We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very) H8 p3 d! @6 g" ~
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we" s3 Y4 o/ U! k" x8 R1 W
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 1 C' a3 a3 i9 u4 T, } # O- L! H* g+ m' w2 f* `9 l/ }It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,8 D5 p8 N% Q r. {: l$ B& M x
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in* V, f! x- K# N. |4 s. }
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as9 z* v# b4 ?) a! z' }
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort/ R* u: f b6 r" Z
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep * c" @3 z _8 J# @between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the $ H# _" C! X z {% ^lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 5 ]3 ~7 B3 C* Lwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ! m, I i7 `& c People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 7 r# R' I6 {* Tnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not - c0 M8 a! y# Y' T; d! u% v) xexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our2 V1 J `% |; \+ O- Y3 r
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through7 f. Q7 D/ b# k
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.* P2 C" V! e$ y5 V3 V, e' B* V
; }9 v0 s! \$ {0 L* O
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,1 p8 J' ^* p$ q! q: r
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool F* \. _3 S& C
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 6 e2 Z4 |1 l1 f4 oof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the : p% }& p' L+ _% y0 R9 W' ?- F* Wstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from + b4 ~; C L: F49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes $ F( r. D8 d) c7 a8 X, U" BCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with X* t# n' Q% F Z
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. * z- ?0 e3 z8 o( j0 @, g' r {0 k- G6 x9 b: \) p* l
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are+ Z* Z- ~0 ^& n, s
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 7 i; b d( R/ b/ D3 Sfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba" k! k2 D! n( q; V4 b9 C, x9 O8 p* t/ u" R
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having+ Q& d- |9 H y8 S1 z
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 8 G0 z) @0 m3 D2 a o) f' fdaily 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 # s) S( q9 r: h k! s( ystandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went * B3 @) `/ A/ don a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, |* X& [) A, V3 v
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, O* d5 O+ P6 l1 }# z
answers to our pointed questions. ( K& r& R1 T4 P! y% V. s, G. x) c9 M/ I
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ V% G- T* ~/ j, i- k3 Z: _
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 O" B8 o( L, T+ N6 y
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: S* m, w7 R5 ~8 r# R# E
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ; m6 }" O! p) t) M; |( Kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 ~) K. e( R6 k6 ?* U
medical schools.0 O, l. x1 i& {7 ]
+ ^4 T X7 @; x: p2 f
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ! c0 y: Z7 \# L7 {# Agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) F: g0 F; B( W7 R, B
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years % Q. ~) i$ ] P' y$ Qassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ! l" A! i8 y8 z3 F8 `is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: Y! ^/ m- N9 G0 s. c0 G. g+ i
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There: V; f7 x ]9 d: d! ^
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, E4 n5 ^% Z+ n Z. O' e$ _
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( g) a, q2 u0 s9 j. |
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some; H1 F c; a S
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.) e# q* Z( e6 g
* g& m! E, _2 T1 W. CThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. y9 r t$ \4 \0 O
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* J0 p* H, u3 s9 t4 i
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people " ]8 I! }. ]' z q0 Z, lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" c- D7 |. q$ ~- L3 Q; \1 n. O
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: v. W0 v# d F
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ' J- G! m! T' z! \8 ]divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: Z- `# q( z$ G; B& [& b7 x& U
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When # \: z( o) D- |9 y6 K" H* T; ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: |6 L7 }' i4 x& a$ b: }
charge the fee defined by the state. " Z7 m) }: `6 Y% X1 D' C1 @ u5 c5 ~4 v: L7 HThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get . I0 I9 c ?6 e7 n3 s4 D' R/ [; Pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* \9 W" c; T- i. x D
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( Y- F6 X2 W; w4 ?) @' S. R
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel * r; m! a9 L( Y( N; bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 1 y( I0 s( M& l5 X+ A7 u; {working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; m' x. W: R( V
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if b, z9 u, g5 L/ d; i" tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people / X: p3 r! K$ n% t: xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch ; e4 O( Y* E7 L4 \9 P* Thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) Y9 f, o* j4 U
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 d; T0 f) P3 M5 c6 }1 _
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 2 z4 b" M! t% P1 X) Dbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 1 ]- Z3 U3 z; ]0 I: J4 j- T; rare spaces.2 ~2 _: V* r8 Y- h$ ^
) }2 X5 Q9 `/ X- j/ X
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 4 s2 U2 ^9 b8 l) vto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 K- R2 Y7 H. N/ M
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the , A, K& v: x" t. }, H9 o+ [, D40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 F7 T# i- Y1 G$ _
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the , S0 }9 ^! Y4 Q: F/ ^7 [! \! q0 \best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ X* z T! O1 X
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 0 _8 ^4 J/ P0 K# J0 b# t! m( pcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 9 N# W; u" V. z5 b/ j! V$ j# Nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. + }5 l* A6 A2 V- P 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 5 `* ? ]* Y+ C: _spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 0 }. a" t8 v! W xthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 2 W7 \% L L" t7 }5 F% Q) W' s/ Blimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep/ i! A# ~, u3 o4 s
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day * e1 ?- l) l* c0 E6 G0 Usupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of# {& x! Y5 V! d. J
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms! f8 i& V2 K9 M2 B+ Z
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the : W" Y2 E, E# {; w8 Vtourist area.' `) M5 m& H% t! r& s+ t, f$ w
5 o8 ]1 X+ l" B0 mOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's4 a/ E' }( I# H$ c5 D
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 9 R7 q" o. Q; B6 v2 GCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ) Y, [; v3 ?% p' S* r; Teverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps $ d4 V- M( C$ O" Z* b
less leader-religious. ( v: L6 y1 M- a5 s ! F: T: r: Y" K: K* s1 @About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba. c7 A6 B' R9 a6 B
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big' D: q" Z5 d5 \$ P0 F
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 3 j$ \' l2 O0 e; v2 d: fembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).8 G# _* H: p! ]/ e( J5 z0 v4 G* r
! V2 ?9 @: ^, [' o$ x9 w$ EWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the4 o4 S8 u. m k: d, a6 k
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not. E, r( b! T7 j* R7 E4 ]) O
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 3 \7 E7 c2 f6 N6 Mconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for & a4 {# ~; @8 s. p4 M6 rforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 9 |$ a6 l U( P/ C(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we+ r# \2 ~! I) W
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the% K/ r% X0 K! c
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. % p( r+ _! b. XAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local0 [- ^5 L2 e( [: o
or visitors. ; c9 V: \6 t5 u) E: G0 z 7 p0 Q( ?/ `1 Z3 ?* ~; c1 h-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
