We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very % ~+ I9 q: W( c3 A' F. K) q( U1 q* a# ninteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we " d$ d! A# S* Lwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.' q* \: l* P0 t/ h, T; V
( o# S! }2 w0 PIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, & c: x7 S5 }+ `, G30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 7 T/ Y3 l8 Z& Q, [) ca very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as. }) N$ r6 `5 V& i6 l5 b
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 5 }; u; W$ c( S3 ^show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ) G1 f/ p- J# C- Hbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the, g, Q' l( f) A; O5 N- }
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,5 g# s# K1 e/ ]. J: s
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.: a, j O. b& ?' n5 R
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 2 x7 o: t3 {% h& B6 c: \names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 1 \$ G1 C. F* {4 I8 {/ }3 Texchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our) R; e7 V( K1 @ t2 C8 Q, n; F" y" [
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through2 f- P9 \5 {1 g y+ z
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ; J/ R! M+ k1 f$ b# H! v" p& ~ 1 Q9 ?) E! c o- T3 u6 \The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 6 x9 W4 B. D) U) Q% V) Rlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool- w; }' x# g2 Y- ?. u
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top! ~8 r1 \8 q& t; M0 u
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the - Y2 V2 ?7 G/ Y9 k. G5 m- Hstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from; r" r6 @! F) M$ Q- y
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 1 W7 ?# k1 y5 l" ^- ^' g/ ICuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with & j. q6 j3 L9 i3 T9 Wfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.8 o$ x' ]# D0 l6 @! ^, C
$ L7 l% r( u5 G$ |/ v
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 6 C' D6 b- J# I% E: b& Fjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made + \( J% r' L ^8 j' }for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba % S4 [, b' t6 l( P. J1 ^tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having8 @' k7 C9 P8 p2 ^% Y0 M
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China5 ]* ^' k0 x4 l) z4 a: H, u O# 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) z) q L3 W, t3 W" [5 |
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 1 G8 D: w. A: q/ Q. uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, G1 H( C" o8 N" b8 H5 C" b
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give9 V. d' N! d' c: i% I7 H/ Q
answers to our pointed questions.4 ]5 s# s6 V1 I0 Q9 b# Q5 o( H6 @
2 z0 C2 k q1 {( G0 T; NThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& k. p5 `, U e* @
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand& W8 I% Z2 O! k8 X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 2 k/ B$ `: S2 e" b4 Q: |free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: L4 F) ?/ l, S# T9 S. v2 I& w8 m
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are / e1 T+ L d3 Ymedical schools.. A6 x5 v2 d) { R+ m( M9 I$ M
% r( \+ [$ q/ G1 T& M
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 [9 q: D9 w: H+ s4 }% U/ s' J
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants ) A% l& z5 ]% _: H2 X+ [to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years / U5 y$ W3 ?$ M/ a8 t6 J; k xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ) z4 n2 c: a$ l+ }is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 4 G$ b* K7 O5 Rover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 9 z+ X2 @% U: [/ ]seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and - C* G4 E& s0 w k$ v- `2 emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' P0 V2 }: j8 i `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some ' t" k6 E6 v/ o, V' Ssugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 M6 ?5 l( F' q. n* u: Q
" P) d" V5 A5 O7 M1 @0 \7 [$ HThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. P0 j! b5 }" k$ T/ s2 z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 7 F( ^; y) r/ M5 d8 ~6 m5 asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people * V0 h$ Q ]/ @: u) O9 Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 t7 V/ F% L' i$ D+ h3 N3 T% s: z! j, i
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 8 d* U8 O: K) [5 r9 jsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ]( S: K" D& Z7 c: W: F( z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 U1 D, P) l- ^& H3 Y4 m
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: ^ t5 m/ y0 W
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) a$ x5 i# t z: Y
charge the fee defined by the state. 7 R' W9 \: o9 A5 t& b+ |/ f9 W/ G1 \# b0 R$ x4 W
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 7 N+ c# G5 o6 y! ?' Ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# f) V/ W& S `2 P9 W
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; Q6 g( i3 K# e4 u: p
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* L% z1 v2 l1 d1 j, n) h V3 r! j
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- z% @7 f& T( F
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on " I, W/ G/ n- q dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if # t3 e4 t6 h. v; Fyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 5 }& j4 N0 z8 Btrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch * _0 V% @* u0 g9 ?; P. Z0 n5 shiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 t! ^# n ^ f
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want+ t; g) h: i `# c# |% |3 _) c8 ^9 T
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 ? A4 }8 \/ O$ i" c
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 Y. a$ A0 \* z8 P$ D" Q; K" q' n
are spaces. & ~6 Q2 x8 c8 }! I C z1 d: a7 n0 @# s) ?) | b/ G2 h5 l% m2 n
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 2 i ]' g6 z$ dto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 6 G2 c9 L3 O9 _3 I2 |6 Xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 5 B6 Q1 g$ V- X' Z7 A, F/ Y" X5 g40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 `! j8 m* k, O7 U. r
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 4 ]6 i- X# ^# hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 k1 n7 r# s! c8 x: b
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of : }$ p* K9 p2 u9 ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- ?( Q, c4 Q$ N7 t0 U
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 `0 u% M {$ @& u1 Z1 E& t. Q1 |, F
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 beautiful7 F; e. R' R0 |- i4 [4 O
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all : U& P' P9 K, Q0 s! S5 X- wthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very " g i% e8 d: a8 A" G; C' Slimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep9 c. D# \6 Y$ @8 u
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day ( W* h/ Z$ U/ y \0 B# U; Hsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 5 T5 j& O9 \8 O) S3 Kthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms. ^8 D3 r/ d& J5 O
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the2 M7 M* `# o! O5 [1 K5 z% y3 F5 V" J
tourist area.$ f' B T" z0 y) R, v0 |( U
5 v: |. \: m) }; u. C9 SOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's0 ~& R0 w2 |, p% l# X% l
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).& n% C5 U/ R1 q8 ?
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 0 w+ A9 m6 J e4 ]- u2 Peverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps / i( ~) ]5 Q ]) }less leader-religious.( n/ M9 |5 s g& }
9 ]! [, g7 g7 [About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ' W: K" q m6 P, O5 Xgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big" t+ \( D$ |! C' ]* j* B
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US * o; I) Y0 b( o3 o" L3 h5 A+ B! n2 Bembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 5 N9 a y9 g' a. n+ @) A+ c7 k$ A: m( @. j% ]
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 5 R* j) c$ `: `1 Z( Jparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not [) T7 O$ M& S' C- K
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1. C1 g8 I6 t% v0 G; m8 M
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 2 @- _4 l) H# y- A; H* e7 J) oforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars3 a% W1 i+ J, g' p
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we ; {( b' H0 v# h6 v" oprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 8 y+ D. F, Q0 O' Mreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. * \+ Y0 h- W' P: k' JAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local + |# k5 x) P" p6 B; R% a; k2 h( dor visitors.% O# M7 S6 q- |* m: ^
, A, a3 r8 \% U9 u) F, W5 R-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
