t$ ]0 [3 l
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the ' g' `4 [0 n* O$ atourist area.+ m, F& X1 a( y4 ~
' `( _! Q {/ J2 W
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's , X0 y* w/ R$ f5 l" ]5 Q# P9 E$ ppictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).% K1 Z% q/ P; B& c5 r7 l
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were . Y7 ^5 f7 G# R2 p: F+ J3 Ceverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps % M/ B" P( ?4 Z" T) ?) l: `# w6 {
less leader-religious.% _5 y" R8 X- ]
1 [4 D9 I8 u$ z0 w+ x( FAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 0 ^. d" c) k) a Y- W. W* Z& Y, Bgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big8 `! c" x2 {& f; z
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 7 r/ [: W; C3 ^: v6 i- Aembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).( M$ R7 h# d! M+ `- ^( z6 @, b
. P, ]6 z" N, T' a3 ?7 y
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ( k2 {0 w" Y% [$ R3 D/ w0 ]5 A: rparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not * ?9 H! X) s6 L6 _; bthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 ( B1 s# m& b. {6 ?, c2 H% rconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ( ]2 K7 ]3 e- D% }2 aforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars6 A( [. f: [1 I+ u8 `# }. b2 |0 N: g/ d
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we% k- Y) c2 H# i; X0 f/ R# {/ [
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the . H- I: a% _% C- wreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.! D3 v0 x/ g" B# d4 ^8 u: v
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local . c$ Q- B9 C8 G9 _& W+ E4 I4 Qor visitors.% F* a' k# ~4 t* a
- Q1 \' y& R/ u-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
