We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very: f2 v: k; ^2 {
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we # `% ~& ?; Q! ~: _, bwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.4 u0 |9 }3 \5 a+ e! G3 H6 x
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,2 a8 `( k k' P$ v4 e0 y# f; o9 ]
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in. a' U# S8 h' {8 @- N ~! B
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as* A4 L7 s9 J: G1 Z% {+ F
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort1 |- j" x6 Z5 o9 d* A% a
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ' i6 d$ t; s; E7 I- i- {between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the : n3 X. Z( |! O; {0 ~4 u- mlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 5 F% q. `2 R3 B* v, E1 N. k- N; T( O7 fwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.$ P$ E, [. q6 i7 }
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but . n' e) l5 [. u8 }7 M0 onames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not1 P' g. E: S" \; l2 l
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our6 W3 q! C4 A. d7 [: R1 l
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 8 M! ?3 m- E$ c% oa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.' W1 u; S& j/ P. b: b
5 a. E" h. T9 u4 G8 X* y* sThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 1 V3 I! n4 F4 \% C: t: n8 v3 Qlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 6 ~8 \0 B# Z0 k(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top2 l9 ]9 q3 P8 G. t, s4 p8 ^% _
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 3 {: h J1 P. l3 |- A" N0 a. cstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from* T7 I- G5 ^- d6 o7 z
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes , x8 g, h E0 y& |" ECuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with+ _5 x A, K& {4 T( t; n
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. . E+ {/ e2 [3 f3 J7 Q* a# a& T- W; W T; J+ R/ _6 {! R" W) ]: L8 F
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are/ _3 [" U. b1 C% J5 u
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ! T$ \! |3 n. l$ Z0 i2 r! yfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba) b5 V' Z$ O# u- }
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ) C/ ` ^& j' l/ d$ [a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China / d3 w, [0 _) Qdaily 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& ?; O& r7 d& M0 s+ f" c+ B
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 2 w' |: N' k+ {9 {& ~4 t/ \on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, . D5 M; B. \0 g b, h, f3 m( ^: A"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 5 K! |. a3 K0 h! G; K/ kanswers to our pointed questions. . ` b6 `( v* Z0 ^/ D4 u9 K0 g# F, Y0 O
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ( E7 M5 T: ^) C/ P+ k) b45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 F1 Q; P4 c+ A$ M9 l3 L8 l
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is ) H( p9 F( h( n. I1 R% @free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ! i* Q7 Y& V- Ito get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are # C6 |# g, k: J) Lmedical schools. & q# P! t$ |) S( ~% d( t2 C 3 u( g% ]% x5 l8 }- X) ]2 CEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the; G2 ~ F' F( z+ b4 [0 E; g/ \
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants( A+ Q! p9 N1 Q# x# ]* ~
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ i1 z4 m1 N' E, i
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 B+ a3 @, F1 O( r' \
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to # V7 ?: a( f9 n% h$ w% `over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There$ Y1 U# E a# q+ p! R- K
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 0 e0 I7 [! t0 Q( \" u0 `5 ?mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" g" h2 N5 X. [; B& T9 e7 d) Q2 o
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some " P1 R2 U/ q3 Lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ Y" `0 e! Y" W* @( d! V) G7 k
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 i) T' X( V. a- l6 N% K
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 7 s* n5 @: `# M, r8 u$ H. tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people ! f2 ~ K e, Y3 |have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 V6 c' R& V" Z6 o9 D2 o _
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby" R. _7 L$ E- U, _8 @9 v
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high O$ {! ?8 _; |' s& g9 m8 ~divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." K2 I# R1 Q* a( g
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When - p/ T, P; j, \# Ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ) l3 S7 P- Z' T: ?* Vcharge the fee defined by the state.& n" c* d) q" D m* C+ R. Q
5 J6 J0 z2 q/ o7 l* ?7 t8 yThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: G+ S8 R0 H" F: w1 Q! @2 r" V: y }
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 7 t. @: d- E2 p, }4 l, Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ! c" j/ z/ y0 L; Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 4 M" r. }" q3 X* fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 B) v8 Z4 F- g# j
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ _8 ]' y; c/ D, I/ Z ^% \
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if & H! `4 E8 u" P0 n! b, e9 syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people : b+ S7 J+ P# a0 Gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* [& n9 s) v# I
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that t4 a I' b) r2 i) Fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want # S6 h9 _5 E p0 ?2 H( Kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or J+ F4 o0 d1 `" Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there * {* s& u! p" X3 Gare spaces. `/ e2 O4 ^3 {
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 d/ S7 n+ L& t2 @/ t% J( E
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 Z H5 K1 B: Q5 W+ H; I3 `. `9 Y( B
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the$ z" @9 l8 y8 a
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: m6 L$ N1 h( ?
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 3 H/ V- c2 r' }0 Rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few# \' Y6 H. Q' y. ^ o3 D
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; _2 }" I8 ]& M: Z; d* M. W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ g1 m# e; I. r& r% g, k
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 C- _- {) M, c4 m+ {- l2 j
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: E! z6 n8 O \- P, d
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all' T1 F. E& J; G! d" Y) n/ f
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very* @' l* Y. u/ L0 ^8 f
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep6 Q& c* |+ `3 X
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day5 E" X0 d e/ B" V4 \; {
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of, z9 J* J2 ~4 U8 x& i! I
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms: l4 J1 v* a5 G$ e
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the' U( C! Q# |! Z, x9 p9 L
tourist area.9 N' k$ ]! p/ `" v K# l
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's2 C* c- w, X6 ^: ?
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).5 q/ O2 A' L+ k- q5 S' n" k% u
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 9 K* c6 E, i- C, G2 x7 i Deverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps & R2 c* h; ?4 j3 z6 y1 q
less leader-religious. 0 x% I) ^+ f% E+ k4 v 8 s* v$ |# ^/ WAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba* a* J; Q( {3 d3 x; Q$ w
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big ; p- G9 `2 O- N4 K7 zblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US . S( y8 X+ R2 o6 ~8 Uembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). & ?' L9 \# E: s c4 N 6 p& K+ I' M' X4 u1 w4 HWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 8 v+ N9 [( R$ Y5 d9 F9 o& Fparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not+ P* J6 P1 W) U. y/ Z5 E9 c6 l
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1+ k [- j/ o1 |& B- X+ i+ L7 j; K
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for9 _; `6 u% F, s- t; s6 ?# y
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 4 j. R- K6 V' a* X7 @(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we3 f6 |$ ?( w# L
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the # ^) \9 ]9 o+ }3 c* s5 sreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.* E: I! a) L, X$ Q; A7 T
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local. z7 s; J7 i8 d' ~4 P0 G
or visitors. ( R" R% ^& n8 e& {/ E' Z v( ~% v6 m) t9 b
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
