We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ; |# }, s3 B2 X* F% h ^7 |1 Binteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ; u% W0 h0 N7 A Q! Z; f7 lwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.: z9 z) t$ n: N
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, + C1 \- j: ~$ v% J D( R( R30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in4 |9 @# P7 h" m: w8 q$ O# n
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as9 t+ m9 J" Z( e# b
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort. q* x$ T m( v8 }5 s
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep $ Q; m" P7 g& S' r6 D& a, bbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the& D8 q" X" }$ L9 C" q
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,& q, Y9 K) Z/ `+ {
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.# a8 a$ i) T4 f e
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but, H$ ~5 ^ T+ F' ?+ C- w
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not / Q) W3 F1 }0 N/ v8 J2 Fexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our : w- [. `5 Z/ Yflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through ' O4 p6 g" ~# N0 W x: Xa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 9 R9 e( g7 V0 c . Q4 O2 M3 Q& r2 \7 GThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,1 \0 }$ ]" W% c* a. R8 {6 I
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool: S. U2 g# \* X* I* j+ Q
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top " U. n# H: N, [5 nof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 1 F" V$ C( Z1 K; j9 v( q. }+ fstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from1 M+ |: N6 @1 ]# _. c
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes/ w9 `8 m. u7 v( c0 w, N
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with7 @7 O! c8 r4 h ]- F
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.7 C4 y: V+ P/ K- G: G- f1 t, f
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 2 m$ Q3 [' [$ p, M% g. ?just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 3 G4 Z4 T6 g, Q8 p/ U0 X6 Zfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba9 s- p6 {( _4 \$ P5 |* P
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having8 c9 p# ^+ M k; F! ?, A
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China- s5 B4 g9 F( e3 m( 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# T, O* z. U0 @
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 4 m( L o; k9 ?on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ `* n9 B* n/ R6 K2 C
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& r# X+ j) d* e& ?: v* G# p
answers to our pointed questions. # s& U& Z c) S6 @ + ]9 T/ r& @4 i+ @% R$ kThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 1 M( K9 Z. r7 E4 C45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand - b2 [2 i! }$ j# J2 B- @% x9 \out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 f5 @9 q1 t/ C/ G9 F0 T; ?
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. s4 d9 n8 d, H, ~! d+ {
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are , j- n, G3 V1 |% C; wmedical schools.: ]$ @. s7 }, u4 D* V" [, X# q
3 t5 C) u- B0 Q8 a/ [
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ( W% t2 D* k7 i7 s. ~7 T1 hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) \$ J' g( p# O0 U% E' D# l) X- w
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years % X& T8 n1 |6 t0 Qassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 N& z% U7 _! R5 \& N A1 \: H! A
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to % e% G0 A$ |4 x) B; G5 cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 7 U6 y: X U5 Rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' x# I$ y$ m) L; [
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 4 F" {* s6 c2 C- @+ x4 ?, t. q! {shortage which the government is addressing by converting some & x' M5 Y' Y* U) zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. $ Y# b i) M9 A) L7 e: _' H6 t0 O# D. k6 K# Q. U; A
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no $ F. G7 x: r) G/ Kprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and . z: T5 J: u, C7 S: g8 csupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 e( d) s) k. P7 h x
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good! h m& ]0 Y4 L* L1 ^* s/ a
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby3 ?& S ?! b! t
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( o/ p) s) t7 f0 y
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., N* l! d* A! [; G9 P! ^$ C
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* c) J) i* S& A# _5 J' ?
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. y' x8 d% P4 W q+ h4 `7 d
charge the fee defined by the state. ) `% _/ |, e K9 `6 d0 |6 l$ v |, v+ a H' p/ h
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ]1 d) y& A7 f: Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ( j8 _# B- K/ kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 9 Y8 F( x" U1 s8 m$ l; m% Itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ @8 P$ X9 p8 g2 i# l
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the , [, z9 v" _$ M0 T9 g0 h! h9 }working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ D% `3 m1 @- W% d" g; u
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ B- l2 {0 z& n! s% v* p! b
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 \5 ~: @4 Y" d( D8 Z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 1 L! h; W: a! N% g) }" Q8 E; Thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 K, R, k8 n, E H q' R% [
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 6 o6 o( d! z' i p' D Ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or. Q, Q3 @' o0 }" Q! W# z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 5 _( b% N s- j) A) Z1 R! c: Xare spaces. % \4 n" w% I; n& h1 n* L' b4 x1 P* p" D0 r* @
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( o: X* V+ w: s" m& V1 H1 A( Y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 2 z5 ~8 h6 q lown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the E) i0 a" C: v
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different ) l7 Y1 E+ ~ C* S2 y$ F: Wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 @8 w% \, S+ i) M& ]! X
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few % Z# D: N' \5 F1 o- Mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 M6 E% s$ v* Z' i
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 5 A. O# F$ U' P! I1 jis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 9 @; {3 V3 I$ \' ]7 n$ 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; f4 _* c5 G" |# D1 R X
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ( H- \/ p* C1 o" sthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very, G* y9 J0 w" r7 @! u
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep( T2 c) n( D4 I
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day& R, |" N; L. B: U8 {8 u: P
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of2 H1 L+ F2 i& d$ V
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms% B$ h8 L4 r1 ?
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the2 T0 W; C% D" o
tourist area. ! P! G* d; H( B' t6 X* P. i/ z: Z ' X/ R! S9 H8 [* [: QOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 1 X. Y, E: X6 ^: G; xpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 0 d# Y- P% e6 ICompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were & ]) L* t6 F+ r/ b& V9 |0 {- ^everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ! ^/ H- V/ \4 M4 z0 A$ `3 Qless leader-religious. + [6 Q6 N' R9 u0 {/ A& u2 V6 k1 y' @# c: O3 y$ |/ @
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba. V- d- `% o1 l1 i6 y" C9 a5 J2 Q- C
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big. G T7 z0 W2 `3 x, X* H# o
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ' x, D. X: v: ]$ C( N5 ^' nembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 5 A1 X, j& [' \, b! [7 x/ J S, R 6 x4 T% [" H s+ U5 R, J2 kWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the+ X3 Y7 }: I* W; c) v
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not , c: e0 ~( P$ s9 N4 }9 H' U) jthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 * w/ ~: u( |6 {convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for1 E8 _1 ]7 r/ b( m/ l* R4 Q# c
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars2 l8 I) N: t; G5 A& p5 u
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 8 X$ T( R( M! B) y4 m( Cprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the + G. N. g3 j3 h6 A) j. @* D2 Lreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.5 @0 g X( b& T
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local, B9 H( m$ e8 J
or visitors. ( ?) x& v ?! {; K3 s$ e& m- N; H/ E D9 E& f4 w5 e
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
