We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ; w. z! z) Y% Kinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we6 y% W. t- g7 K8 w/ W' y
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. ( U1 k% B- n; j/ r# {7 X) c0 F& s$ T H! ]3 Q6 }4 W
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,5 ?9 U3 h$ u3 y( B
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 1 ?9 `4 J D6 d" C4 O3 Sa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as , Q) u: [3 _7 h) C& r( ]: g8 }5 fpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort1 ~6 y" z' C* M3 S( R# ^
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep % r p( y5 w4 M. X* X) Sbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the) f" f: M2 x2 p9 m1 c2 _1 n9 e, [
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,4 b9 T" c5 p* Q8 ^. X5 F2 p3 g0 x
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ; n3 I( l' i$ o9 g- A- ^# {" u$ E$ J People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but! u4 y0 q# C; s9 A& O8 x3 o
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not0 }7 R* a8 d7 ]( G
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our & _4 ^% I5 j* Z( H! Zflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through' C3 w0 v0 R' s6 s3 V0 w0 q6 ]5 I
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 4 j& `% n* [4 o; t ( F& M+ e, B7 R1 b p2 ?The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,/ x! j& k4 W+ n
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool% t% h: E1 ]0 u. [# Q$ \/ ^# k7 E8 _* y i
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ) f& v6 ?8 E) N2 Hof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 6 o; w& N5 {1 Tstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from {. f) F1 ?( _+ z$ p/ V49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes9 n0 e( m$ m: l$ J6 a4 N8 i: X
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with) c: D. V; G, a: b3 q( f
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.: l! w1 R" H5 P) x* l7 O. J9 c
) P4 L1 d- G A; X& B! r- LThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 8 U& K% n/ q* j% Ljust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made x8 T9 L0 R1 A. S& d
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba+ }, d/ ]$ [' m5 ]3 g; X
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having4 o- L& c2 z# D
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China' Q* k6 h+ I# \+ }% X5 A/ [
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 0 h, ~3 n6 N7 u7 E! B4 k3 ^6 Tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went' H( O, l; w) Z& D" f6 ~$ U. o9 l/ Q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 y9 e9 C$ O7 Q, M
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! c9 w: M0 d8 q( h- ~5 a- m8 |
answers to our pointed questions. 7 P0 ~' p- [$ B8 T0 f, W0 r* M' Q# |4 f2 l* Z
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,0 t1 n2 L4 c* `
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand , |7 Q( _; P7 m1 ]+ S- {; pout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 m4 M& N8 M9 F# ^7 A/ @6 U) N
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% n1 v4 x! x' |. b' o
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( l( I# l0 f; U9 j5 h
medical schools. 1 S {; O+ w9 F* p( b7 U) H; Y3 K, P& g( ]8 j2 t
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the H( G# ~3 r0 E( A/ y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants; I. c; n% R( ^ Z ?* X
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# w- J1 u h7 ] K' L' x
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 ?+ C# o S [9 B% g
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to + t! R" J9 z. v( eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 f2 j' t5 x* o4 X
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& Z$ K: P* R+ g' E+ k! S
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. y; ]6 @* J0 x" l5 a6 O! d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some - x: U. c: X k3 Q; f# \; Nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. . b: N, K+ l( A% r4 K5 q# k/ Z, J ' j, B6 J% n9 [The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no X8 ]9 a6 j. F4 zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and ) T9 P- j, P; {1 B4 Lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 X1 T3 F: k/ Z- L! a# O, c' Z
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good , n/ D) a4 n- }7 H) Q4 M/ Sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ @& z& }' W) H) ~
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 2 W9 K( u4 [& R1 pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. " `1 D# {7 d# m, Z. k5 D! yDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 9 i0 X9 _+ i- f% c' R/ _, ~a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( n* k o1 R2 I! y2 k1 E
charge the fee defined by the state. 8 p0 E& Y2 G2 [. ?* H8 I1 K: Y- @( m$ |* D7 Q, ~! b
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get . G$ B# A- Z/ v; p; X8 y! Von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ Z; p" G" `6 r* Z0 }
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big3 R1 l ?6 A: d0 u' r5 |! Y; i( ?
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel7 y; g8 u3 m3 n/ u/ `
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the , a+ W* @9 o1 g3 d0 a2 L5 Bworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on3 N' y1 m7 F7 l0 l0 R
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 N$ t. E- D k# k8 q2 Z4 ]
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% z* V. I% g& o. Q( S
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 ]' z( t, q/ p D6 H' v
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ j) y) A0 ?1 x
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want ( q" t1 s/ o& A3 S$ g3 rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or * k+ D. m& U% W8 Obuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( ]# _3 c$ i4 {* |& ]
are spaces.! E" ~6 ]: e+ r* L$ y
" X ^+ V/ N' _" v( x& b; D/ A
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" v' ~3 y/ p5 P# m+ r
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 1 P# T% _% m* @& Z, Qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" o6 Q- g& p- {$ @7 b3 p1 J% r
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& \) M" I$ k# R3 d! ~/ A
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the * _, K Q9 O& K6 w" R9 K" Mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few ' m1 d/ S2 v3 i! c4 p6 u5 M3 E( ?nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of ) d" ^8 M1 H4 Lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: O/ ~; g- H# _& i9 z3 E( ?& w- V5 n& x3 }
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. & I3 H/ k, c5 d% J7 G b; q* Q" C 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 + m9 T: t" C4 fspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ; U( }" Y; V) J9 w, s1 v% r, Dthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very1 Z2 z o- q* D3 C" P5 Y' Z
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 0 ?/ |) |1 ?2 ~1 A" t6 R8 ~5 rrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day f0 d, z- q" |' j9 s2 E: ?- C
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 6 `, M a# }: m; jthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms0 O3 j, Y9 J* a
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 1 G8 d/ W& q1 f* T N! ]8 \tourist area.( D" z7 H- Z1 W( V2 k
* w+ g& {$ }( x- n& K! u9 I, QOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's6 V0 j! X# J2 T0 q# Z, E
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ' C( }5 u ?) a1 [$ @. tCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were& U7 u$ X. h$ _! q! v3 D- P. F
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps : q3 Q |# |; k) M) N. L% ], Aless leader-religious. 1 b E+ L& q5 [$ r3 k m7 p9 } ; g) `( O' @. H3 d6 fAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba d# B3 P$ v/ l9 f0 ^8 l9 D7 ~; Pgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big: I3 |8 h4 ]# r8 f0 d) I
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US b/ ~: t9 G6 S' vembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). M2 W7 w, F- M( U1 [
$ C' w; n2 v" {! Z8 k! H
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the! t% q- N6 N, B2 k) i
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not/ r% n+ K9 T: S$ c
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 ?: V+ B8 ^* B: d
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for7 j2 o: i9 c. U0 m- f1 I" R5 ^
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars/ {, S0 K$ ~: X0 t/ h! |: j
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we $ V, p" b9 r% s* `0 Aprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the. n: Q1 U6 h/ s& q
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. ( K$ |9 H G" n9 W# gAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local " W, u. G$ P( I, X& I) Ior visitors. 6 P, V! c1 E6 Y2 c0 ?& H6 t , t- x' V2 _/ K-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
