We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very " k# N! R- h* @( i9 ~interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we/ V% ]9 G. a2 M$ P
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. - \, }# M0 y& ?; l7 x" z8 U" M, G L: Y
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, , b s4 v1 k+ J8 Y3 D' O$ J4 D3 P30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in% |" b# j4 V% h3 O9 u$ t9 e
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as - N5 K8 T% ^( _% S7 C8 ? t$ g! ? O% lpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort - d/ z% G$ z4 wshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 1 F H' d, B5 S5 B. B& ]between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the8 [9 r; n: x9 [5 q8 R$ m
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, , W/ @) Q% }9 x7 g0 C: S. U' gwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.$ I o6 U/ R0 n/ {
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but. P, M6 ?1 V, V. s5 J0 C* X+ u4 ?
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not ( c0 T& u( u/ a8 jexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our/ g; d ?" J- V3 z
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through1 H8 ?5 i6 m' z$ W3 o
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. - [9 y% K" ?2 [% i* ` " g; @2 w; r5 Y; {- `: JThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,6 L% z v0 p+ K- E; c
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool' w, H3 K) ? L
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top0 C& n+ Y" D3 `8 U
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 1 ^3 l3 D& W- C; l. M9 N2 kstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 5 X* u( _6 ~5 q! K3 H/ E3 q49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes. O* S+ z4 Y X8 f
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with * E% x, `3 V& I; vfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.3 I6 _/ \* u' I( @# f
2 E7 i0 K) `9 ?The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are9 w/ p2 @! ^* M9 V; C
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made3 x U, F1 l6 p. m4 J# m* e
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 7 J9 c9 U6 u8 @! O& ~tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having t" B: u. K' Z0 \( q; c
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China/ ?' B9 ~- _( V9 t& Z8 t( c
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 # P6 j/ ]: ]# k) ]- n n+ a+ {5 Mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went & r7 l( A: o$ | Uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# P0 l9 h4 u, H2 @5 Q* b3 w
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give $ }, `2 v2 v, k& Janswers to our pointed questions. 5 U; {1 ^5 u6 q4 j* R2 s4 w+ v 9 R1 Z+ P7 U5 D6 YThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ; u: S7 P8 c% V4 Y45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. n* L& |! R3 a* y6 l/ D& K8 u! e
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is # {& `/ y5 [" a! E mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams # ~: `, q$ t* j6 O1 lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' L( n6 P3 w# c) p& r. G' \
medical schools.) \" f. l! m2 ?8 U# c
" e* [7 W2 B# |2 L; D) o7 ZEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ( Y4 S L2 h+ ?8 E4 k+ \government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& |# T/ N; I" k5 M, o$ V
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ) S C8 @$ g0 b, rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba % V) b! x6 b3 \8 R; ~is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: v7 C6 j; |4 n* [5 b6 E$ l/ k1 m
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 A7 w! i# t, O0 G! k+ E
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# Z- p2 ~" |+ S, w
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk & i$ U; {' }2 ]shortage which the government is addressing by converting some : p3 [+ S6 P# Csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( [$ u7 H" Z* R+ I8 j1 U2 t+ H# o- i
9 ], F, ~3 Y7 Y0 w$ g c0 q
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no . M5 Y; c/ o) Z+ V# n; t2 }private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 8 H, g9 N0 \& u/ t3 ]( G' i( b1 Tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people . g+ `' @7 Z" h, j2 Dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good + n9 O U" N2 C2 p' ~7 T% P/ athing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby/ j: `+ U8 l4 @: p4 u- R0 x
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high # h+ ?5 F4 n, Z. {6 p0 {5 Ndivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ; g" v: R! ?% O/ ^3 Y' ~& \, _1 ADivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When - [1 a1 L* D% c; ^0 x' b9 Aa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 z4 o' U2 ^- k V0 x' ?
charge the fee defined by the state. * a9 Q6 W+ l0 k" w% z 9 @; c0 L' ?) }+ o3 h+ H/ WThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get # J! R) L* P7 W3 {" k8 s7 o2 con), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type : D! o4 X; D' rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& r* M7 p) t& h: e s
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ; N1 B: B: o) k' c. D4 Nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the : H. x/ Q$ \7 M* k/ x& I( P% |' Wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 Z' n- G2 `6 i: @$ |7 d! r6 z
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 ]# D( ]6 O/ ]2 _% w. V
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* e1 i6 b. B8 `
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 ~( y @' ?% o' @
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 Y" R: C" { m* V# K' I
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want& z2 g6 f5 A/ O: g7 {8 ^8 [
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 5 w5 e, }5 U, r; ?2 Ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; R. w" n/ _& E. }$ a
are spaces. % v" Y1 n8 g$ ]# f6 D8 J0 C: o; g6 P3 K* a5 @6 ^( L3 k+ B3 `
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 4 ~7 D. q2 _$ x. w2 {# [to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they5 f3 ~ L! ~1 d% `7 t T1 c. f
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ b; \6 |8 G1 [( }5 n
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 4 m0 d! _/ _5 z# }9 sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 8 }0 M* b" F5 T5 L0 S% Ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" w" P; L$ s4 }9 v3 C/ W. Q
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of4 S& T4 m3 D* B& @% [
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it " H, q' j+ y! t8 g! Y% l: tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 8 \) }6 V6 Z9 M$ r7 ]5 H& P+ j. q) K 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. v$ _) Y# e- T/ E% |
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all1 @. p' q3 p9 c% w* l1 ~
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very0 t7 T+ j' a! y1 N0 Y: f3 N9 e T6 Z
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep " ]( q1 q0 z) m. G5 Arecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day% y( y& o/ d0 c1 U- l+ M
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of! W# M7 H& b5 W( q! ~( s9 {( z8 M
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms! r# [2 n! I' f6 k) f7 Y' T
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the F6 r8 w$ \$ Q0 E
tourist area.$ @, E- \* T1 q5 C: p1 G
3 c- y9 `5 k% U5 k
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's . j/ s% L+ h( D% V* |pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ; n5 C$ f+ o$ z: W _5 I* pCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were % H' ^. J# x, j# U# A4 {everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps / y% {* T3 i7 s, y" ]5 {less leader-religious. 2 G' _) D4 ?, n6 X [$ ~+ d8 ]. H7 b" b# H* N. {2 v
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ( H% v. H: l) }- q$ cgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 6 |- @4 ^# d* \% E/ oblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 8 o4 ~- G2 G, iembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).- F' g1 e4 W( D9 T+ e
) Z7 i0 b! f2 [) r# G8 ?7 ?# Z
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the / X+ b R; t8 y6 x1 j2 Z/ oparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not0 }1 o, q# T( v
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 $ y0 l- s" K7 r. _convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 8 Z4 y2 ` j/ `# K2 D( v; t+ {% ?foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars ( F! d$ i+ d3 R(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we! h( l5 Y! `- u, b0 d
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the! U: ?( C2 `) K6 h# N
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.# @% d& ?3 j5 Y8 @8 J
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local) u4 `: k1 f' Y8 |! N/ D0 A! b
or visitors.: K6 t [# N( a2 i8 h+ c2 R9 i
: I* g) O+ ?( c6 u" M) @7 ~9 K
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
