We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very- V; G$ N5 v2 U
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 8 d* Q* X% d; a3 Wwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. " v8 l# S n4 ~, L3 E2 J6 t' t. D- I1 r) a8 F; y5 g" u! Z, U
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young," b0 r9 z* Z; b0 b& h
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in ' V% {8 A, p" [# D3 ~/ [. ] Y3 Ka very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 2 {! S% B6 n7 F2 H5 p) ?possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort; O G' R( g3 L
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep/ C8 z7 o A+ R( j5 V
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ' u6 ?1 j! K( }5 e: O4 B5 n: A" ulobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,8 I" D% j% L) R0 ~( n! U' K
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 6 u% [+ K3 Y3 V# U People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 1 d& Y% o: P4 ^3 Xnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not % ` J5 z6 I! R3 [7 gexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our' s2 S, e# F) ~5 J* ]
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through/ f& V/ U- U$ w) K
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ) ?4 a+ K2 J5 Y- d' t" z% C, w# c2 e* V1 U$ O4 @0 r, v) O2 `
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day," b) c0 S/ Z. D! ]2 g* o/ D
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool V# {+ k3 f P(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top , b/ n, t& t) ~5 ^' hof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the0 x& T {! o l$ `
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 7 O) ~, h' w4 O" \' n49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes m$ r: Y3 |* I' J% X
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 8 N8 G# y w$ U' H- ]; o% v7 y: Bfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.! \- D- M( @9 X' U
, ^: X# }* `! `* ?# FThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are / O) |3 N6 a; U5 |. M0 }: p/ Rjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made * T" Z5 h0 p" L7 r' }9 v0 Q3 g( R$ j+ _for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba- a) A+ Q0 w: S( K' c% b* ?
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having* f6 E5 T; [0 i* |1 }, B" F7 N: o: A
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ' }9 ]* M5 h( ?/ r Jdaily 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: E0 f' Q( w* A% G5 b
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went - ^, H1 d# Z t& t! _* k" |8 Eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,2 \- y. X+ o D' [3 q: m
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give " m4 U# x* x8 U! i4 o4 `$ I4 I: Z% manswers to our pointed questions.2 w* T) _4 q7 w( q6 s5 ~, k
; Q( X" \/ p6 ^/ I
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, + D# x" e+ H# f; D: l45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand s. @: T( M! l8 x
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% s b) d. T9 o$ Z% g3 J' t# g
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams - M& R; d$ k. t: fto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are * H3 D. c3 g2 D# Emedical schools. - S0 d# Y6 ]2 g ' K/ p3 I* ?/ j3 M6 x" z6 cEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 2 M" O$ ~: r* X" w' {& ]government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants & Q$ |7 O# Y2 j/ ]0 o" jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years , h# `& L5 c, S' F7 k; g9 k! Massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- Y/ Q* D, i- p% h- n9 L$ m) y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 R* @9 e5 y* P8 n( s" n5 R8 o x
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% E5 _6 z6 _6 N$ h/ ^8 Q
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and/ Z+ k0 d0 p# h; {, N" T* y' {& G0 R
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 6 k% x6 F- |& C* h6 c% @7 _7 Wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some - F, I, |1 a; @1 x9 ^0 Esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. , a/ ]# ]3 [: X$ R* d, a/ z0 e) T. b; N: E7 G: r
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no " ]3 m% ]" R& e# [9 e! pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 0 v8 |5 X" t$ l$ @+ J- w: Zsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 I1 G6 c% _+ ^
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# c& N; f: a* {& i. a
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby % O/ T* t1 r* J( ^' Ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" N1 [, y" y% `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ( M3 {+ Q% n. `( i" e- ?Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When ) H+ F$ ~0 y9 Fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ( W d* X1 `4 U1 }9 g) b! c4 _charge the fee defined by the state. & j; F% l8 `9 T; d* K# U8 C. W4 Q! c/ r. S- L
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get - a" |! d7 t0 E/ f& Fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type - a6 n8 b) D& |) q) Y% Cof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 5 ~( B. z0 Y* C5 Atruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 ~5 P( I1 ~" }" j
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ `7 G. }4 p& [% z) S# z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on }% z0 F, t# G( j( j( W
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ( m' g& b3 b7 Y% J2 V. q# y* |0 Qyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: ]& i3 [& c1 s
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# v1 b9 I' U! X h, b( |& G
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 2 F$ d# P" j- Qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 E5 [" X8 I9 g9 _ a# c
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or % [% X9 v) x/ vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there / v* i" B* a0 W+ l3 {are spaces.& [' K" ?3 }% a/ _! `
: w* R4 q/ A f+ E* }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi % e% C6 E4 I( [1 q* mto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they: e* b* y: h, E
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ @8 g% X. D" M% s5 m' o1 ]
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different + p; H) }4 `# [2 K) A8 Q: U" O( d% ]parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the ( \* P: X1 j3 pbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 A6 K& \+ o. p" ^6 ~/ d
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of , ^2 t5 n3 Q h8 D& B2 z. ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it + w: W# @6 D s! eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- Q* G l" ?" n2 `' F) b
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" Y0 [9 k5 e T) {spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ( R' ^4 y3 _/ v2 ~* Pthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 1 f* R) K& \$ glimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep! d0 ]* m, K" a
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day5 H2 O. H+ p2 V: I# L6 y, {% r4 h/ e
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of4 C: d" U9 h g2 y, |4 O
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms: Z! I6 V# J) P& ^# {: O- h
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 5 R9 E8 h' o- ` _- \0 d5 `tourist area. # j0 @$ c" F- g2 T+ C+ D. d' @8 V. `( A$ C' h$ D. W
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's/ C1 c, U5 z& G/ P$ v0 z
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). / I `2 j+ L, M! sCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were7 z9 K* ^/ L) A; E6 u. y. o
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 1 Y j' |1 e: g H& l+ _& F x& }" pless leader-religious. + h1 d9 ~8 Z0 t- G9 p, `1 [! H" I/ \
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 7 p2 E$ {5 i- N v% Wgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big! ^5 I) q3 [( N5 O% t
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US4 O% s. C! W& J
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 9 B9 f6 g4 o! n2 M$ F' y0 H - `$ H/ }2 c1 F: G% X7 f# `7 QWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the3 v" [ u$ x2 n+ O' Z+ I2 z
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not , X+ C! M& N: }0 k/ p% f# r4 |the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 6 u+ ^1 q: v7 k2 G+ f' e% Qconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ( V6 K) T& {8 a! c) b* l8 T' Aforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars2 j0 J. z/ ]# h5 C
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we- Q; y. s9 x' E
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the % A$ ?+ l/ z9 ?5 z$ q1 X& s+ ?real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.9 f1 Y' n; M! z" s9 A
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 1 ~4 B, @ u( b; sor visitors.% A* R# }. x, C1 s! n
8 G P# ^: T9 o3 w. |2 O' x-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
