We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ( F4 g$ f! {& _' X% }, ^interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we " |- U7 W3 Z2 S7 a0 s& @wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 6 P* U1 }: ~; J3 K7 |* R% ^$ ?8 n$ z- l1 ]9 g4 p& e
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, * A9 ^$ v% D7 d( p' y! W30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in $ X) i* e. @1 J4 [- C8 sa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as2 G. n; E3 m" v0 T: `+ h
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort) F4 u, F2 u1 v0 C3 u0 }
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep + \/ @/ F5 g4 ^* }0 d& fbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the7 N, n& Z( B9 {2 o
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,; c& M' y% p% Y4 e
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.; j5 T( U. @& U) s: L5 e
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but ) y* X0 R0 q! E/ o) k; ?names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 1 D: f4 q7 B: ]+ ]5 Dexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our ! H. Q) E2 Q& x bflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through0 |+ f& k- @: p* q5 G6 f
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.1 l: L3 J3 R, A3 H. N
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,' _$ e7 J+ y; ^" E |( D, B8 h# \( h
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool# b! ?. w* p+ u3 N' F J) w4 ^
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top & A! L1 Z f. O C* G1 P8 Oof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the; R3 ]1 f8 W- V; n) k' T7 `+ |
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from" s1 N. a4 g7 k7 H7 S: `6 a9 T. j
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes $ k* H( `0 G8 z% l9 U7 OCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with2 f) q5 K o; }: `" }
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ; ^" ~* s( x, x0 W: M& ^1 g% a% ~. |( k G9 h+ Y# B' n! Q
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are- x; e0 O# }. L( ~
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made; M2 R+ C/ F ]
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 4 H5 T2 _+ U4 b2 Itourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having; M7 e Y& e( M8 O) Z9 r
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China - |( ?; o+ z1 B9 S9 V- Vdaily 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 % P3 b9 u1 F( y2 Ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 9 {: o. \0 `; E. a. y& mon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,% i5 G. }* p. m
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 2 l0 t8 ?2 E; C' b$ z7 Zanswers to our pointed questions.& _! o$ o4 Z7 l& `1 Z: N( y% N/ {
4 _8 x& M, `! `" u7 ^The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 0 q. E' {. {# @+ P" J: F% K45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 4 M4 ~; d5 M: l3 rout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 6 s/ @; n- m( ~& V( bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 W% s, q& m- B. s" [
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 6 z/ V0 G' Y* n+ Z, ^! w. \ j% T+ ]medical schools. 9 X$ W$ n% z3 \% C( u6 E 3 B3 X' _8 Q" S! lEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 8 _5 H7 h# R7 j/ Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants ; T/ }& a: f2 i% x! ]9 d4 Kto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- Q0 p2 U& M- @6 g6 e
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 B( B, r, K( I$ r# i' d
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to2 F' m* e$ G/ k# ]+ @7 }
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 9 O! i! A8 x5 q" ^( Y: R R, Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 C1 X! `$ F4 B, c2 v
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ) i# m1 H: H( ~3 \- _shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 9 x& X1 @( X2 L3 u' csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 j) q# M- [+ D; h
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no B0 Q: s1 R5 p8 U/ M; M) [! _ gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and # h! q$ u; _3 p+ t) d6 G( m! W9 ^supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people m2 T4 r& h' g# w/ U
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good * l1 ?0 w- C# [3 bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 X* h) z* N0 G, B2 X B7 i
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high* D8 u1 Q3 [; } `5 K& [' f) b
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 5 U# X& N* H6 i( j* `8 fDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 6 y( ^1 N: |/ Y( ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only & T/ \7 T3 M, Z8 K6 \4 U( Hcharge the fee defined by the state. 4 g% `$ u9 J% p9 f" H7 \& P! F" h8 ?( H1 R0 t
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ P" ^6 b# d3 f# m
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 n) D# c6 d4 V* f: O
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 b9 P* q& g6 p/ {5 c6 M" v
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ I# F4 x' B% y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the $ E5 Z: J1 _' ^+ q+ Tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 U# m2 s6 f5 x1 _6 P$ W( p
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( T4 @. J0 D; @6 _
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people & v* |, x5 m0 o+ N& ^! ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 p2 S6 {& o/ W! n" P
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 B' {) [. B4 j" `: [3 M$ i
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 b9 `" \5 t! y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or ' h7 m8 u9 b0 v) h' j$ H# Cbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there * K# l9 X2 ]- r L6 Uare spaces.1 f& @9 c9 q g$ \0 O7 A4 L
; [3 }$ S- P% BThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ( e! i, p# k& k4 q* J0 K0 Ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they # v3 g+ V$ }( V6 _" `/ M o5 R5 [* Fown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 1 u; c3 f! d7 q. u4 \% P40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# X6 q) u+ t- H% A: R
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 l2 ^8 P3 R" f! A3 M' m
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few " v" {5 S+ Z) lnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 F2 E8 W2 g5 P+ i; I
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 9 `, |* @! h" M* Ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 \: C" C2 w2 U5 P 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. ] m6 S: f: m! ~
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all' `$ O0 f0 g5 q/ w' X8 I
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ) y8 f- E F2 G9 K0 R9 }limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep ' I# E- j& ?1 B( yrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 2 ?- S( n4 |: |. m" H S8 wsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 8 \/ q/ q7 U/ S8 @+ r/ K( b* L# Dthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms * Q8 U- g7 t" L' ~( nhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the & i0 t. Y+ m! o+ c# p# T" Ptourist area.1 N" S# J' P) V9 q! V
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's/ `! w" O$ I; L: M ~
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).. ]- B0 N' E2 N
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 2 ~+ T6 V- x/ O/ veverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps % @8 k$ M* K4 ?; j8 |+ q- \* v
less leader-religious. ! u4 q# y: I1 r, w& O1 C2 F e 5 _. o- r7 a' R7 M1 p$ _. YAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba+ L4 |; ?6 e U: W
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 8 \' E' }4 K. f' u$ }- d4 eblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 0 J1 @* Y: y) o7 B# bembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).9 ~7 h( P0 I1 U1 V+ L" ^% x
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the2 I: q6 {6 }0 q# q k# n2 H
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not * v3 @0 o6 E8 f! F) |( Nthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1$ U2 I/ k( I! b& t% a7 f
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for # y# ?0 L @3 f( dforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars- t- C5 L* }% s/ q
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we3 n- s2 Y" } A4 k9 e
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the1 Z( o6 k% y/ M; Z. s6 B
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.( {1 @1 w/ I- U" V9 @
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 3 l) c' w. a1 @& Yor visitors. 5 V. `% ^6 W9 ~( M$ c, u% J: j4 k- t; H5 V# j
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
