We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 1 _7 |1 v( C) @7 L9 ~, `, R7 Dinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we # o7 }$ M4 `& f! _! Swanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.' U1 Q w# E' T7 o
; j5 M2 O. x/ ?% BIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,6 m4 n& }- ~1 a* p$ {& M
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in% ]- c4 k/ u0 p1 G9 }! C e* v
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as ; A3 Q4 y5 e7 s& o2 f5 Ypossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort # A; o; v0 h7 |4 v& J X+ Fshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep9 s& l' _/ L) I( Q: @4 e
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the/ X4 \( R3 S3 G n( C6 X: {
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,' v, u4 F9 ^' ]. m* K2 p
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.2 e& C3 Z; n6 }2 H. s% i1 z: w
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 9 o! j: [# Y) X) wnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not3 @6 g, v9 R8 f0 T0 n$ q
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our1 ?" K/ b( ^3 u$ U
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through' F. \) y' E. h, i" k1 f, P
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. % X; `+ p5 A9 g4 \, L) d2 C ( _0 I* I& {6 O5 n% `) B2 q2 [The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,* o# P3 C% T' T1 s1 j5 G7 c
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool2 `" g- D+ C% m
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top1 Q3 w- U C& B' n. k
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 9 Q; Z& M. u! ]2 ]. c# y& V( Dstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from4 A& W9 r: n8 v/ p; J5 J5 L( S
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes / \) [; h/ Y* Q' e- WCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 0 ~3 n! v& b4 J3 A- G- K! Zfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. + e* k! C( v& V ( L6 n' j# h! ^. W7 u) _2 kThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are B7 S4 a/ h: f: ~2 t
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ( E2 X* ]0 m; ^3 f* Ufor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba # u# r" s6 i- }& Stourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having" J2 g# _& W8 z' d3 g5 z" H& Y
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China. u" o& O$ _' a7 m$ u) r
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, living # S4 `4 M5 G! F d, w: fstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 l/ @& S! G: r/ ^: L
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, # f4 z% G/ X2 d: v- T& ^- f; U: [1 H1 c"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ ~# l2 ?! q% l) y" M+ `- C7 Z2 R
answers to our pointed questions. 5 n6 _' C' b7 P, D" _# k) x8 M
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, % l3 U2 i' m2 p; R7 M* F8 F# n45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 9 ]2 \/ C q G* I$ y+ Tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" [+ f7 b( u7 x5 I8 Q& I- P4 X( I
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ) M2 m- Q' i5 t( Eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are # c8 O3 G* p" v9 @9 j* o: `medical schools." k4 U; ^; D6 B6 M" h' n) q+ l8 O
8 J7 h- v0 x5 ?; J0 D& YEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 S& D- N6 P0 D6 g3 _2 u; n
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- `4 _5 I" t" D
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 z- X& f2 H' `
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba & g; a1 V# d. P$ }) b$ yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to7 C1 g1 l d8 E! }" z S
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 h" L4 ]% N% x5 h& P6 Q
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# X1 F0 q5 G1 \5 S9 ~* u0 Y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk " e9 `: \) L: ^. Eshortage which the government is addressing by converting some$ h$ Y: o/ N3 r! z v
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. . l5 c9 c, u/ L) M2 V# y2 H2 _ * U+ T# F# u2 B9 \3 V8 P7 q% fThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no % D* x# M. h0 n, e2 z$ F( i) Qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ n l/ H+ \: k s1 s
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; |' K" c* g% \$ M# [7 b
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* x0 i, j m, N' x5 M6 L' r
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 O3 }# I: d0 K
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 2 _3 `- f/ X# Tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ! Y* ?4 m: ]# ~1 {! FDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When6 a( N8 g( L$ S! r- s
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& y' p# O2 {# e
charge the fee defined by the state. / `! k3 }; U% v, \ $ d7 y8 Q7 x9 h& BThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 a5 \' C$ b7 k7 _1 J# U1 f
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 |3 w9 T6 U, P: a% Z4 [1 ^
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 8 K# D# b* a% Z/ i. @& S. rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ n" K3 ?! o) s( g: q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 B8 r H9 `5 s+ @, _
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) l- _- Z3 N8 q* m9 V& h1 }0 _
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- I* g" x/ }+ p$ P
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people# Q& b6 T W( D' R. X% j& o
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, ~ q5 C2 x5 U- L8 \% u h
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% J7 m" F8 R7 s* f! ?
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want , v( z. C" `! r6 Rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or " Q4 s1 C6 U" B w: Obuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there- D; f( [, j( U6 M5 I
are spaces.% ~1 j: ^/ [. B7 z
. S! ^7 o& A/ P2 X, wThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ C7 w8 @" H4 q( j, \! B9 J
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they . ^2 @5 Z& ~3 y6 K( C1 l5 eown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the X3 \2 n9 \% O! N' ]& i; c) f3 @40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 D6 p6 o5 x7 r
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the / u5 [5 {0 j" b R, v. U% b; hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 d* H" B1 D1 w4 d9 G6 s }
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of/ F1 r' C6 ]# d0 l
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 3 g# ^" o" ^8 @4 D2 ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. , I9 Q# h1 V' ]0 y9 v E9 A 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& j% t7 ~2 c% c, c/ Z8 b! ?' X
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all6 x4 D- J ^$ `( x j8 S
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 2 B, T+ o: C) k1 y% s- Llimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep0 W% E$ W/ n' Y4 f8 k& }
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day9 I& y+ t$ p- P; L$ Z
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of p& x7 y8 Q1 m" o/ e) e$ k1 C
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 7 S* K+ f% B8 r& Z3 @have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the$ r8 f7 j8 G0 y8 e( ^
tourist area.! c0 B: X) }: L1 A
; Y7 X& B8 k" o& u h H7 ?One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's9 X; E2 ?. s5 U+ r4 i
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).1 N4 U7 w c6 x; N; z
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were, E0 V% D+ N- j9 @0 {$ u4 S
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps * t# ]; T, T! Fless leader-religious.; o% R4 E9 o& z9 }* j0 B
. V5 U; M8 \2 }8 M! q* }" P9 q
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba" W/ j! ~% H/ ?) o }3 Q
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big * B0 k) C6 J9 C- B' {black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 4 }' v! x+ L9 ^embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). / |& M" T S4 Q1 k1 M ) _! |$ X( h0 v/ T0 d+ A DWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 3 c6 X2 W4 A Y4 ^parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not $ ?6 |- A* M/ @3 C: _* V8 Lthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 : ?( o( ?* |8 j' `" C; I2 Fconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for # s# w) |4 p r" ~" L3 c; aforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars; f& t+ `! A P! @6 g
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we q/ l3 k; C. b
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the , F0 M2 U; q. ]- M7 P& G5 Treal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 0 A: k9 S& _2 wAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local' @. F& V H( ^+ o4 t L# |/ h0 F7 g. L
or visitors. . E5 \9 Y# g0 V8 D0 q7 U! ? " i( X( B3 B6 |0 L0 ^# `9 }. H-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
