We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very! ?- T8 v/ n, M/ W
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 7 B/ q( e4 W, l+ _wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.0 Q* v" W2 `1 G* {. _$ C
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,2 C- k& i% g+ _3 K
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in8 y6 r, L0 w- E9 A. r
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as * _6 O, \5 n M; F6 upossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort' X9 I$ _( {+ ^2 C- v0 v' H5 f
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep! U8 G! C( T, Y6 }6 a) Q& ^1 F
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the : i/ _. a. _1 b* {/ Dlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,3 ~/ k. I8 Y% ?: N4 N
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ) A6 e. S5 q$ n" _- H3 R People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but7 e4 ^/ i3 n( d; d9 g! N. {5 i3 F
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not ) J& x' y+ S5 b, u1 qexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 5 L' S1 }6 k/ m1 ?, F; h' Z1 G% Cflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through1 k9 j2 N+ J6 s4 R$ h
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards." q" D) x6 {3 j4 g* t. i6 b1 l
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,% x9 S7 z- ?9 s: h
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool `$ C9 f- v4 }# W9 v
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top % B! U3 n. Y- {5 i0 w5 x# m$ Xof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 4 z6 W; L G. \4 R4 rstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from, O: u d' I( R" A
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes9 ^! [; q+ K3 l% Y8 y& J
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 8 f" a, w% G6 A' f6 }fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 8 {* n* _4 L f' P % @) y4 n3 G; J3 i: v. uThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are ( Q! k9 q6 D4 ~8 U4 Vjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made . ~" B/ G: {$ y+ G( P2 ?* Y Pfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba& B$ R% v8 U/ @5 f
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having - Q; E: S% v- \% z: C9 r7 k; i0 v. c- ia staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China - M# j3 C# t5 i3 wdaily 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 ) c. G$ e) w) O- [' j4 [( Lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went . L3 a8 K" M2 ?( a ~% B" kon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,7 B; f, U' V6 O1 m
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give $ ]$ c' }( K/ M7 [ W3 K& }7 Fanswers to our pointed questions. 3 |% g9 X+ i+ |$ G+ `8 |4 } 3 M, K1 m: [9 h$ mThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ' M; j" s; C8 |* o9 A. x+ B45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% d% X$ {. k) a$ V+ ?
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is : J9 k" X. |! Q# \free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams2 a" k- l- O9 ^/ C% Q$ x
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 2 r3 A* A5 p4 J9 fmedical schools.7 {* O, O) j+ K$ l
) B+ M' W+ f5 B0 Y- Q. JEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 5 {$ c: {- ?. F, }) B+ M) D$ [government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants ; w Y- l$ l$ o0 Z7 Y* t# L+ n6 l+ hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years " R/ J& ]3 X! bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba & Z6 O6 Y5 J; w4 Q; u" Uis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 \6 y3 u' T% e- x! j4 H
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 3 B2 x: X6 d( x2 @seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and- m8 I$ _* A) @- h, o
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk & _ F3 e& g( D" K, [0 ~2 rshortage which the government is addressing by converting some 0 B; g+ I' m" O3 F% z1 j9 f4 ]sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& ~2 d3 U3 [7 S5 v: q& X
) |6 `" x' J' b' w- X: R f' }# b
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 6 [9 \& r: u3 R0 _8 zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and/ H9 U& `; n1 _8 S2 d' V+ a
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! n& B& D+ F7 S1 M# o" R+ X
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good ! Y9 f6 a& J# E6 Nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby . v2 j, k: e; @& t7 Ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ' X, x$ p* a2 I2 l* @4 x' Cdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 }* ?/ G' o/ s
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 6 U" o( Q: S- M* ~; [# ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ' ?2 F: ?, d: i# M; scharge the fee defined by the state. 1 c6 [, |" U. Q1 r! p) @# i 1 w6 P8 a* H, JThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ( C- z2 `9 r; u+ M% |/ eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type $ _1 T- J" ~. Kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' y5 J7 C: P4 t0 \$ K; o7 d( E
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 2 `* i8 G1 z# q0 I- u4 l) pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! Z6 _) ?% g' P$ H+ Q: |. O
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' M- `5 u: s5 ]3 V+ R
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 q# p; {. T! }; f/ }* d5 M$ i
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 M5 G4 G( k! J. c; b9 c) D
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 x1 N) G, \, D6 r f. z9 y$ |
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" b! ~! B, W0 o; N
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want Y3 L2 [) L& W: ]5 d4 x: @
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or + c# u7 k) w. l$ Hbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# N0 W& G8 s7 b8 Z& l- G- |6 t$ }5 \, g
are spaces.; T6 i; v4 @# j
! ?* g3 b- a1 {1 y) ~: sThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi8 r w& }' s5 O- n- }+ K6 K
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they8 c0 P; S: v6 |9 g! W! |% |
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 x8 n+ L9 D# r* x+ _) A. u; Y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different * ^5 A+ \% f+ iparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 R$ i$ w" d* L
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 1 N$ Q4 M2 H6 |5 Knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; @+ }/ _' N8 F, }
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it % @9 X. ~6 |6 z+ K8 V6 l9 G7 Xis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 7 }8 O7 N2 i( Z# M$ D$ I8 _, i 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& ]3 D/ f" r1 }, l! o
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 9 A: A4 M" h. } w: e8 Bthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very , \+ o3 b) \: v1 q) S. M0 ~limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep - ]5 e5 i W f' i- ^7 V8 krecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day/ L% m) \, g9 a7 Q! [+ d- Y
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 5 p4 R2 ]8 m% J4 z- R2 Bthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms8 P3 w4 |/ X! j& e7 Q
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the , D! q ?( R/ r1 \" ytourist area. , ^0 c! G. f- [ 4 ?# ?1 x4 t, TOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's * y& k6 W* R% mpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). . u) M4 `" ]0 @9 d* M' ?Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 2 _+ W0 q3 E+ z8 r% Xeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ) V' {/ x1 p$ P1 \8 F* D6 G
less leader-religious.1 _+ @( _" m" C% @7 O3 ^
3 |( o9 \9 q; b2 Z/ p* B2 m( O a+ BAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba+ B# X! G# a N" g$ K) m4 u
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big- N3 E* y/ N) I" F) K
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US. W) r- ~/ ?$ |5 m4 ?4 D
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).2 }9 H- e g7 P1 f7 O$ I' ~
6 ^9 x2 v0 T* D9 H6 @$ L7 XWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the+ K- Z+ z5 s7 u1 h3 Z: d7 i
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not$ w1 n7 b- [' c, C( A
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 , v! O4 e5 }3 u$ Zconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ' q6 {& x3 {: s% C" h; yforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars( i; x* O# g2 T/ O. F" @* C" W# f
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we" S6 E; |3 n: `$ h# W+ X# m% F4 G
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the6 l: p& V0 h; d9 z( z
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 9 s: |% s( o( {7 [, Q! }And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local; h3 E( d# o b& `0 U: n! d
or visitors.1 E* j Y. @6 [/ [% W
# a, R4 H, G9 C8 \-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
