We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very # [0 h! u$ F, Z. K( s7 ginteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we3 }' @2 x7 ^0 R z0 B3 @
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.3 v5 C6 q5 l$ O3 W) r& r
- I7 z; B) P4 d; G
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,3 T8 y6 [* C" k% D* q+ k
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in; ^& t7 L# t( \7 v9 c$ v9 e. A
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as' w F B0 U- G; _0 M: J% p) P
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort! J+ h6 Y; n' u, Q% B+ R/ G
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep / N; q2 } T, b: {2 ^8 y- E7 P6 ?between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the7 F1 E) P5 k* ^) b- M! O+ E6 p
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,# P; o4 q! ?# ?- u% \! L
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 0 f( B3 z' h7 M People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but L; D; l3 a9 M4 T7 r' v- G& b# unames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not6 ? r5 S' C9 P Y5 U. F; E
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 1 Q+ Q- s$ B+ E, Y! Aflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through0 X) W; v4 P Z; N! K/ C
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. : w ^) M- n5 I7 p5 C3 a3 U ; ]2 p9 w9 X' GThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 9 N( I: c0 j0 [1 Q! D C6 ylow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool w3 v9 t9 b& l' ]+ U
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top4 \0 _, _- V5 s8 C6 F
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the , ~' i8 X* v# D; `9 ~( ystars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from% `5 V0 Q& k+ t
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 3 v, U) h6 S! e# k7 u" S1 D* YCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with: L' p% T& \# Q) Y3 Y
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. . w e$ Y6 |! n2 Y9 B( ^: R/ u1 |) E6 T! |! P( }
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are " O# R; o; i8 bjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ) M. |& K" a. T( Mfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba , \. J7 ~& w; Xtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 0 M2 T& Q$ \- Ma staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 4 N0 D k0 Q0 q F, Y! Y6 {: Adaily 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, living4 P4 J& N' ~" H: `0 K2 m
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 e( f0 b. K: a- o) d }
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 4 O E; P; q# b2 r& }"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 \9 a' S6 @+ w, E# U
answers to our pointed questions.% |/ v0 e9 P2 D, n! m2 E, d
( P, f) i8 }; c3 ^2 }' H$ b
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: ]! Q) Z+ n- m; \9 W5 F
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! a# X: G( o, C. v3 |; N
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. D3 k; ?$ Q) p. a/ Z3 H w
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 2 e/ w5 P1 u. j0 X# o( ^$ Q) lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are ) ~4 q- A1 |$ Z5 D4 u1 n4 J! Q2 n; dmedical schools. # L: N+ K9 T" h( |+ @* U+ ~: S5 Z7 d# B* m/ a* }
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the * P2 |; J9 g5 Z( d+ K5 egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants . H: f7 h+ _8 ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years L$ F* [: ~) @) B: Z9 r
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 2 ^: {3 V5 W, @2 J/ m5 ^$ ?7 N8 kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 3 L' j; z+ x7 d4 ]4 R# gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 9 q; p6 Z9 r( m- w Nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 b: X- @' @$ Y U
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" C* ~/ F* E' M) s
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 4 w) {5 w9 ^+ {7 `% Lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 v3 ] z k/ j/ ~" x4 L0 q0 u! G$ o- q
. B# a9 O) g3 A+ b2 V
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 5 s* ^8 F# W4 N! i" ~; zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and1 z2 D2 U9 ]3 V# c+ d
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 8 U0 p# M9 e& }" t& Vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good , r+ {' ^3 e5 Z9 {- h; nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby" ]- Y1 I ?% q
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 5 C4 r3 E2 x1 {divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# T g. C9 p: h6 O! }% Z" F
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" Q. U" C4 J$ ]/ }* U
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only " W* O3 ^: l/ E- |( ?charge the fee defined by the state. # d y7 O1 T# M$ R2 M2 j* Z8 P' J4 x$ y1 d8 r# t
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get* V" }' A/ E' B& e$ G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& r; j( z6 [. t4 P4 L
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 5 ^6 G2 l( Q& Y: r1 Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel " y, g; a F* x/ H3 U, _seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 7 h# @8 n5 R4 a$ ]( Vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ; n: }2 e2 B% v: K9 g+ aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ) h& A u* {$ }, Y/ m& kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ], |, Y5 [2 S+ x, |( vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- w3 H8 Z5 B! R- ]8 V
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ g! L1 O J/ y$ a4 Y5 i) D4 q+ x
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want `( ~9 D% _/ ]) ^/ Mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or : ]! a* c) ?- `) ~) x' u% l# O3 _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 A' ]9 M7 X8 l6 ~; p
are spaces. 4 d( P0 a* p& k/ a4 H/ T & E( K# D6 l4 y; { q( i( D, oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi * m- A$ g0 E( K( vto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) a- f6 w. P& A2 E0 c
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 0 G% U+ ^6 E2 h$ H40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different+ c+ p, I* g6 b+ a2 y5 q. F' u
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 9 Z! a. W6 z! tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few $ ]/ {3 _& P. x. ]) \% Snice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of' a5 E9 |$ ^- p8 k
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: _5 L3 B+ ^/ p) x' W2 f! `- f
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. * U7 F3 e+ e/ l! K 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: f+ A8 C [* ~: _6 Q7 _9 q1 X
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 6 \/ W* H, u+ R" W( V& }the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very * b* m5 M# ^1 R+ Slimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 8 U/ Z& o8 H5 drecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day- I9 b) e2 T3 c0 L7 H
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of; ?. c- q' }% {9 w" T
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms# c& f2 t: ]5 F' u" v, O2 S. }
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the4 o+ e% D& y1 @! I, w/ w6 Z
tourist area.4 C$ U" {1 q; u2 D' p4 d2 D% J5 X
? Q! R9 E+ J9 c) r
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 9 y* ^6 ^2 b4 q' r/ ipictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). . g1 t7 U# ]; K0 S, tCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were6 n. |" S* v7 I1 i' m( i
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 9 T% Z, r- _+ U# D ~5 f, k( e- w
less leader-religious. - ^/ l" O: E% A7 Q& y1 k r+ Q( n2 }3 q1 j4 P$ i
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 5 t, A5 Y1 [( ]government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big $ \4 u' I- Q& a3 Eblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 6 \& E9 Q5 [( f3 u- c# X, I" Oembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 6 Z# R! H) Y& {" R) S : t" E1 n9 ^1 g! j2 f: JWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 3 F5 F5 d4 `/ L0 E$ qparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not A* b8 \, a1 s v* {6 N# k" vthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 2 s) }3 G/ B. Aconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for% q8 G: B( |# t# `- h
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars+ ]# e( J E( n! ~9 b' i3 I$ q
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we" G9 U1 r! I" d' i2 |
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the : ^4 B" g U. v; [2 e6 ^8 o% zreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. & ]; o1 ?! Y! X) k) s5 J2 z/ sAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local8 E1 H5 C- b# h ]
or visitors. - [" z/ X- L4 K3 c0 w ( v4 ? U5 _! g0 |7 j-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
