We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very6 q& ]% Y' x3 t/ S. q# [
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we0 L% o0 ?1 R! i) }& P* D
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 8 f4 ^6 A* N& ]- R; q6 y$ J- r/ v: n' I- S2 V* J- b
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, " q2 W8 [9 B' a9 \+ E3 i30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 4 a5 Z& H$ p! b$ G4 s: e0 N. T F0 ea very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as * h( e- W4 S3 }( z0 u7 R tpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort$ P" e3 j% m% y: N5 p9 r* P
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 0 [+ a T" `; L; ^9 Qbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the. r0 a( _2 x8 R: B) M- T }, Z( m
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 4 @4 B& f( W" e: kwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.' m5 M ^& s- T- k* k m
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but ( @$ \+ f. s6 Y, _! u+ {9 t7 inames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 6 ^. g; G( p$ ^exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our# J( N0 j' E% t! c
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 0 g" I$ q5 a( }+ xa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.% ~& j0 B/ k8 V2 B
/ R6 k7 F1 t1 i- X& _+ T& pThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,0 ], ?+ A1 k/ q2 k: F r
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool1 v( @# |, p5 g' P2 y
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top$ X4 b9 ~ W n( T0 q* k+ S9 z5 Z
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the+ m; f" V, N" z4 z2 c
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 6 _6 [3 `, F0 a7 Y4 A% k49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes' a7 Q9 p# E( Z
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with1 s$ o1 Y2 v! R
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.8 h* B3 {& B. l; D$ G4 D: J
( u2 B: J; R) P# G R+ g5 @1 h* }The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are0 G+ g2 h, r `$ J2 [/ Z" |
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made' L1 z, U0 h, t
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ) v& s3 ?. i" B6 S9 x2 U) rtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ( O' I' |( C5 C6 \a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China + v2 w$ Q8 {2 i2 ^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, living4 \8 @5 [! a) k y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ v7 Y7 [4 J( Z: p6 n
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, , m" I$ Q+ E$ a0 c! Y3 D"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give $ `, [, P e6 d* p' l$ Danswers to our pointed questions. + I* F$ J" s; N$ m& B- ^# }7 O # N1 ~: g0 V* z! [The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ' s. [) s" i; N& k! Y2 E) K45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 5 p( `( p$ c# P! D$ h. gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is : b; A! r3 D1 u9 d1 V! m Ufree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams, W% f! |) l7 H0 Z" G( L
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are - f- f, C5 z, Z3 X, n# `medical schools.! I. b* H/ A$ K! k
! H( H. k5 h8 ~$ J9 }6 b
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the `' c3 ]4 i* |. B+ U
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 ?3 Z7 v* B# v& x+ f6 M& S
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 5 g) ?( Z3 d: c% o0 R- C0 p8 @assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ! T( G* I- |* Fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 0 k6 Q5 n+ B" h" A- d/ g: Gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 3 U* {# ]9 p% X0 M7 k4 tseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ m* D+ W. ^2 @* h" C* o
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- s+ T) t; R6 |* M. u0 Z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some( t+ H( [- J! s
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 @0 F Z" R; l1 y
6 e' a9 \7 l8 ` U7 a/ \, |The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no / Y& y% o7 b. h8 Qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 s z3 e3 o( ?' v4 t J- z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 u4 f( A0 I) E$ j* Z7 z0 J& y. |
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good! W( U4 C9 s6 ^8 ]1 }& U
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby & q6 b S2 ^8 _ G) Hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 7 v( v+ Z% e8 }: A! ~ }0 T$ Udivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 ^. D8 n# o- a
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 [; }- u" ^9 ]! B* `7 Z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only $ E1 L3 u3 f; lcharge the fee defined by the state." }/ a Y; f* u$ z: }& n- Q; g
% [& T& ~& L1 Z+ t8 nThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 5 y: H( N9 }6 B ^! B% son), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 1 J2 R$ k3 D* r7 D9 i/ V B; n6 dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 4 U; X( d/ G3 Ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 7 M6 S2 Y8 |; s9 \seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* w! `, d2 \( N t& Y- Q% A7 }+ C
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 0 b( a' Z9 K5 r; m$ hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; X$ v+ U1 o7 G% W
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people G6 V: _5 i6 k) o# D6 g% L1 a
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. O9 W4 f7 J1 K9 Z6 H
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' o3 p' O% ?3 Z; Q, n* h9 N: w
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want , b, q" s) A( U* ]/ gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ M* O" u7 d+ R+ y6 P. M; A5 F% X' }
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 2 n. L: I1 E d; zare spaces. v Q* x- ~8 l1 e' K
- W7 n$ }; N8 J" V6 h5 BThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( r" t/ \* q3 t. r$ r: c' y1 a; a
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 }- j4 `& ^/ ?# c
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 [6 r( t" E5 q( k
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different0 E, O* N* z- w5 o
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. I" L: y- q- K1 \+ U9 _
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 A( |* d% Q5 O- z, C
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* U% J( r4 }9 w9 g5 T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* u- e5 C- @2 A, Y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 4 R% C }) H+ H* I4 G8 W9 W+ | e 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, d/ @" k& B5 B' {
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 5 |& P! {! f/ y3 s2 A0 ~ X M4 [the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very+ n( f- q6 B2 {/ P
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 3 a, r+ L% g8 c: M& \% Wrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day * [& H. i0 D1 y' l: A* j+ g! J+ g! hsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 2 s {9 h7 g# r* d4 b! Fthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms i7 D4 w o' F& M% |0 ^5 O
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the+ v( Y& c& [$ E$ l7 C# I% J
tourist area. / i8 r) T; K0 E; S7 C9 u( b. \) `9 C5 y
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's2 u) Y+ U2 |6 J. V# l
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).* a! g2 D& V; m9 L F/ A; S
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were / _) P- A' l& r# reverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ' R( L: b6 T f. H" O4 eless leader-religious.9 U8 h7 n. f$ G! Z* r' H* A
8 V; p: R, g6 S- L: V0 C/ F+ }
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba7 @8 l' Y+ a2 e8 A& J( S
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big* a( K4 J0 N0 ?
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US2 y7 b7 j! Y5 B" V
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).% x5 W" J& D% s
! G: j: j* |8 ^
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the7 X% d9 K! L. z. e, O6 }# @9 ?
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not' q' z! O R; f6 ~. Y6 u9 }$ Q' m
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 % ]+ a& B1 s5 y( S9 ~9 Gconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for - B2 k2 K* ^0 A/ y# z. ]foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars- q! J- {2 W: B; }$ j8 V
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 9 J! y" \* t/ P2 V( Zprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the0 q7 R5 y+ e# W' b3 I# j5 X2 a
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. + b1 k9 b4 z6 }- |) n/ M$ X' NAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local c8 ~& y; [9 s: Y* U9 b( b
or visitors. * C2 g7 l- \9 q& Q/ ~ K% D / m* I" S: j/ O+ A- B g-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
