We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very. c5 V. j( D: o' _9 _
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we+ H2 I7 }) W' u& _
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 1 Q O0 G* R: J: H; @5 W& _2 r- T" i; P# X
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 9 F- b I9 {: x: p30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in # W- A8 s0 k% w/ ma very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as ' x( u0 h+ ~. c# u: k( w2 L6 rpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort7 g* r% K2 q1 L( A0 h- h3 J
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep % K- B2 C' z) S. rbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the & `0 ~. f% B6 D) qlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, & _' V- A5 A: e- s9 `: awith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 5 h" {' O& ?2 r$ @$ ? People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 8 J; Y" E$ m* q2 M" [9 P* ~names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not / ^7 m" L3 C7 L9 k: I1 ?exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 8 l$ _, Q3 ]$ x) w4 ?' pflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through, T: n, F. W, [3 j: y( c% X& k
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ' d) ~# ]' j" t% F7 X! r' p% l3 `$ O7 E1 Y% }. V p' n: J9 G& c1 S" F
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,2 J& g4 R t. \
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool0 O5 h& o& g- R3 i6 ~/ L
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top# r; H" [3 d! m% \2 \
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the, m' C9 V% N% I2 w9 R1 U$ X
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from & l4 N/ A) j( \; M49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes3 {& j4 U& q6 N! \
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with! c7 V! _8 p# d+ a( O! A) A
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. & z8 G! }$ u9 Q1 u; C, y# R$ @3 e3 s+ R9 z( w7 g# {/ h% n6 E4 H
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are I. H$ P! k5 `& c) q+ q& m/ Y
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made" D+ \: z2 K( \1 V" v& {( N
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba $ O7 S+ @# z8 y& L G ltourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having / d6 S ?8 b# N' S8 z# H* E( _7 ]a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China * O$ I" \( d2 Z% ]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, |2 C- b. @* \' b1 Z( |
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ) h9 c) ]$ h& F8 N7 hon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 3 [; ~ l: y* @/ q& d0 a( p"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 X Q: {1 x0 k c+ L9 u9 s
answers to our pointed questions. : L# b2 i: K( e# P m7 N% j' d0 d! t9 \2 w
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, V$ c2 W5 Y: P! K5 F5 \ V8 n
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 P$ I. X% {) w7 D9 f
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is5 P: N5 D: e; g. E5 I0 ?
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams $ V# g# Q" [1 \9 [2 b, ]to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* q" h* k. l! x3 I; ^3 S% a
medical schools. # t0 h$ |$ m& ^7 S2 T. v& h) V+ r& F1 u! I& j
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the # R9 F) Q |4 H7 Vgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants % i; ` p+ _; qto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 ]4 e7 R( a! b$ B1 H
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 3 e; n, u. k" b" ?" r. pis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 ~: `3 W6 x, B1 I, X
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- a4 b8 f; H* Y8 {* f5 V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and; f G2 k5 W2 X
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 2 u7 T- M/ h3 |$ v4 bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some! m% C; j, s9 P0 a
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. s' j0 t2 j2 i* s
- `; j% ?8 p. i2 u& R+ r' ~' JThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ! K4 X& V: U4 Q2 k4 v4 V' ?, Aprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 3 B T1 V% q6 h& I8 V2 csupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 s, j3 c: j8 v1 }# o# X6 I6 \
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 l3 Q# j0 U2 m' h: z% N8 J
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ P+ J% b9 F3 C& u3 p; z+ l
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high - x/ T% _0 h d& Y9 {/ _7 Zdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. : [/ u& `! K0 y2 cDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When & O9 S$ {: I; p3 d& T Qa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 A* D" f' `; g2 u: V1 u: t
charge the fee defined by the state. : `0 a5 S6 f- t+ S4 ]" p# J * Y& z2 V% v% M) }There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 4 J5 P7 q" H! d# Non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type( u* D6 Q; W3 T% j3 p
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 M2 x" q. V* j1 b
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& D/ V& y8 Y; U
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* H& e* L/ z: B% g3 p, C4 E& |
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on , u' U2 t/ M& U1 ~3 yschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ J, E3 {# X9 k5 k: U+ B9 u% `% q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people' O$ J2 A; b p& B
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch * ~) f- P0 W0 mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 u' L: U6 `3 c
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 4 D/ H" w# r9 ^1 wto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% F4 T! V# ~2 e+ G# l% S3 y$ r z9 i
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 U& D) d5 J3 J% Z( Q* p- O
are spaces.( K5 N# l/ W( G: s0 a2 n1 q6 m( `
% e: S, Z6 N3 r
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: j5 h6 ~, r* O) ]; F
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' ^( k! K# u+ [( U
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- P [3 v9 m, P. A8 C3 r8 ?4 B
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different , O" O/ K: B0 T) p J+ s* V4 ?parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& @4 p; ^9 C/ k& b1 O& f" W }
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; w4 Z' |! T) B4 y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ ^7 Y9 ~2 ?6 O
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 2 b& X8 K/ r( S, E6 k, ?is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. " S9 ?4 {; T4 z. B# E% a' \, X( G 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 : @. {" a* U& T6 fspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all8 j- j9 Z5 w9 o( C) z; r, k" B
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very! T- F& k+ m, u6 v, q
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep3 K/ }0 F! \ v
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day5 B0 A3 y: |" M! B( [2 \
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of $ q' ], V6 V8 t& X) [- f3 Othem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 9 I0 H1 s7 n4 r: F$ h' U8 v3 { xhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the - l) x, E! x- x. d- Z+ Wtourist area.5 Q9 g+ @6 ^5 u' i; f
1 B# V3 |7 F9 \4 ~One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's$ r+ l' h. {# H1 u5 t5 n. \' o9 E
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). / }; _( k, Z- x# BCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were( Z) X; z& Z( {9 ]& j, g% e8 J; v
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps : x, B9 P$ v* t9 nless leader-religious. 4 ~! }0 @7 |, [1 Q& V2 ~( O/ S: ]5 s1 }
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ' C% N9 N7 x. E y$ P9 hgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 0 ?4 y# e& m" j3 ^ ublack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US9 K3 d8 W9 @* g- x8 \1 |
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). q% P* j8 o8 f, C, R) X0 K" c# A8 \1 K D+ \, j5 M# k
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ^( n! g2 n9 o
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not' E$ o; r. K: e0 B% @5 c1 Y
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 . X- a4 p/ Z7 K2 N$ U8 Gconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for i2 r# e" z4 R! \ hforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars" |( c4 j4 Z5 J7 r& G
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 0 Y9 T. n3 g9 H3 C/ ^2 Oprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the ) C; O. x- l$ U: Z5 V6 l) ?real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.! L+ s7 f( W6 |' F* o
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local% j+ ]' M- u3 \
or visitors.3 ?( K U. J5 i8 V
% L3 M3 M. o7 e$ f% X: Q- b; V-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
