We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very9 a2 a8 U, }; U( O4 J
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we& S% N' `) [0 G E7 c4 ]
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.& \# }* J: h& Y( y" X
3 F0 K8 Z9 s6 j5 P5 @- H
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, ! L2 a$ F1 \& H& B30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in. `/ k2 U- z. i, V# o
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as9 Z6 q( x! b0 @" }6 O, T
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 9 n1 I: B- k: j7 I% Y! Qshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep , G# g& ?' T. r d+ p; Wbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the $ N3 c( {4 E5 r5 Mlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,3 x; n" a! i* @5 i6 S9 x8 t; s
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 9 a$ v4 g3 D! W& z! F People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but, r: C9 }2 N$ ]0 G$ x p
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 4 x+ ?6 n. y5 j! n9 p0 H1 n8 ?1 u uexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 6 D6 k6 M7 Q% y- eflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through- c7 i, z+ \+ \! o1 p' H2 l
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.* F1 b3 |. v4 I* u
; R+ y X6 ]! q, J
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,7 ?2 O0 S4 `/ h7 C% w
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool , b+ k" r0 T" n) U5 e(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top& C1 m4 v" p& C' d2 P, q! O, ~, [
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ' p M& {2 A- G7 s: r7 D1 E Y: mstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from e/ s) P! P, m z. v t
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes ! s+ `# i5 o$ E: j, J2 J1 kCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with: t' H- K; K; f3 t3 `
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 3 N- |& e7 ^( m2 v & U/ t. i7 C, a3 m4 L7 i- J+ {5 @" x! AThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are1 j- Q) z" D2 u* c, q+ ]! Y
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 6 X" Y, @* T) Q! L( Ffor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba " b8 S7 y: { L: \: G ]9 Ktourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having8 u8 w/ d3 r' K9 |! Q! f
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China e* y- o7 r! O$ |6 Tdaily 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; g) r/ \9 K: Z% S& _; |4 c( u
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ m1 e; {7 o! H" }' }. }1 l
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, + n9 \( V$ S6 K' k"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give( j1 t! ]3 b$ Z! ]& N4 Z
answers to our pointed questions. : T. ` k. E2 I0 w$ ]( [ I 3 B% @; K. g' L& @* X5 {* @$ BThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 }- a) z* k6 F& j C
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 M( ?) P, T6 N1 M
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 o9 ]9 d8 O# v* q
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams A7 F' W) m' p
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are $ `+ Q* h3 ^5 N. T+ H6 D' s. h9 \medical schools. 7 i; K2 G0 T) e' ^! Z * e+ z, n: m+ n4 ?2 r5 w6 o3 [Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the . @) L0 B7 d% u" ?6 p5 N3 I ggovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants ' l2 w) h0 @& v* b t+ V; Kto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years * U* b0 y2 \1 M7 x R8 Z( H5 Lassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba& u+ a! J' b7 r$ j: F* |
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ( V7 S! ]' B$ |# j! O) v) cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 8 K9 l N3 F1 F3 O$ T1 c0 Qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and : n% x( k% ]/ F, X( qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 t3 { O4 U- }) ~0 F+ W% G
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 9 ~6 D: a* {; T9 }sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 8 q& ^7 a% p- e" G2 y8 C; b # J) m# o* S' k$ j+ JThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& s# n$ }0 u8 s+ ^8 R# h) l5 C
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and # m! o! H; s8 L# ]0 gsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 n( z, } l' A$ s, G0 |0 w, ~
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good & s- p: z' B/ s: Fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby $ C0 U8 `1 L( Ssitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high " |2 k# t$ P8 f2 Z- \divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: [" o! F7 z; O8 x$ }# r/ r, U
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When ) C4 H' |/ i1 l$ g: Q, L# ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, {* d! T* r& U( d! [ P+ p
charge the fee defined by the state. 2 f( x v. V! i) v8 b S( O6 u3 v7 L( e" M8 U
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ K$ V _" ]* B! T
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, I# S% h2 ~% T$ a
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big8 t9 Q% X+ K! O; |5 _ W
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 6 D4 n$ ]/ n9 |seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% Z4 Q: h6 p: @6 |5 U+ K. B: ^2 v
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on+ w' q- a0 }8 Q n, b4 ?4 {
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ! l' s4 O0 b7 f8 m" F9 l% fyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ; V& P' o: L* X/ S. M, ^trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch R2 K3 ]2 ^" S( F% H3 x! Zhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- R& a4 E% i7 w( G/ G
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: X3 }: Z: g/ {( k& a3 K. P
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 1 w f9 A& u+ i+ u) h( W! wbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 g% e1 G6 ^; g" o' B
are spaces. ; k! \4 m: ~. C/ f1 b* A) z" ?; m+ y4 [0 _
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi : _0 X, ^# O6 P# B2 V. H% nto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 5 d8 R1 ~0 y* ?1 P. _8 o2 i. k1 Iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the & t+ I+ i8 u# J( `8 V4 O40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 8 z2 b$ [: c/ U( ^, J+ I/ lparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the ' l, W$ G. L- z8 U: g2 r: Dbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% k# x* _9 w4 K9 x: b3 q: b
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 5 c9 K; @& @8 T! a7 F; Pcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& E% H! ?/ I3 T5 L8 V
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.9 \0 K1 T7 x* R! a
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 ; B7 y; M' h) s% G/ L! o5 |spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all% b1 g! |" ]6 {& p! v$ {4 H
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very2 v i' B7 c$ Z* d7 i
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 8 q9 T6 H2 u* P l) ~8 Mrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day, O8 r" E" a" G% _+ O n: z
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of: e5 A' k) a- p
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms : }2 @: U! B/ o6 \8 G% Y. bhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 2 ~. k4 d! S2 N" r! S, H3 _% wtourist area.( T5 ~ x: w+ z* h; h
4 l7 r4 L, P0 ?) T7 ^3 e
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's4 x7 G `9 o) n
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).) v3 }5 k3 c% a: D1 m) R
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ' y1 C: s; }* g; I i8 y$ ?everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps , O1 x4 M) X9 S- \7 q+ Aless leader-religious. 3 C7 `8 K2 M0 R; l* y& ?6 t" j! ]8 y0 w H8 M! Q
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba$ O/ g2 x0 B, j& n( O2 a
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big/ e; q0 p5 ^' E& h- v% Q
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US0 ]- v9 k, {$ c. d* X4 o" ?/ p2 [% J
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)." S" J: |) k/ W/ d1 s( d& w
) G$ ]& O7 p7 T& @% A% W
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the4 C: R# f9 q# a
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not % B0 E2 v! w( ~; d$ T$ Ythe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $16 k. V! s3 c) g' t& y. Q( n
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for8 \8 w3 z% h' |" g
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars. ?' i+ d B C3 H
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we / k( ?: S6 k4 ^9 M! Q* ^probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the6 M6 u" v1 n5 R& { l V4 y
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.$ U; m& x/ i" U, \
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local$ X" j* q; P% ~9 M! m, X
or visitors.# t, N9 Z2 w9 }! _9 X% `5 X+ \8 b
: `. ]& D& G8 {+ g0 ^/ ]
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
