We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very + h3 U, |# V& T b. Xinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 9 f$ S' o: V8 V5 R! ?, ~wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.( ^5 ?" ?1 r8 t7 A' C" j4 V0 o: I
1 f9 B% `' Q) m% p! I0 a* z
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,* g( A% v1 @+ {! v! q
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in9 j A3 u6 `- v& G2 K
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 3 ^' R" @' B) n! Mpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 7 r7 c: F3 [0 E# s- U7 w0 d2 ]" X; `show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep5 ~7 _9 T; W. `# j0 H( w9 j
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the; J, [9 G) e3 L y
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ; A4 ?8 d' @2 _: c% Mwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.3 {/ ?; h2 ^$ v+ t% x) b
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 0 s# d4 }/ w6 l1 ]6 M: s' I" k7 xnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 4 v7 P. g& z e& Qexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 7 @& \ T/ |0 }$ `+ hflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through9 O5 a0 q7 B7 `( E, D; i
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ! p3 b& M5 Z- v( \7 g: ^+ i' ]# }, U# B3 L, J$ d O/ d
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,5 N& N" f8 d A& G# w- Z% P
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool5 d8 Y# {6 r$ n5 u) q
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top3 i! e: H# i) q3 Y4 m! [" ]; x3 z. s
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the - z5 `! `9 u( h/ zstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ' ]% m, _& ^6 _) `, F3 \4 |49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes: \" h2 C. }: e/ E: r
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with - K% e) N2 w( D L+ c: T/ hfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. , S1 M3 z4 i& ^8 o# J 3 p8 o( V( J7 UThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are - ~) U4 J- G# [* zjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ; U7 E: b# D Y ufor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 4 o- B) d5 X/ e+ w1 t/ [tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having $ g# h# p$ @( ra staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China & b+ r9 \. w0 l) 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 3 Z7 N) G+ H4 [" o$ k/ B0 sstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 F+ _; a3 ~0 _9 x- P4 A
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- Q& Y! M' m4 }3 Y2 t
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& t# }" m+ s1 \ k- G# ]
answers to our pointed questions.6 e9 c0 Q6 _" \' x: ^+ f1 R
4 k, [* D2 T- }' g! E% }$ X! t5 s
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,4 y4 {* I3 H j9 F6 u( d- l
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand % `6 K0 p3 z4 W! U0 {# b# lout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 f3 x4 {' l. x0 u C2 a$ X
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% ^( ?6 W7 j2 h) w' z8 X, S+ A
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are , ~1 w2 ?2 X2 {( L( \' rmedical schools., w3 _# w/ p6 O8 Z6 k) E9 l8 ?
2 M7 t0 f- w8 X8 M2 d, I
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 |. F* u" \. b
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants y3 ^1 I: B+ s. `9 n4 x+ ~to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ( m2 {! T* R1 I9 v, ^. @assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba" {, y- t; O3 i+ @& q! ?
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- V% P- }$ T( W( Y
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 1 G$ c- a8 v# J( z" Y) K( ]seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 7 f3 D) ^) D! l9 G0 r: X. Umostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 7 j- M S/ M. N( d5 e$ nshortage which the government is addressing by converting some * ]+ m/ Q& Y9 [# Y% H# R8 M9 jsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. - l8 D( P* O2 z7 e+ Z, O1 b( M K 8 w* K- p$ }5 F9 aThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ( N! k, R3 w7 c) Oprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 3 p T; V5 u, T( k2 r6 Wsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 w+ |8 _5 r2 L: a& R+ c
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good, z" `2 [8 D* {7 ~0 Z& P
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby z, ~, Z! P! @6 J& b# R5 k X
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' j Q' @) }8 Q9 I/ F+ B) A& T: _
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. $ X9 Q* ~% J* i. x: CDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 6 B* n9 M/ v, k7 D5 o. va lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only / r- z' X7 w" C3 }8 }charge the fee defined by the state.4 p8 T7 R0 z5 E. z8 c: ]
- G6 O& B7 z* B1 m5 S
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get . {2 N6 M/ D+ f( Y; ^, fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 4 b* T* v) m9 W! F- e% O* sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( R" @% Q9 Q( y1 q0 U% o( ~
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 7 D) C# a# e1 o( y/ Z! F9 ]seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% ]; |) c; i- h5 g# m" C7 \
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 3 \- F8 u# M Z/ n, `$ r0 _* Wschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if , [, `' _1 O0 W$ y1 T/ q$ pyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& k& a; U8 k, o/ J) B4 O
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch+ Y; f* w" @. a9 @/ n. k0 C
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that # X" p9 x( e8 }3 g3 Cpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want & j% l+ x; b( z3 s o: _to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 L" y' G9 m. U I5 c2 \- y7 A# ^
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 2 `& l: ]1 v+ \1 M1 T: q! Yare spaces.( ?* E7 h5 Z# g& F! ]4 E E
. A, b$ C0 c1 g: P+ s, m) yThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ! [! l( G) ^# h/ Xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 5 Y1 ?3 a! |! i" h; ~( b2 a5 pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 y2 c+ R1 S! `2 O" e: x7 d& D$ R- K
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 c% U- B" B4 ]/ V* u- d3 O
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the- u% F, z; }# B3 Y0 c: H3 d
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few/ ]; p+ O* w. u: k5 I
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of % {1 a5 v& Q" qcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it " Z! ]" H7 A! I! i0 @9 kis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ' ?+ b ?+ ?6 w+ ^8 O 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! x# L+ c1 \5 n8 h/ g% n
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all " S" Z; W& [. @- j8 S Gthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 8 V" `: }3 Y2 y+ O- {2 i& Glimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep ! J) H5 h+ J+ Erecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day) X# q; ^$ z4 S4 R7 S. j1 C
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of1 _6 S# a, _/ R) u+ @, j
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms ( P7 @# L. r$ ~: Jhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the6 a1 ?' m3 m# E! _8 P1 _! C
tourist area. " w5 ]) k- l1 N t: a & Z% z4 N! _1 L) i( J4 qOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's5 T, @7 L9 Z {6 E7 T
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).) ?4 z" o6 p6 Q4 m, G% P
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ! k, s, o; T% P2 L7 _2 Z5 ~1 oeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 0 M0 T b1 `& H
less leader-religious. 0 s% ?0 V! F3 Y) V0 _ j( V! U2 }6 C# F( r
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba1 x$ L" B2 p7 D4 i% I% ]
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 7 A: [6 X ]% xblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US * h9 U5 O0 q% j; M0 D9 aembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 5 x- |( V% O1 o1 q8 ~8 U! W# R1 G) ?" R* y- {! k
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ' M" v- x* A! d: t/ [parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not; o; S( I/ E [6 `& G6 P9 o
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $16 D: }+ h* a. W0 q; R: a
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 3 w* q* z7 Q$ [0 hforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars5 L z1 i3 k; Z# P; }' h/ c
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 0 F; N' V; V3 k; X) \/ s7 Y. H" Bprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the " `& s, b. l8 ^1 ?real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.7 u: f7 ]# S( ]: O
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local - a. `: E6 s% L) H/ q8 ?* mor visitors.$ M( ?0 S# \4 i3 ?9 d' j+ f- Z7 Q; p
+ v' i n+ Z) _( s$ `1 R-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
