freedom_2008

古巴对中国人和加拿大人一视同仁, 都不用签证, 拿着护照就可去.

freedom_2008

应比墨西哥安全多了.  我们四年以前去过一次. Resort 里很安全, 外面很像中国80年代.

freedom_2008

玩的住的 , 各个resort应不尽相同: 没有污染的无尽海滩, 小船舢板,. 阳光灿烂, 椰树叶沙沙, ... resort 外面除了哈瓦那老城外, 都很旧破, 但人情不错, 很像中国80年代初 (连resort 里的工作人员每天开会也很像中国当年的天天雷打不动的政治学习).
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吃的, 古巴穷,没钱买农药和改良种子, 所以食物是自然的有机, 再加上气候使古巴有三样世界第一的东西: 咖啡,  rum-坩蔗做的烈酒, 还有雪茄, 都是食饮吸物. 4 S& ^5 y% J9 F+ j3 T. b' L( a

* [3 Y- E7 Z% o- ~) A本人不喝烈酒也不吸烟, 没资铬评烟论酒.  但古巴的咖啡是真香, 咖啡好resort做的也好.& s* M- w! t" [! y; I& W' a, Q
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这三样都可在resort或外边买到带回, 各种等级和价钱都有(rum和雪茄比在古巴外买便宜50%以上).   但据说最好的咖啡不零售, 只出口去日本换古巴最需要的外汇.
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- y6 }; f1 A% u我们玩完回来后写了一份游记.  比较详细, 但是英文的, .当时有几个同事看了后也去了古巴.  如有兴趣看就贴上.

freedom_2008

We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very/ x7 A3 e7 N8 i% F
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we* t6 e1 @! w/ \0 |6 X: t
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.; }  S9 z* i, ?" a5 r
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,0 q1 [( |/ L9 u3 J$ r
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men.  People are in
/ \* E1 R+ l! e* X$ ma very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as
4 c: d4 ?1 u6 [3 upossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort0 U/ i9 D" T+ U2 e
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep
' ~" }% [3 H' s4 S0 U( Z% q+ cbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the" W- l) x# x; a. w" v
lobby.  The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,
' P! L9 M# L5 O, a! ^7 Mwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.  n6 Z6 ~4 v2 ^2 h$ {
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but4 B, g: m) n) B6 ]
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not7 r' s9 q9 a6 ]8 G
exchanged much.  It is interesting to see people change color in our
" G, `" U# G/ y/ H( wflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through) |* Q* K* t8 V" X. e) W6 t6 L3 F
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.5 y( i1 i9 Y7 _$ f/ W  h( d0 F

  ~. v0 m/ F9 X0 S- Z* @- h2 QThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,
9 y* q8 x1 N1 |* ?) t! olow 20s in the night.  We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool
. P, }. E& S* I8 X/ O5 K2 x(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top
7 `2 |  u! B( ~3 f, B1 a4 `5 Pof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the
" |' w3 l+ n$ r8 p- nstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from& F' }$ T' [& x6 ~1 W
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch.  Em even tried 20 minutes! O+ K  a* ?: _, x  M4 K' z. K
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with
! d) u5 S! Q2 F% z: }fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are0 q8 g% \. c& P' t
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made
  I3 U$ d2 I# x1 ?6 }; \% cfor us).  The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba  r  z1 K4 X. ?* [5 M0 B! G" k
tourist industry and most other things in general.  Watching them having
# E$ c( o0 _# J9 ua staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China
1 M; T8 `" D, Q" Z, I, w: `; |# [daily political studies.

freedom_2008

Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living
3 U. Y  o: [( G- ~* v& O* b4 rstandard and government control wise.  To see and know it more, we went
4 L/ ^6 H  g! I( ?on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish).  Our tour guide,2 p1 G6 x0 V- [" P4 Q+ ^$ ^4 w5 w
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
# E5 `! ]% N! m: Y# J( s+ ^+ R8 Ranswers to our pointed questions.( g5 G' w! k) g! @4 I+ K" _6 A

: {4 {5 h4 d7 ?The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
! y1 N& b0 u; y+ Z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand1 x& X3 F1 v) S& ?$ m
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan).  Education is/ J  \* l5 d) U/ q
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ a: V, ?( i" X2 Z) T8 O$ F8 mto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# t, {& U, w; L9 e( n& J% u
medical schools.! Y5 }- q9 N% I1 \5 I2 b

. k% v4 w2 U) e! B4 S7 uEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ j' l, @9 I( m: m5 N. I/ A1 ]government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants( _9 V% w5 ?! S% G8 z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 b+ l" ^4 H* b! d4 L$ g/ n
assigned service before leaving the country.  The salary range in Cuba
) W# Q$ G, x" Q$ lis from  $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 y5 w# S( T8 p/ `
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors).  There
. j' A3 [( {. e- Useems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& o( P  h6 O) d9 h' M
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 U5 \5 y0 |  Y( O  z# m
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ `! E) K5 x1 L+ }8 i! E9 R( Psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 ~. x' s  W' e, @) C7 ^

; C* A8 v) u4 R# L  l  QThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing.  There is no" ?( c: L5 R: l
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
6 a9 A2 e  i9 O2 T( vsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
" y, u+ c8 t5 M$ Q( l- f) Hhave to stay with their family even after they are married.  The good
. J" @. P0 \. e* d& f2 C6 p3 V: Kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby! ^3 [  e! m6 T' C' i
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 z- n# D  t# f# S& L7 d9 X
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: ]! _3 V" f4 |/ U4 G
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee.  When
1 _( E6 |9 L9 a. ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
- ^$ w8 W2 ^+ {1 c( J" Ycharge the fee defined by the state.! o1 p1 J- ~1 e" a+ W
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
/ v' W3 s! C6 |& n+ fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
. i3 [7 h3 ]( H5 P& f# W. {of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big2 R4 U4 L5 P6 N  ]
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told).  The Camel
6 Q$ `, ?  ~. useems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
) Q* B, N8 s5 zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; n, i4 a' |+ \: W. Q9 S
schedule.  No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
4 @& v6 D0 j' F# |: f0 w: zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow".  We saw some people: B+ @$ k( Q. C  j
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ n% i; H, h1 F8 l+ [8 c
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
& Z* `9 e& `5 T5 I+ }people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want  V/ C) y. g8 {6 `7 b9 B
to go.  There are places that government officials would stop cars or  H# Q! u7 ~8 Y; y  a& {! \$ f  j. ?
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there/ t) g( H7 m; R/ w
are spaces.. @* X9 b  [6 R
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
$ ^4 x& n1 B7 c) G! a. qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ K6 f2 d' s6 x6 j& r, |own a car).  Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! y% L3 i+ z+ a5 H1 _2 T/ B* V
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 g' [6 v8 L3 @/ X6 J, sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the- R0 g$ ]6 {8 D
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world.  We also saw a few# f) w* C3 F- o" f" O4 n/ r& p  D: h! Y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars.  We asked George about the color of) h) }' r* H/ l! `
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
4 n( d5 o; ?7 h$ r5 a' Yis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.' T# K- |5 \. \, x7 B/ g; ]! k
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.

freedom_2008

Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful9 q" H; J7 j3 Q( q6 x
spots.  But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all- [" b1 e+ Y# x9 M% I
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very! k* Y% e  S: C" N! s, s8 Y
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep' I4 E" I8 B% C& s; D+ z- {
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day. L, v  \  U0 Z
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of
# v( Q* F. w+ ~, ]5 P# i! h) x: Dthem are already gone.  Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms* q1 M: h4 M& D' a0 S. B- J. q
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the
$ `  f) }- B% @tourist area.1 L$ q! |6 U# \* Q# d) \

/ ?5 L! W+ _; o& S4 kOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's* m; P  c$ ]& z$ C
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).
6 I' [6 G; e, v9 c/ B# |Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were4 d1 c" f% q8 f
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps
' z4 h# ]4 b* Pless leader-religious.
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; O  }$ G  i3 S; c2 Q( LAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba+ Q! ?) O0 g. ?* m4 Y$ Q
government slogans in their top floor window.  Cuba then put up 138 big* L) _, F  [- [/ u' E# A- ~# B6 w
black flags in front of the embassy to block them.  As the result, US
* A: B# l/ K4 t2 d# y5 U9 h9 Tembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed.  But we only saw the; D4 z, L7 d8 {% f$ M. |
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not
" q1 s+ f% I/ _& l9 k) Wthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1& {6 \5 B, k+ u$ c2 \/ X
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for
1 X" E' }/ S- i/ X, Tforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars
+ n" a  e5 e& d. [(less than half).  If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we3 U7 k/ W9 J# `1 j
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the
  J9 g. @7 J% r8 kreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.
3 I4 t/ o) l4 C) O+ VAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local* g- d! Q) U' x0 D( n8 e" a
or visitors.
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% A: h$ U) \! \) P) r- N--  The End --