We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very. v7 V' a X* v8 @, O( e1 J
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 1 e9 {, J2 |: B# v+ ^wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 1 Y" }+ l8 W% L8 Q$ D- @. i% g _4 s) d
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,- H! X+ f+ q& r$ g- S0 B0 S
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in. ^* {% V7 j9 W# ?) F; P1 y' X$ t
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 7 S/ Q& x, p& w5 s7 Qpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 3 P1 g$ i- m* j& w7 n' X! b Mshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep9 k9 D+ m# M1 x! D' K; P: F2 @7 u( c
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the" y$ }4 u! \1 l+ _$ ~2 E8 J" g
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, + |& y& \1 K8 F3 p+ zwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 8 P. f) a1 ]" r$ e People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but* u; m- f }0 i. a5 V9 B
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not & n; t/ {- Q8 k; f4 \; @exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our" y- [+ ]/ U) |
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through$ F a( y/ \+ J5 n! |
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.; w/ P0 o' n- Z8 b0 Z) g. V
& n Q$ d. M" l; D: [+ Y4 I
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,# k# C M6 P) q! W5 P# @' p2 l
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool2 v) c8 h4 Y/ N4 @' g9 a, E; |. O: s& U
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top4 N6 h; H$ u9 N3 \0 H( \1 |
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the0 e$ p( n0 t# F" [: G2 F% G; F) X
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from9 q9 `( q$ U$ L# U& h
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes : q: @# }4 I. t3 F9 f8 iCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with% B2 d* Y$ K# ]3 s3 T
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. % M* ]6 J; s+ V% i# K; d% O . g A5 `5 G( XThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 4 V- B, e7 {7 U3 i6 u8 V$ R; D$ t9 |just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made # `$ a4 g- o9 u- A. z& Ffor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba / u) B0 C5 O7 w7 W+ y9 itourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 5 B; L3 v! J9 y* B$ h3 n: ^# ta staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China' L2 U) Q4 J y4 h1 U0 K
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 F: F. b5 T" U! n# pstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 7 p$ g; G3 T% G9 qon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,0 A' O+ _5 n$ \- [) G! k" }2 S
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give . G% v( |( j' R M. `( l( lanswers to our pointed questions.3 D0 ?3 }8 R* l1 M
1 J& B; r1 m2 k
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, D6 g+ h- c' S! l2 e2 m45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand , E2 _/ h, ]$ Z" f, X2 Xout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 U- t0 @& {' K: T# Q
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams * g) @9 r! J" e3 c R3 tto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) s3 `' B( o: H
medical schools.$ r3 k+ k9 o0 H
( q+ t! Z/ b8 I: I& M* [2 [6 @
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- {: U0 ~3 a. O+ O' S
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) F/ h5 m9 P N( j
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years . R0 F! F7 |; ^9 @1 u+ nassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba7 E4 ?( C1 K$ F5 y' L/ H
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to " C6 j6 `8 K& aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 3 Z" n- S B$ |seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 7 `$ y$ T% `9 }/ ]( Smostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ( l: @+ s2 O; u. kshortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 }, p! ~- x5 u: K' h7 I
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; P8 h6 A @5 e7 `1 @
' y0 P3 r8 i5 e QThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. _: g1 q0 B: ~/ M( ^6 `' ]
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 T# f' r/ a' W1 P# }( u7 V
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 2 a0 K/ J: {7 i/ o; B; ^& y) V. Ahave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good " g' \ i$ O8 h$ fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 W) u( t$ U# X
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 1 Q3 ]1 j& ~/ O; [' N$ G+ F8 ddivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. r3 V+ r" v) A" S! R M
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ g+ x# q% q) C2 ?, r# Y
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 N: K) P4 y) |/ y4 i: ]' g
charge the fee defined by the state.1 f/ C! \/ r/ I# b$ Q: j
* L* f; a( r9 u1 X$ _7 l! F
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get , d' t+ p; E: l3 U' O3 i- w. Uon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; ` u# U' B- [
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 S y. B" S$ K- o7 m6 h4 Y4 H5 c0 d
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 6 U0 O k9 H. I5 N1 {* ]5 a4 t* Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) E7 k- ]* H" N' v
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 4 x) k" ]. H) \( r0 ?' `7 ]schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& Z" q2 F9 s7 ?9 K+ b0 F4 u8 p" t
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people1 [; [. O. m( E/ z, ~6 d: t, x
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 k2 N6 V9 q8 C R" L$ V7 d! E. `
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 2 n k5 s. y ]; J& G8 P% Lpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 I8 B4 U) w4 `4 }2 h, ^, x
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or. v8 B; \: h% M5 c) v+ k
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there % `% j' p% ]. t( nare spaces. 7 i. M$ M* `' E- o2 R' l# s5 w, F0 q
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 5 j! e1 E% f6 W. H0 eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they/ V Y! j5 q1 n' O+ o- b0 U9 [! [. o; ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" d* N1 u( o- b9 O
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& `; A5 F! [2 f8 x
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the & P6 x, a1 Z' z& y/ a: ?; e, sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! q y; j8 |. Z8 w# m5 {' G ]5 W
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of # D8 X% v3 L$ {( p, P! h' Pcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 6 m3 b3 _ U. ]0 X, F. Yis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 6 d& h" t \) 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* P% N \* N8 q: ~* x* e4 K
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ! K4 a: Y4 s& s4 p6 [- {the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very : k: j) y |$ |: u! [limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep) Q( N* N l4 o/ i
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day / v% ^; o, \, e6 ]+ |$ Psupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of, @ h1 s7 b7 w/ p4 n7 V
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms & y0 J8 o) a n& t( Hhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the ; ]" ?+ J5 F! m# l# X7 H8 Gtourist area.% o @/ x; g4 f% n( N
1 C6 P' L" e$ N( E- sOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 9 a& p- D3 J' d1 r) Rpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).) g- s+ P3 O8 m
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were! [) m. v6 z. }6 a
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 9 K5 R# w% w* M @/ l
less leader-religious.' A" D* ?, U- U" s. z7 J c
( n/ b3 N* ]. RAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba $ d( i/ x3 b& ?* Lgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 5 Y6 i- [! @, a3 ^. j7 R* bblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US: m8 s; s9 y# F2 o
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 2 Y R' Q9 T3 ~. _* u; _1 ?& s, ` V# t4 F* f
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the T2 c8 w9 t/ |9 T
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not # E- V# m1 R. {* I3 X L4 Lthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 4 b8 h. d9 n$ Xconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for . f: Q# {9 c9 g w) a8 o9 w! W3 ?foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars . F9 X- k' g, m( w% c3 w(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we : s5 V1 @% x4 p# |8 x) Kprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 4 g3 A& c( i' ?* Vreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going., r! j; A8 L/ V/ ]
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local. X* a7 k2 I4 q; h1 l) i
or visitors.5 G1 s+ R& V( E( n3 s- J9 v" G
! [% C! h; L, i
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
