We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very $ f7 h% K0 r4 Y/ ^1 b& Hinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we - C; [( @# k% ]" Z& a6 X0 g, P1 X6 \wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. / d3 i/ m8 N! Z. t5 z h I" q: o ; T8 d" l4 i9 ]" T5 \& M8 b3 VIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, / d' I6 a" l: H: i30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in - i) U2 w4 ~: {8 l" x, Oa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 5 k# l: {8 r# M' G' V' @3 Hpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort b5 q5 S* H6 x' M
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep / i; K/ a) U; U# d- B8 Qbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the / {: O+ a& r0 |5 ]: N% Ylobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 7 B" i2 H; _5 R3 k0 C( u* Owith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there., q, R* R) E3 c
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but1 R$ f; {* ?1 L: N
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not1 t8 ]' t Y4 P# _ q( J+ y& t
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our% g, T# @, X& x5 M9 B" E
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through V5 o: Z1 b0 C0 j# [/ T+ r) D7 ia roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.) y+ K3 k. ]6 ^2 O& ^0 i
: ?+ v6 |$ w. V8 U
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, ; C0 m4 n8 s6 C- S0 D( llow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool ) L2 D8 t' _' [4 {0 `3 k1 m( z(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top+ y$ I$ e q" `8 e2 V/ T
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 0 h6 \/ g4 a; {0 |stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 5 [+ E2 s f, ^( R5 K% u49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 5 h5 x/ C* w9 `" HCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with $ ]2 e X/ c8 n2 w! y' ofingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.* p2 a3 L# d8 S3 A9 Q) L" ]; j+ m
, n d# U7 E9 G- t8 cThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 9 y1 t( l$ Z/ Y/ a) E: G* rjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made& x7 W5 z( e8 C# L4 q! X
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba) D, \% ?' |4 b3 O: S8 o
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having R8 d; L9 X% R( Y
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China3 G% {6 {, j0 b) [5 S- g
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+ p7 j4 K9 U7 a. n5 ?% f
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 `; T8 b/ u2 D0 J: j4 |6 Y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,2 s! |0 q. ~5 M+ D
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give # r, n1 U. t: K( |answers to our pointed questions. 5 I/ C/ L" e- @! e, T- p3 }- @ J% {0 C3 a
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,7 O; Y8 A2 g, A* \( C/ ]
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% R' u1 {# ~ A( m
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 ~4 q, \3 v1 N9 A4 R& i* {8 c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( s3 M" v) l5 K# H* e" b
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 0 v- ]; R! O1 W4 Y7 T* bmedical schools.5 Y! C' t) t6 Q% p0 k7 m
; d) W% E/ c* N4 Z2 W4 k j+ k. yEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' x# S" g# w4 B
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 n, j& ~* P5 `" a) N5 ~4 p* G
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years " p' S9 B7 v j) k/ h3 {& t( v( rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba # X% k+ n# e; k* Uis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ! { M$ i. g) _2 lover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There # O7 Z% S- L8 v+ iseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and + _2 a: R- g6 l8 B6 smostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) e) U8 I' \2 `/ D, t/ O
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some * G( c$ {7 E: L2 R2 }" ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ! ?- V3 G! z# ?+ p1 o! a4 O* f& j& M ?' Y( x
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no p1 ?9 i5 y1 Z, E. |0 q4 G! Iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% b2 x: z7 b" C+ m& E' U
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" c' g" M6 T9 G. ? D, J* J
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 k/ g- c8 m: F
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 8 V$ z# o! E( i$ I* g/ Qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ^2 k% U1 H- O- y& O
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 0 N$ _9 [4 o8 F% ^Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 R" A. X( K: z" ~# v3 T
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only# v4 R0 `7 Z; M5 U8 H; C
charge the fee defined by the state. $ P! P& W( `8 U. A; F- {4 v! ?$ Z" K8 z4 L# r
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get* g1 V; X$ n" [2 R. Z6 f/ U
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ! c" y5 R* e: ^! cof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big : D* b3 G8 L$ }8 N/ p$ g2 X1 Ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ?! e0 j8 {; M( M! b/ n
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' ?5 I/ B2 D, M# a9 R7 ]' k
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on # z: v0 l% b5 q8 H: }7 }) ~( z, aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 N0 N2 h: R9 f6 H# u1 e2 A3 S
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people J* L4 O2 v8 D; P
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 l7 }0 J. n- R5 i- p! x
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ L, s" C I! {! E" P/ R
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 4 K- `/ U( j0 |1 u- C9 T1 d$ sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or * F5 k5 D5 b! i, b2 Rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there : X" K" f% j; |0 uare spaces.9 c# @# h9 b+ k5 O! p
& g$ b4 o) \, ?( _& a/ O3 }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" J& Y# W0 h" C- i$ D
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 7 o/ q* h' j/ w bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 9 z9 f" A- K- Z' r% }2 z7 x40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different U' ]& F, Z6 X# ?, U0 O* U6 g* a
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ A5 f* n7 u) K- D `
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few - T; r2 j3 C& Znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 7 r/ ]8 y* r v- M& R. Jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 4 z+ H+ Q( s1 d, b. G' Zis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 5 s! L) j( e8 Z3 o% x6 S 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 6 V9 i% U0 _6 k* Xspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 3 M9 S5 f/ l+ j. Dthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very3 @7 D, i: x8 z4 x: _2 I9 S
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep* R! ^% A! M' W# z
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day2 ^' V U1 f: ?, m) Y+ v' ?
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of: S* t( R) Q, |, T/ n3 W5 L
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms , j3 C. X. u1 ?/ [, khave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 4 O" l0 k8 m) ]- K/ ftourist area. ! t' r6 {4 S+ s$ \3 i( @8 M % G. [$ ]1 Z2 n2 _6 E( v0 U1 pOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's $ C3 ~ q5 r: K& Q* Y8 \, k( `9 npictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ( v8 }+ j1 G5 D' e3 |Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 0 ]- h( c! [; b8 oeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps # A0 @$ S& }) N% W5 X1 K) eless leader-religious. / e* R/ [) w5 K$ g& I, k, j9 a- O2 c7 u U$ A( N: s- M; o
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba+ ]6 |$ i. O2 ^. g3 q2 R
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big+ V1 r- Z' c+ A+ {" d
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US( D' p6 ^# C) S1 L
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). . R- w- H: Q" M1 m6 m! C2 w9 ^; P t; T0 N' o# v
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the2 y8 Q0 y: H1 |; S1 c! Y
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not$ |+ Y7 j4 D: P5 m' c: D
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1" d( h, Z, y3 } K! V6 w! i
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for% m6 Q9 H1 z6 z6 j, F
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars2 @7 m( Q- x5 d9 g9 A
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we2 V# o5 B: u4 w9 |. V. f
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the0 g2 k% z: j* Y& c/ f) Y( m; J5 A
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.2 a' c% v# e, c6 Z* G2 E0 F
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 7 `4 h! |( h7 V9 Z( gor visitors. # Q/ H$ D/ S$ d+ F8 w: l+ u % ]) l" L& T( J( ~-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
